Tag Archives: chessboard

A ‘Phygital’ Approach to Board Games Gives A Fresh Take On Traditional Chinese Chess ‘Go’

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For all chess enthusiasts and parents seeking engaging board games for their children, the EIFplay chessboard is a groundbreaking product that offers a host of innovative features to address the common concerns associated with traditional board games. From worries about storing pieces and missing parts to issues of portability and child safety, this intelligent chessboard from EIFplay, a startup company based in Shenzhen, provides an elegant and practical solution.

Designer: Kai Xia

Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent. If you are an avid ‘Pentoku’ or ‘Go’ player, you might have experienced the inconvenience of storing the pieces and the frustration of losing them over time. The EIFplay chessboard presents a revolutionary concept that eliminates these issues, making it an ideal choice for chess and similar game lovers. By employing a unique button system, this smart chessboard can effortlessly switch between the two pieces in Go (Chinese board game), showcasing two different colors to represent the pieces for each game. This innovative design allows for seamless transitions and ensures that your game is never interrupted due to missing pieces.

Parents often face the challenge of choosing suitable board games for their children, and traditional chess boards can pose a range of problems. Not only do they present the same issues of missing and storing pieces, but they also raise concerns about the safety of very young children who might accidentally ingest the small pieces. Furthermore, busy schedules can hinder quality bonding time over board games.

Fortunately, the EIFplay chessboard caters to the needs of parents as well. For families with young children, the intelligent design of the chessboard’s button system ensures that the game remains safe and free from small parts that could be swallowed. This eliminates the risk of serious consequences and makes the chessboard an ideal choice for family fun.

Additionally, the EIFplay chessboard provides the option to play against the computer, offering a man-machine mode with adjustable difficulty levels. This feature is precious when parents find it challenging to dedicate time to play board games with their children due to busy work schedules. Now, kids can enjoy the game at their convenience while sharpening their strategic thinking skills without having to engage with any smartphone or device, therefore, reducing distractions.

With their cumbersome size and numerous chess pieces, traditional chess boards are not the most portable gaming options. However, the EIFplay chessboard addresses this issue efficiently. With a compact size of 21mm*21mm, smaller than an A4 paper, this chessboard fits conveniently into school bags or travel cases, allowing you to carry your favorite board game anywhere you go.

The chessboard’s lithium battery, rechargeable through a type-c interface, provides a battery life of more than 4 hours. This impressive longevity ensures uninterrupted gameplay during long journeys or when access to power sources is limited.

The EIFplay chessboard is a remarkable innovation that caters to the needs of chess enthusiasts and parents alike. Its intelligent design, compact size, and long battery life make it a convenient and hassle-free option for playing chess games on the go. Whether you are looking for an engaging board game to enhance your strategic thinking skills or a safe and enjoyable activity for your children, this intelligent chessboard from EIFplay promises to deliver an exceptional gaming experience. Embrace the future of chess with the EIFplay chessboard and bid farewell to the worries associated with traditional chess boards.

The post A ‘Phygital’ Approach to Board Games Gives A Fresh Take On Traditional Chinese Chess ‘Go’ first appeared on Yanko Design.

How the most powerful chessboard is giving a centuries-old game a 21st-century upgrade

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Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry today, but video games come and go, regardless of how popular or revolutionary they may have been. Very few games have stood the test of time compared to chess, which has been around back when years were counted in single digits. Its simple yet challenging mechanics have endeared the game to people from all walks of life across the centuries. And despite its age, chess continues to be a favorite not only among professionals but also among hobbyists of all ages. While the game itself has more or less already reached perfection, that doesn’t mean there’s no longer any room to spice things up. Imagine an almost magical playing experience worthy of Hollywood. That’s the new kind of joy that this ingenious chessboard brings to the table, no pun intended, giving chess a fresh coat of paint that will entice and encourage even novices to pick a side.

Designer: Daniel Leibovich

Click Here to Buy Now: $199 $279 ($80 off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left! Raised over $2,000,000.

Chess pieces move on their own.

Some people see chess as a game of strategy, while others consider it more of memorizing and replaying dozens of moves. Whatever your opinion might be, the one thing that remains true is that you need someone to play it with, unless you’re a master of playing against yourself. Finding an opponent isn’t always easy, especially if you’re just starting out. Thanks to today’s technologies, that’s not really a problem anymore, especially with online or even AI opponents. GoChess, however, takes that a huge step further by turning chess into a magical Hogwarts-like experience, complete with self-moving pieces.

Your game is automatically set up.

Of course, the only magic involved here is the magic of science, specifically that of magnets and small robots underneath the chessboard that can move each piece to its target square. You might think this is just some whimsical feature, but imagine playing with someone half a world away. Rather than the boring and impersonal game on a computer or phone screen, you get to play with actual physical chess pieces and still see them move in real time as if the other person is just across you. The king even falls on its own when checkmated. The GoChess app syncs with the chessboard and lets you connect with other chess lovers and learners over popular online platforms such as Lichess.org and Chess.com, turning the whole world into your arena.

Smart lights guide and coach you.

This ability for pieces to move on their own is especially important when playing with AI, which is your friend rather than some nefarious disembodied brain out to defeat humanity. In addition to being a worthwhile rival, the GoChess AI is also a patient and knowledgeable mentor that can guide you and challenge you as you learn the ropes. In fact, the advanced chessboard has plenty of features that aid players of all levels. Each side’s pieces light up when it’s their turn to move, providing visual cues at each turn. Picking up a piece also lights up the squares where it can land, making it easier for beginners to memorize the moves.

Despite these technological marvels, GoChess remains a work of expert craftsmanship that players will be able to appreciate. Made from fine materials and with great attention to detail, the well-designed product adds tactile and visual elegance to an already impressive chessboard. Whether you opt for the $199 non-robotic GoChess lite or the $269 GoChess 1XR with a single robot or the $359 four-robot GoChess 4XR, you will be getting a game that’s steeped in the traditions of the past, brimming with modern features, and crafted to last well into the future, providing you with enjoyment and learning for years to come.

Click Here to Buy Now: $199 $279 ($80 off). Hurry, less than 48 hours left! Raised over $2,000,000.

The post How the most powerful chessboard is giving a centuries-old game a 21st-century upgrade first appeared on Yanko Design.

This beautiful handmade chessboard makes it looks like you’re playing on water

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Chess is a game that dates more than 1,500 years ago, and while the basic structure of the game has remained the same, it has taken on different visual forms over the centuries. From wood to ivory to even purely digital pieces, you might think that you’ve seen all there is to see when it comes to chess design. That couldn’t be farther from the truth, of course, seeing as how there are so many beautiful but odd-looking chess sets that might even leave you scratching your head in bewilderment. This handmade set, however, doesn’t change how the pieces themselves look but instead gives the board a more mesmerizing appearance of seemingly floating on water, turning a tense chess match into something almost enchanting and relaxing.

Designer: Wood Season (RVRgroup)

Some say that chess is a game of strategy and critical thinking, but others would argue that it has become simply a matter of memorizing and replaying moves these days. Whatever the case might be, the fact is that the game has never changed for hundreds of years now, from the mechanics to the pieces themselves. What has changed is how those pieces are sometimes represented, deviating from the standard medieval theme of kings, queens, and knights to become sometimes unrecognizable pieces of steel, glass, or any other eye-catching material.

The chessboard, in contrast, has remained virtually frozen in time, 64 squares arranged in 8 rows of 8 columns of alternating colors. That almost leaves very little room for creativity, but the Floating Chess defies those expectations. Painstakingly crafted by hand from oak and different coatings of epoxy, this chess set gives the illusion of a tranquil game of chess being played over a pond, in contrast to the tense, nail-biting games you’d see in professional competitions.

What gives the Floating Chess set its almost ethereal visage is the different layers and colors of epoxy used. These range from the transparent liquid used to contrast with the “dark” wooden blocks to the green pigment that submerges dried pine cones to the pearlescent mix used as the base of all of these. An LED strip lies underneath the board, controlled by a phone to shine different intensities and hues of light to add an even more unearthly glow to the chess set. The chess pieces themselves are also made from epoxy to complete the theme.

The Floating Chess is definitely a head-turner, with or without the help of colorful lighting. The use of epoxy resin, though possibly less harmful than polyester resin, might raise a few concerns about sustainability but also leaves the door open for greener alternatives. Regardless, the set creates a completely different environment than what you might associate with the game, making the pieces look like floating on water while you float on air.

The post This beautiful handmade chessboard makes it looks like you’re playing on water first appeared on Yanko Design.

Sleek luxury chess set gives a minimal twist to this traditional game

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I’m not really a chess fan. While I did enjoy bingeing The Queen’s Gamit and I would occasionally keep up with news about grand masters (since a lot of my countrymen seem to be great at it), you won’t catch me playing a game on a lazy Saturday afternoon or even watching people play it on YouTube or Facebook. What I do appreciate are those chess sets that have been intricately carved and created. This one that we’ve spotted will appeal to the minimalist chess fan, at least those that can spare almost $3,000.

Designer: Tarek Elkassouf

The Chessboard is created by Beirut-born and Sydney-based artist Tarek Elkassouf and is unlike any other luxury chessboard you’ve seen. At first glance you actually will not realize it’s a chessboard or that those items are chess pieces. His goal was to give players “creative freedom” when they’re playing the game and may even find themselves within the unique pieces in the board. By not focusing on the pieces themselves, you’ll be able to focus on the moves you need to make and the game itself.

To give it a more minimalistic feel, the original design or shape of the chess pieces were taken away. Instead, you got a minimalist rectangle soldier in various heights, depending on what the pieces represent. The symbols of what the classical chess pieces are inscribed on the top of each piece. They are made from stainless steel, brass, oxidized brass, and gunmetal. Each set is placed in a high gloss wooden box with velvet lining. The board doesn’t look like the regular one as well, in keeping with the minimalist look of the entire set.

The designer will only be producing 100 sets and there are four board variations: Carrara Marble, Basalt, Travertino Classico, and Travertino Rosso. He says that all the materials for these chess sets come from the Earth and therefore hold within them the energy of the Earth. “The material itself communicates the form of the pieces,” Elkassouf shares. The Chessboard is definitely a thing of beauty and is something that chess enthusiasts will definitely want to collect.

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Marble meets stainless steel in this chessboard for a minimalist and artful take on the timeless chess game!

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Tarek Elkassouf’s chess set is comprised of a Carrara marble board and sixteen brushed stainless steel pieces capped with gunmetal reflective tops.

Some of the most artistic designs are born out of the timeless and elusive charm of chessboards. From chessboards inspired by ‘Queen’s Gambit’ to chess pieces that form architectural city maps, designers have the opportunity to get their most creative when creating new chess boards.

Speaking to that, designer Tarek Elkassouf explains, “They say that all artists are not chess players but all chess players are artists.” Citing the chessboard as “an altar of concentration,” Elkassouf hopes his chessboard will help players focus on the game, their strategy, and most importantly, the moment.

Giving the traditional wooden chessboard a modern, artistic upgrade, Elkassouf designed a stylistic chessboard that takes on notes of midcentury design and with a sleek futuristic edge. Stripping the chessboard down to its bare essentials, Elkassouf’s chessboard found refinement in minimalism and artful craftwork.

Finding beauty in the changeability of chess, Elkassouf hoped to create a chessboard that speaks for itself, with a sophisticated heavy-duty board carved from marble and sleek, minimalist chess pieces.

Mounted atop a polished Carrara marble board, the rectangular chess pieces are made from brushed stainless steel with gunmetal reflective tops. Sticking to his minimalist approach, Elkassouf etched small icons of each piece on the top of each rectangular piece for players to decipher between the sixteen pieces.

In designing his chessboard, Elkassouf embraced the accessibility and intersectionality of chess, going on to describe how the game “transcends language, age, race, religion, politics, gender, and socioeconomic background. Whatever your circumstances, anyone can enjoy a good fight over the chessboard.” And it’s true, the game of chess is for everyone so long as you know the rules.

Designer: Tarek Elkassouf

With a simplistic, velvet case, Elkassouf’s chessboard is minimalist by design and refined by effect.

The Carrara marble chess board comes with alternating diagonal etches that delineate all of the available squares.

Coming in an array of different-colored marble, each chessboard from Elkassouf’s collection is unique in its own design.

From the side, Elkassouf’s chessboard maintains clean, geometric lines and silhouettes. 

 

The post Marble meets stainless steel in this chessboard for a minimalist and artful take on the timeless chess game! first appeared on Yanko Design.

This wooden chess board inspired by ‘Queen’s Gambit’ features pieces modeled after the architecture of Bangkok!

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Dubbed (Archi)TECT’S GAMBIT, the chess pieces from Carpenter boast a conceptual take on the high-rises and suspension bridges that make up the bulk of Bangkok’s cityscape.

‘Queen’s Gambit’ turned the world into chess players. Soon after bingeing the hit Netflix series, we were buying the coolest chessboard we could find and maybe a couple of guidebooks too. Whether you’re new to the original board game or you’ve been playing it as long as Beth Harmon, the game of chess has a beloved board design that’s been host to an endless array of stylistic variations throughout the game’s rich history. Carpenter Design, a carpentry company devoted to repurposing wood waste, went further than only learning how to play chess after finishing ‘Queen’s Gambit,’ designing and carving their own chess board modeled after the architecture of Bangkok, the company’s home city.

Dubbed (Archi)TECT’S GAMBIT, the chess pieces from Carpenter boast a conceptual take on the high-rises and suspension bridges that make up the bulk of Bangkok’s cityscape. Starting out as a chess player in secondary school, Carpenter designer Vrada Siripong felt inspired to take up the game once more after finishing ‘Queen’s Gambit.’ (Archi)TECT’S GAMBIT was created by Siripong and her fellow Carpenter co-designer, Sirincha Sathume who both played in the same chess club. Speaking on the board’s conception, Siripong notes, “It was fun and purely out of my personal fascination. As soon as I finished the series, my brain immediately started working on ideas for the project.”

When set against the backdrop of Bangkok’s skyline, players can recognize all of the city structures that inspired Siripong’s and Sathume chess boards and pieces. For example, the board’s King and Queen pieces resemble the form and general framework of high-rise buildings in Bangkok’s city proper, whereas the Rook mimics a simpler micro-model of both ends of a suspension bridge in Bangkok. The board’s black wood gives the game a mature, refined finish and stenciled embroidery adornments fill each square. The delicate stencil work was initially programmed using AutoCAD, a software familiar to most architects.

Designer: Carpenter

Intricate stencil work remains unpainted to give the board a natural and elegant black-and-gold feel.

Pull-out drawers fill out both ends of (Archi)TECT’S GAMBIT, where players can store their pieces after gameplay.

Brass handles offer a refined touch to the chessboard.

Each piece of (Archi)TECT’S GAMBIT was modeled after the form of significant buildings and structures through Bangkok.

The pull-out drawer dislodges from the chessboard to reveal storage space.

(Archi)TECT’S GAMBIT looks right at home in the modern living room.

This aluminum chessboard and its iconic chess pieces have been crafted for the millennial grandmasters

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The game of chess has captivated virtually everyone on the planet, even during the reign of kings and queens, who fought real battles; this game has continued to rapture its players. Such is the impact of this board game on generations after generations that chess has not lost its charm even a single bit all these centuries (the game has gained exponential popularity since the airing of Queen’s Gambit on Netflix). The mere idea of designing a chess set is the creative canvas for designers to explore and experiment with – after all, when form meets function, there’s an elevated level of gameplay that the two opponents experience when moving chess pieces in a bid to defeat the other.

For such a long time now, the chess pieces’ shape has seen countless iterations influenced by the ethnic culture or the pure imagination of creative minds. Among the sea of chessboards and chess pieces out there, industrial designer Andrea Tortone brings a very modern design aesthetic to chess while retaining the traditional representations of the game in its purest form. Dubbed the Neo aluminum chessboard, it is crafted out of a single aluminum metal tube, cut into intricate chess pieces that fuse refreshing modern take with the yesteryear’s essence.

Each of the chessmen results from thoughtfully selecting the traits drawing inspiration from the famous shapes, sizes, and icons of the European middle ages. So you’ll be able to trace the influence of a helmet in the pawn, mitre in the bishop, and merlon in the rook piece. The designer has a unique take by packaging these pieces inside a well-polished case, the top of which doubles as the chessboard itself. It has to be said, Andrea has infused a modern element into the strategy board game without going overboard.

Designer: Andrea Tortone

ICYMI: The internet-connected chessboard of your dreams

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Today on In Case You Missed It: A Kickstarter campaign for a chessboard that uses a robotic arm underneath to magically move magnetic game pieces has surpassed its funding goal -- and let's be real, that's probably mostly Harry Potter fans. Meanw...