Designing Chess Sets
for the Zen of It

I invite all of you to join me in the joy of designing an original chess set. I promise to make it very easy for you, so you needn't know how to play chess in order to design the set.

This is truly something you do because you want to, not because you feel you have to. AND, and it's a big AND, AND here you don't get graded. Nobody says "Good" or "Bad" or "Beautiful" or "Ugly." What it's all about is using your imagination.

Write your idea, or sketch it on paper, or make a painting, or better yet, make a model. Even if you make only the basic pieces, it's good enough. You can take as long as you want. You can work alone, or with someone else. Anything goes. All I want is for you to have fun. Promise?

Actually, to be honest, it's not all I want. What I'd like, what I'd really, really like, is for you to send me a picture of your set, pleeeeaaaasssseee. In return I've included one of my sets just for you alone, which you can cut out and construct for yourself. But you can cut it out only if you send me a picture of yours, pleeeeaaaasssseee.

For now let me tell you how I went about designing some of my sets.

Then I promise to make it easy for you by describing the pieces in more detail so that you have an idea of who the characters are and how they move on the board.

Have fun