Hanging Chess

The hardboard tic-tac-toe and checkers games came out nice so I wanted to try a chess set.

A wall mount chess set that hangs like a painting would be nice. I saw some in google images but the squares are tall and narrow as are the boards. I’d rather have my chess board square. I decided to design some flat pieces that are more square. Also a less conspicuous method of suspending them rather than the large shelf system.

Another thing I think would be nice is to have two sets of pieces. So there will be two styles of light and two styles of dark pieces for players to choose from.

I had imagined an indicator to show who’s move it is but eventually came up with this red marker that can be on the last moved piece. So what’s left is to design the hangar system and the storage for pieces.

I’m nearly ready to cut this thing out. I’ve got a hanging system designed where you screw a board to the wall and then the chess set clips onto that.

There is only one problem left that I have not solved. The little clips that hold the pieces would be very difficult to add wood finish.

One I idea I am working on is to make the board without the little holes for the clips. Put whatever wood finish on it. Once it’s perfect then put it back in the CNC and cut the holes for the clips. The only difficulty this leaves is how to finish all the little clips. That could be very tedious brushing them and sanding… Any ideas?

I may try a game of checkers for fun too. On the checker front, I think the king-ing could be done by flipping the piece… It could look different on the other side. One consideration is that checkers is an action game. When you jump all around the board taking your opponents pieces off it would feel very different on the wall mount. If we can live with that, adding checkers may be just a matter of making up some round pieces that look different on each side.

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Published on: May 23, 2014 @ 16:23

6 Responses to “Hanging Chess

  • Ideas for hanging:
    Decorative Screw Cap
    Mirror Holder

  • But I’m really hedging towards having a red marker that attaches to the last piece that was moved.

    I can make a marker that will attach to the loop that holds each piece…. I’ll draw it up tonight…

  • Good ideas.

    Thanks…

    I’m out of hardboard so have a couple days to figure this out.

  • Some ideas:
    1. How about a small knob with pointer
    2. rotary knob that uncovers one colour as it is turned. The exposed colour marks the colour of the next player.
    3. Ball in race between two spaced magnets. The ball’s location (i.e. snapped to one of the two magnets) indicates the next position.
    4. Push-button “bistable”. When one button is pushed in, the other pops out and visa-versa.

  • Here’s how to tell who’s move it is. This set has a marker for “last move”. link

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