World Championship Chess Set Craftsmanship

Having just come out of the World Chess Championship, there is obviously an extensive amount of content about the moves played by the players and the deep ideas behind them. There is an immense amount of work put in by both players and their teams, as well as everyone who has to make the event and streaming possible. However, today I want to focus on the amount of work and precision that goes into creating the pieces themselves that the players use throughout their games — an often overlooked detail.

These chess pieces are the only ones that are approved by FIDE for the World Championship events. Having been first seen at the World Championship Candidates Tournament in 2013, these pieces are now a tradition at every following W.C event. The set was originally designed by architect Daniel Weil, a well-known architect and industrial designer. The redesign of the pieces came about at the request of World Chess, which aimed to give the game of chess more visibility by revamping the chess set along with campaigns and the playing environment.

Weil initially took inspiration from the Staunton Chess Set, which was used since 1849. He followed a classical theme and adjusted the height of each of the pieces to reflect the structure of the Greek Parthenon. The king obviously is the tallest piece, but also the widest, with all the pieces of lesser importance having a narrower base. Weil also put a lot of thought into the idea behind each piece. The knight, being the only piece that can jump, was given a base resembling a hoof.

Fun Fact: Weil was given the honor of making the first move in the World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in 2018. 

A full set of Official World Chess Championship board and pieces costs just under a whopping $600. Each individual piece is hand-carved from trunks of wood (dried for 3-6 months), contributing to the cost. There are less than 10 people in the entire world who are trusted to carve the knights, due to their extremely difficult shape. Additionally, only 250 sets are produced each year because of the sheer time that it takes to make one set; the exclusivity of these hand-crafted sets further contributes to its cost.

Carvers are trained for up to 5 months (closer to 5 years for the knight) to prepare for the difficulty of the carving task. Special tools are required for the precision of each specific chess piece. The knights can take up to 2 hours to carve, compared to a few minutes for other pieces. Each piece must be perfectly symmetrical, the same weight (triple-weighted), and proportional to all the other pieces of the same type — still keep in mind that these are carved by hand. Not only is the purpose of the piece design aesthetic, but also optimal for visibility and a weighted feel in the players' hands. 

If you would like to buy an exclusive Official Chess Set (board, pieces, or both!), they can be purchased over at shop.worldchess.com. 

Sources: Design Week, Business Insider, World Chess