Make your own!

The start of learning

Since I became disabled and had to retire early due to rheumatoid arthritis I seem to have an abundance of time. To help keep the arthritis at bay and my hands working, I started creating different art projects. I started with origami and paper flowers after I was given a beginner's origami kit. I became fairly good at flowers and one of my pieces was volunteered to be an entry for the State Fair of Texas. That is a different story for another day, but the result was a First Place Blue Ribbon. The next year as I was trying to find floral inspiration for that years state fair entry a strange thing happened. I had quite a few one-inch square pieces of black and white paper cut for some reason. The paper was laying out on my desk in the basic shape of a checkerboard. So I decided to take a break from making flowers to make a quick checkerboard, little did I realize at the time that it would lead to making a chess set.

The First Chess Set

Once I had the checkerboard completed I needed checkers of course. I looked all through the spare materials we have for projects and odd things we have laying around. I couldn't find anything that looked as though it would like to become a checker piece. I did find a box full of small wood rectangles that were not really suited for checker pieces, but could be made into something else. I decided to put the project on hold until I ran across something that would love to be a checker piece. A few months later I was repairing the carvings on a Cuckoo Clock when I noticed that I used a small piece of wood as a repair piece. The leftover part resembled a small figure. After I was finished with the clock and was putting things away and cleaning I saw the checkerboard. Well that made me decide to make a chess set instead of checker pieces. I remembered there were plenty of small rectangles to make both sides for a complete chess set. The checkerboard was then rebranded a Chess set. Let the fun begin, 16 pieces per side for a total of 32 pieces to be hand carved.

First set pieces

Well as you can see from the picture above, the pieces are a little rustic and not very big. The red knight was the very first piece, and the red set was completed first. I carved out a second knight and then started working on the king. I had this image in my head that I am still not sure where it came from for both of the kings and queens. I just went with what the grain pattern of the wood pieces when carving them and they turned out to be ok pieces. There are some small differences between the red and yellow pieces. The red royal set have their hands in front and the yellow set are in back. Their crowns are somewhat similar, as well as their clothing. The knights and bishops of both sets are almost identical. The rooks and pawns took a different shape from the one set compared to the other. In the end the whole thing turned out to be just small and a tad boring and was nowhere near worthy of being submitted to the fair. Disappointed in myself I knew I could do better than this. So once again the idea was put on hold until I could think of something more fitting.

Chess Texas style

I was looking for floral inspiration for the fair and nothing new was presenting itself as an idea for my entry. Once again here is the chessboard sitting on my desk always getting in the way. While looking at it I got the bright idea of just skipping the paper flowers and making a chess set instead. This would be a whole new thing for me as my carving experience was mostly just repairing the wooden pieces on clocks and the first chess set. I knew from the first set that the pieces and board would need to be bigger and able to stand up. I did some basic research to see what the dimensions and sizes of a standard chess set and board were. What the information I had a rough idea where to start. I decided to make the pieces and then find a board at the thrift store or online.

Texas themed chess pieces

The set would be my entry for the Texas state fair so the pieces would need to be an item that you would find in Texas. The King was easy enough, "Big Tex" is a fair icon and there could be no other choice. The two kings are identical except for the color switch to identify which side they belong too. The queen was more difficult to come up with a matching partner for "Big Tex" as I had never seen a "Mrs. Big Tex". Both queens turned out very similar with slight differences, mostly hair color. A chess set bishop is tall and slender and what in Texas was tall and slender, an oil derrick. The rook is usually portrayed like a castle tower, so what in Texas would be most like a castle, "The Alamo". The knight could easily have been a rancher, but why use a horse when the longhorn is much more iconic. The pawns were not so easy as there are quite a few things that came to mind. In the end the cowboy boot beat the armadillo simply because those were the last pieces I carved and it was easier for me to carve the 16 boots than 16 armadillos.

Why buy a board?

I had all of the pieces finished and that first board I made just would not do. It was too small and too crude and not made well. I could not submit a board I purchased as I felt that would be cheating and not suitable to submit to the fair. I would like to say thank you to my spouse at this point. As it goes, I was searching for anything that would make a chessboard when my spouse walks in the door was this square piece of paneling. I quickly claimed it and started drawing lines and getting my courage up to etch them into the panel. Each line tested my patience and stress level since each was cut into the panel using an exacto knife. I used a dark stain on every other square so it looked the part. It was still sort of plain so I had to build a case. That led to me adding a drawer under the board which has a cushioned spot for each piece. Finally, I learned how to hand sew and made a cover from an old curtain piece that was stained and discarded. One chess set complete and ready to go see the judges at the state fair.

Blue Ribbon

The last part of this journey was receiving that blue ribbon. When I started making the chess set I had never played chess. Since I did not know how to play chess, making a chess set seems odd. But the incentive to learn creates a whole new goal when you make something you are proud of. I know I can't wait to learn chess since I now have a chess set. I hope I have inspired you to take the challenge of learning something new and do it by making it yourself. Finally, I wish to thank @StateFairofTX Creative Arts team for that very special Blue Ribbon.