Edible Chess Set Takes First Prize In Gingerbread House Competition

Can you believe that a confection chess set was the winning entry in a gingerbread house competition? A delicious entry, called Pawn Stars, that featured 32 chess pieces with lively personalities took first prize at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C.

Artistic Gingerbread Creations

The competition was not limited to specific house constructions. As long as a gingerbread creation consists of at least 75 percent gingerbread and is constructed of material that is entirely edible, it can be submitted. Thus a chess set qualified for the 22nd annual National Gingerbread House Competition.

Chess Set Is Winning Idea

Can you visualize what the delightful chess set looked like? The knights were transformed into reindeer with golden antlers, and the bishops were impish elves. The rooks were whimsical Christmas trees with bulbous noses and toes peering from their foliage. The kings were Santa, of course. Like the queens, they were wearing detailed icing outfits and had very expressive faces.

Anne B. Bailey, the designer of the chess-themed entry, said, “They are playing against each other, so they had to have some strategy. They are thinking about their next move." The idea for her winning design came into her head when she was looking at her husband’s chessboard: “Dickens’ characters as chess pieces,” she said.

Fanciful Gingerbread Designs

About her gingerbread creations, Bailey says that she likes to create designs “that would attract the judges’ attention, that would make them stop and look. I’m very proud of what I did.” For the 22nd annual contest, her project was one of the more than 150 entries that competed for prizes totaling more than $20,000. Many contestants created traditional houses or fanciful structures such as an imaginary Hobbit house, a castle, and the Kremlin. The grand prize had a value of more than $7,500.

Judging Criteria

Entries were submitted in one of four categories: adult, teen, youth, and child. They were judged on overall appearance, originality and creativity, level of difficulty, precision, and consistency of theme by a panel of food, arts, and media professionals. Bailey’s entry was proclaimed the winner by a team of 11 judges, who included pastry chefs, the curator from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the author of Making Great Gingerbread Houses.

Because the competition attracts the highest quality of design, artistry, and pastry expertise, it has received broadcast coverage by NBC’s Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, the Travel Channel, and the Food Network.

Winning Entries On Display

For the 2025 competition (the 32nd annual one), 235 entries from 25 states vied for top honors. The winning entries are on display at the hotel through January 4. The famed Gingerbread Hall in the hotel welcomes 75,000 visitors each year to view the intricate gingerbread creations. In addition, Grove Park Inn showcases its incredible entries on Instagram.

Learn more about the National Gingerbread House Competition in this video: