I was hesitant about pulling the trigger on this particular chess table, but the price was in the range of what I was looking for. It seemed in the reviews that a number of people had a lot of scratches and damage on their table parts when they received them in the mail. Mine came in in good condition. Though I had one small area on the main trunk of the table that looked like it had either been sanded or never properly painted. But it was small, and a staining marker will do just fine in getting rid of the blemish. Once assembled properly the table is super sturdy, however it is not the easiest to put together. It seems straight forward, however when attaching the main trunk of the table to the top it is not easy at all to make sure the screws go in the predrilled holes. I had to use a flashlight trying to peak through the small gaps, and then ultimately used the SWAG method... Scientific Wild-Ass Guess. This can be problematic because if one does not do it right it will mean your table top will be skewed from the bottom of the stand. There are two pieces where this can go wrong. So be patient, and for the last piece in the assembly process, use a tape measure to make sure the table top is centered correctly if you cannot get the screws in the right holes, which, as I said, I could not. Other than that, I am pleased with the finished product. It looks wonderful in my small library.