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It's Good To Be King Inc

About Us

We are the premier brick and mortar chess store in the Chicago area - located in downtown Elmhurst City Centre – offering strong product selection, competitive pricing, alluring in-store experience and quality personal service.

We are open and at present have many chess sets to sell.

While, inexplicably, chess sets have not been prioritized by the world in resolving supply chain issues, we currently do have more chess sets to sell than we have had in months. Having said that, we do suggest shopping as soon as possible- we have limited quantities of certain types of sets.

Please view our “Services” page as to the chess sets that we currently have in the store for sale as well as our customer services; and view our “Photos” and “360 Tour” pages for how we enjoy displaying and selling our merchandise.

We are an independent, locally owned shop open since 1996. We are purely a brick and mortar physical retail store, selling the actual chess sets customers are viewing and “hands on” examining while in the shop. We try to make shopping enjoyable and buying easy, and every transaction is a personal and social one for us.

We draw people from Chicago and all of the surrounding metropolitan area – to browse and, if desired, to purchase and immediately walk out of the store with chess sets for themselves or to gift. We regularly have customers coming out from the city of Chicago and coming into the store from suburbs including Elmhurst, Oak Brook, Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Downers Grove, Naperville, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Park Ridge, and Oak Park.

We do maintain limited store hours. This allows our owners, Tom and Marguerite, to always be in the shop when we are open – being the ones who will say “hello” when you come in, answer your questions and help you with a purchase.

What We Offer

Our Specialties include:

We sell a wide range of chess merchandise at all price points -including complete chess sets of pieces and boards (including folding and magnetic sets), chessmen of Staunton and figure design, chess boards of all sizes, and chess clocks and accessories.
While carrying mostly chess merchandise, we also sell backgammon sets and checkers as well as history type merchandise including plastic toy soldiers, historic replicas, bobbleheads and playing cards.

Our Services include:

Customers are greeted and helped directly by our owners, Tom and Marguerite. They are the ones who personally select all of our products and display our merchandise; and they will be the ones who talk with you about what you are looking for, consult with you on making your selection, and take care of you at the cash register and package up your purchase.
Because our customers purchase the chess sets that they directly view and “hands on” examine at the store, we have very few issues after the sets are taken home or given as gifts. However, if there are issues, we offer refunds and exchanges – all handled at the store in person by our owners.

Our Products include:

Listed below are the major groupings/types of chess sets that we currently have in the store:
Magnetic chess sets plastic and wood: $15.99 to $89.99.
Folding and cabinet wood chess sets: $29.99 to $139.99.
Plastic tournament chessmen and roll-up boards - $29.99 to $89.99.
Historic figure chessmen/sets: $79.99 to $189.99.
Wood weighted chessmen/sets: $19.99 to $299.99.
Metal chessmen from Italy: $89.99 to $379.99.
Wood and leather chess boards - $29.99 to $199.99.
Marble and alabaster chess sets: $199.99 to $399.99.
Chess clocks – analog and digital: $49.99 to $89.99.
Please call or e-mail the store as indicated on the “Contact Us” page for more detail as to what we have in stock “up to the minute” when you are thinking to come in.

Testimonials

On 1/10/2025 Mike Allas had this to say:
Super friendly and helpful owners. I purchased a couple of non Chess board games that were very reasonably priced and well made. Like most people, I looked online first but I made the right decision coming into this small owner/operator shop in downtown Elmhurst. I think I’ll be back to purchase a chess board at some point. So many to choose from and they just look so cool.

On 1/10/2025 Mike A. had this to say:
Super friendly and helpful owners. I purchased a couple of non Chess board games that were very reasonably priced and well made. Like most people, I looked online first but I made the right decision coming into this small owner/operator shop in downtown Elmhurst. I think I'll be back to purchase a chess board at some point. So many to choose from and they just look so cool.

On 12/22/2024 Jay Rosin had this to say:
Thomas was extremely friendly and polite when dealing with an exchange for a larger board. My son received a Harry Potter chess set for his birthday, and the large pieces fit on the board we had, but it were quite crowded. After complimenting my son on his chess piece set, he found him a cabinet board with 2" spaces. Thomas was very engaging and helped us find a board that not only stored the pieces, but showed us that the panels are removable to fit their large size. Thank you for your help! My family highly recommends It's Good to be King and the staff.

On 12/2/2024 sreekanth gandavarapu had this to say:
Tom and his wife are amazing. They run the store purely out of passion. I was amazed to see the collection of chess sets they have. Would love to recommend to any chess enthusiast.

Contact Us

It's Good To Be King Inc
129 W. 1st St. Elmhurst, IL 60126
Phone: (630) 833-5060
Email: contactus@goodtobeking.com

Kitty Corner Northwest of Elmhurst Metra Station. In The Middle of the Downtown Elmhurst Area.

Where To Find Us

Payment Types Accepted

Checks, American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa, Debit Cards

Our Hours

Holiday Hours May Vary. Please Call For Details.

Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday: 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Friday: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Saturday: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Sunday: Closed