When I wrote about The Most Glam Games: Outdoor & Indoor, readers wondered where the chess sets were. The truth is, I've always been intimidated by chess and its complex strategy (when I play games, my strategy is simple: win). Also, so many chess sets have a certain Lord Of The Rings aesthetic, and while I adore LOTR, it seems like a tricky style to incorporate into a modern apartment...
- The Bauhaus Chess Set by Naefe Spiele AG is available from Quintessentia- please note the board and the pieces are sold separately, putting the total for this beautiful set at $722.
- The Lanier Graham chess set from MoMA is lovely in its simplicity. Made of cherry and maple, the pieces all fit together like a puzzle for easy & elegant storage. But note- there is no board, just pieces!
- The Log Chess Sets by artist Peter Marigold are charmingly rustic yet edgy. All of the pieces are cut from a single branch, and the squares are demarcated in graphite. His unique, handmade sets are available from Phillips de Pury.
- Adin Mumma designed the Wobble Chess Set from Umbra, and while I'm sure the movement of the pieces adds interest to a contemplative game, it's the beautifully undulating board that caught my eye.
- Natural Chess creates custom chess sets, each one requiring about 32 hours of labor. The inlaid board is spectacular, like wood made into jewels.
- Once again, Hermés brings the lux with this mahogany, rosewood, and leather set. San Francisco's own Upper Playground praises it best: "Damn, that is fresh. We love chess like any Market Street @ 5th kid would love it, and we love Hermés like any Grant downtown kid would love Hermes. So we just love this." I've yet to find it for sale- is it so exclusive that it's hidden from the likes of me? Or maybe it's just sold-out already.
- Finally, a set I have a soft spot for. Wei Lieh Lee designed this chess gazebo with gorgeous lanterns as the pieces. Not only is it seriously magical, but as Slash Gear pointed out, "I imagine the mental shift required to flip the board over adds a new dimension of trickiness." Being left-handed means I always have to learn how to do things backwards/upside-down, so I appreciate the challenge and fun of upside-down chess.
(Images 1. Trendhunter, 4. ThisNext, all others as credited above)
Before & After: Emily Henderson Transforms a Senior's Studio Space
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Four-P...
On Saying No to Paleo: Why Eating Isn't One Size Fits All
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
I think most (if not all) of these would be shunned by anyone who actually plays chess.
Why would they be shunned by actual chess players? I play chess and I love the first two sets (and appreciate the others).
As a serious chess player, I'm going to say that these selections are obviously for people who have more interest in getting compliments on their chic living space than they are about playing chess. It's fine if you don't play the game, but it's pathetic when people feel like they have to put up such a facade in this manner, to pretend that they are into the game because it's somehow seen as intellectual or so on. It's like pretending to have a love of classical music just because you know some professor that liked it.
Anyways, requiring players to figure out what a particular piece does is not desirable in an already complex strategy game. I find it hilarious that the author seems to condemn all traditional chess sets as evoking "LOTR", that there is no middle ground between the modern obscurities and the elves and goblins representing the pieces in Harry Potter. Come on.
Buy a traditional Staunton set in whatever material you like, but don't change the pieces in the name of some obscure fashion, and don't pretend to be something you're not. Or you'll get laughed at by the first competent player that steps into your place, $700 chic chess set notwithstanding.
This is the kind of post where the battle lines are firmly drawn. To be a douche or to not be a douche; that is the question. I have seen chess masters (and I don't say the word masters lightly) play on scraps of paper with the word of the of the piece written on it. I've also seen them giddy with delight over a mable LOTR set. I play chess because I like it, it's fun. I lose every time. I like a beautiful chess set because I like humble, ordinary things elevated to objects of art (wether they're MOMA or handmade); and that's fun. But objects do not define us. Saying douchy things, however, does.
Oh, and the Wei Lieh Lee gazebo is awesome!
I love #4&6 - they're both gorgeous and would not confuse me trying to figure out which piece was which. Not really a chess enthusiast, so it would require more brainpower than I could spare trying to remember both how a knight moves and what the heck it looks like! ;)