Remember how a whole island in Japan was turned into the board game "Game of Life"? Something similar is happening in London. Recently, a couple of London-based architects decided to combine their passion for the game of chess and architecture and converted the chessboard pieces to resemble the London skyline, literally.
The 3D printed prototype of the game called "Skyline Chess" shows 'hand cast chessmen based on the iconic buildings of London'. The two architects, Chris Posser and Ian Flood, took to KickStarter to fund the project and commercialize the unique chess set.
The ambitious designers don't want to stop at London. If the London one does well, they hope to create games where one can play city vs. city, for ex: New York vs. Rome, Dubai vs. Shanghai, etc.
In the Skyline Chess set, each piece of the game will be represented by a famous building of London. While a common two story residence will signify the pawn, the 50 St Mary Axe or the Gherkin will be the bishop (as its shape suits the piece). The knight will be portrayed by the London Eye and the rook by the historic Big Ben. The London Shard will play the queen and the Canary Wharf building will signify the king.
Check out a video of the chess set below:
A lot of thought and detail went into developing the pieces. The chessmen were conceptualized over a few games of chess and 'were scaled to best represent the quality of the chosen building'.
Their KickStarter page reads:
Our vision is to take our prototype chess set and bring it to market. We are currently in discussions with manufacturers and we hope to be able to market the sets in a weighted acrylic as well as cast them in metal.
However, this project will only be funded if at least $39,000 is pledged by September 26. You can back the creation to win customized stuff and also get a mention on their website.
Click here to back Skyline Chess.
Chess originated in ancient India and was designed to signify an empire, complete with a king, queen and soldiers among others. One might agree that the entire world is like a game of chess. Given the current global political condition, where one country bombs another and takes over it - chess is perhaps the perfect game that can describe the international scenario.