Magnetic Chessboard Prototype

An idea I've been munching on:

well i can never tell if people are serious or not. But anyway i still like it better then the too small glass sets.

1:12 Goes from artificial Russian accent to very normal pronunciation.

i thought it was either artificial jewish or italian accent lol

It's a good idea, for players who want the superior experience of pushing decent pieces around on a wooden surface while maintaining the portabiity factor.

Could you connect the four squares somehow and still have them snap into position with the magnets?

Yes, there will be a groove in the connecting side edges.

-Izmet

Very nice.  I've seen the same idea done with much thicker (and undoubtedly more expensive) squares using dowels (think the extra leaf for the dining room table).  Your idea is more practical.  For tournament use if someone complained about the lack of algebraic notation it would be easy enough to just carry a spare mousepad/vinyl/silicone board and put the wooden board on top of it.  If the cost were reasonable, I'd buy one.

Looks like a neat idea, but I'm betting it's hard to just pick up the board and move it to another table with the game in progress.

Would be nice if you had a carrying case that you could slide the quarters of the board into and have another pouch for your chess pieces.

I think it would also be nice if the board had a border.  That board looks nice & playable, but to me it doesn't seem right without a border around the outside edge of the playing surface.

The problem is see with a dowels is that they might break during transportation. The magnetic board would also be faster to set up.  

This is probably not a good tournament board.

A game in the park is maybe another story. Or an afternoon at the girlfriend's house when you're fifteen and need an excuse.

-Izmet

lol

ifekali wrote:

Yes, there will be a groove in the connecting side edges.

-Izmet

Sounds good. What I had in mind, though, are hinges of sorts to keep the four pieces linked while they are stored.

A folding chesboard? Nope. Too complicated. It's done successfully with carton, but not wood.

http://tinyurl.com/ahc8x93

-Izmet

Another great idea Izmet. As far as it becoming a "foldable" board what about 2 small elastic cords mounted under the boards with felt backing covering them (to hide the cords and keep from catching on something)? Similar to small folding photo albums. (Just my silly thoughts)

Not a bad idea but the elastic will wear out over time.

Why not go all the way and break it down into 64 pieces?