Two Chess Bazaar xiangqi sets

A number of years ago, I get my hands on replicas of two Chess Bazaar sets: one 'Space Age' set and one 'Chavel Karpov' set. Both sets came from the same seller, and he was pleased they remained together.

These two sets also came with extra queens, and that made me realise that I could actually use them for xiangqi, by using the two queens per side as cannons, and, given that xiangqi uses five soldiers (= pawns) rather than eight, use two of the three 'left-over' pawns as guards within the palace.

So here is the 'Space Age' set on a large faux-leather xiangqi board:

I do think that works nicely!

The 'Chavel Karpov' set is a bit bigger and chunkier, so I decided to put that on the XL xiangqi board I created recently:

Again, works very well!

In case you're wondering whether having pawns for soldiers as well as guards causes confusion .... no, it doesn't. As the guards can't leave the palace, and soldiers can't move backwards into their own palace, a white 'pawn' in the 'black' palace has to be a soldier. And a black 'pawn' in the 'black' palace has to be a guard. And vice versa. So no source for confusion!

Creating an XL xiangqi board

When placing my ebony, rosewood, or bamboo pieces on the faux leather board that came with the pieces in their carry case, it just felt a bit too cramped, the stones are just a tad too close together in my view.

Well, there is a clear and simple solution to that: create a larger board for them! From the onset, I wanted to stick with faux leather for the playing surface, so the search was on for an XL faux leather xiangqi board. That search didn't take much time!

Next, the base to sport the faux leather. Went for simple plywood, with fancy wooden strips along the edges.

The circumference of the base received two coats of pine wood stain (no need to stain the centre, of course).

Subsequently, the playing surface was added.

Done! So how does it look with the pieces on it?

Ebony pieces first:

How about the rosewood pieces?

And, finally, the bamboo pieces:

Much better, I think! I really feel the pieces have more 'breathing space' on this XL board, so mission achieved!