How to Build A Chess Set from Scratch

When you visit someone’s house for the first time, do you check to see if they have an unusual chess set? I do. I am drawn to challenge them to a game just so I can play with those unusual pieces. I yearn for the tactile delight of a highly polished rosewood set or the feel of a cool carved jade set. 

The anticipation of playing with a fantasy fairy set has me planning my attack before the first piece is even moved. I even have a favorite set, it is not made of marble, but it is unique. My favorite set is a little corroded and rusty. It is a little odd to play with but I usually beat all opponents with it. My father and I made it one summer when we were vacationing at a remote lake cabin during the rainiest week of the season. With nothing to do, we started tinkering with the nuts and bolts in the trunk of his car. 

We quickly fashioned a pawn out of a one inch bolt and some nuts. A bishop required the one and a half inch, slightly thicker bolt and all the washers we could root out of that trunk. We were hooked. After a two hour drive to the nearest hardware store to buy out their stock of nuts, bolts, washers, all manner of spacers and some spray paint. We used short, thick bolts for the pawns. Slightly taller bolts stacked with split washers and topped with a castle nut for the rooks. 

For the king, we used a two and half inch bolt, with alternating washers, nuts and spacers. The king must be extravagant so every inch of that bolt was covered! It is a very satisfying process to design your own pieces. The superior pieces were the most fun. Deciding how to stack the elements for a King or Queen took the better part of one afternoon. 

After assembling all pieces, we spray painted them and drew out a board on some newspaper. We played with that chess set for the rest of that vacation and for the few remaining years I had with my father before he passed away. That vacation is one of my most cherished memories and that chess set is one of my most prized possessions.