The World Championship Chess Set

The World Championship Chess Set made its debut at the 2013 Candidates Tournament in London England as the official set of F.I.D.E (Federation International D’Echecs). The victor of the tournament, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, went on to use the set to defeat Viswanathan Anand of India.

This brand new set was created by renowned architect and designer Daniel Weil of Pentagram. Weil’s idea was to create pieces fashioned after architectural elements of the Parthenon in Greece while incorporating an ergonomic slant according to typical handling of the pieces. Daniel has worked on product design, packaging, interiors and art direction for clients such as Swatch, Krug, Benetton, EMI, Coca-Cola, Grey Goose, Mont Blanc, the Bulgari Hotel in Milan, the Dorchester in London.

The pieces, from Studio Anne Carlton of England, are derived from graded Boxwood that has been weighted and appropriately balanced. Unlike convention to date, the bases of the pieces have white felt for the light pieces and black felt for the dark pieces.The 20 inch board is inlaid with precisely cut veneer of Maple and rich dark Rosewood. Both the pieces and board are supplied with branded packaging.