The Chess World Championship Board and Pieces: A Comprehensive Guide
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There are thousands of chess sets, boards and pieces available around the world, but as you would imagine a very special set is used for the Chess World Championship.
The chess set used in the world championship was designed by Daniel Weil for Pentagram after the 2012 World Championship and has been used ever since. The chessboard is a DGT Tournament e-board created by DGT in the Netherlands measuring 55mm x 55mm field size with 2.2: squares.
So chess fans, read on and find out more about the world championship chess set, how much they cost and where you can buy them as well as who designed it for World Chess.
What Chess Set Is Used In the World Chess Championship Match
The chess pieces used for the Chess World Championship are created by a company called Pentagon. They were commissioned and set to work with renowned designer Daniel Weil to come up with individual pieces.
Based on the original Staunton design of course, the pieces were commissioned by FIDE to be the official chess pieces of the chess world championships.
The King of course stands 3.75′ tall, they are triple weighted and as you can see from the image below, each individual chess piece is quite a thing of beauty.
How Much does it cost?
You’ll be looking at paying $350 – $500 for a complete set of official world championship chess pieces with double queens boxed and certified original minus any shipping costs. The Pentagram set offers superb value for a classic and revered set of 34 pieces. You know why there are extra queens right? And the contrast between the white pieces and black pieces in this set is superb.
Specification
- Balance: 0.18
- King Height 3.75 inch
- Triple Weighted
- Double Queens
What Chess Board is Used in the World Chess Championship Match
The board that is used in the world championship match is made in The Netherlands by DGT, the board is called the DGT Tournament e-board and has a swathe of exciting and innovative features
The boards are available in a range of three types of woods, Walnut, Rosewood or Wengé and feature 21st-century technology with internet and USB connectivity. Technology that allows games on the boards to be recorded or broadcast live. An international chess players dream.
Pretty handy when you have scores of millions of chess fans around the world tuning in to see if anyone can get close to beating Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen over the board.
How Much Does it Cost?
The official chess board used in the world championships the DGT Tournament e-board will cost between $300-$500 for various models and connectivity capabilities. A choice of USB or Bluetooth connectivity are available for this 2.2″ square board measuring 54cm x 54cm.
The board is also available with indices, and in plastic for a more economical option for chess lovers. The championship board actually costs more than the pentagram set of pieces.
Specification
- Board size: 540 x 540 mm (21.3″ x 21.3″)
- Field size: 55 x 55 mm ( 2.2″ x 2.2″)
- USB Connectivity for recording and/or Broadcast
Daniel Weil designed the World Championship Chess Set
Daniel Weil no longer works at Pentagram but was the chief designer in 2012 when FIDE approached Pentagram to design and produce the branding for the Official chess world championships and the accompanying chess set to be used in the matches and the final.
Daniel Weil was born in Argentina and studied architecture before moving to London and gaining an MA at the Royal College of Art.
He joined Pentagram in 1992 and designed directly for Madonna, Swatch, Mont Blanc, Lego, and Coca-Cola while also being commissioned to design branding for World Chess.
He left Pentagram for other projects in 2020
Pentagram are the company design and produce the World Championship Chess Pieces.
Pentagram has been around since 1972 being founded in Notting Hill in London, but since that time expanding with offices in New York, California, Germany, and more.
Primarily known for their work in graphic design, Pentagram they have also worked successfully in branding creating new corporate identities for the likes of United Airlines, Citibank, and of World Chess where they set designer Daniel Weil to work to create the World Chess Official championship chess set.
Where Can I buy the Official World championship Chess Set and Chessboard?
So now you know all there is to know about which board and pieces chess champions Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi played over at the World Championship 2021at Dubai Exhibition Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, between 24 November and 12 December 2021.
You’ve also the combined cost of around $1000 to own the complete official world chess set and are still interested in adding it to your collection (presumably this isn’t for the kids!!), so where you can you buy the world chess championship set and board?
Chess Set
In all honesty good luck with buying the official chess set created by Pentagram.
Only a limited production run are produced at a time and it sells out very quickly.
There are some listings available both from official outlets, and then some dubious offerings on sites like eBay, which should be avoided, if no no other reason then they are hugely overpriced.
If there are to be any in stock, World Chess is worth checking from time to time.
Also, Chess Baron claims to have some in stock at the time of writing this article which obviously can not be guaranteed by the time you might be reading it.
Both are priced around the $350 mark which is a fair price.
As mentioned before, you will see a price $100 dollars in excess of this and as high as $500 or more on some, let’s say, slightly less reliable websites.
Chess Board
Handily, the official world championship chess board can be found conveniently available on Amazon. among other places.
As we have seen above the price of the board is actually greater than that of the beautifully designed and created chess pieces, and there are some superb chess boards available for a fraction of the same price.
If you are looking for the all-singing, all dancing USB and Bluetooth technology, and have a use for it, then go right ahead, it will serve you well, is built to the very highest quality standards and will last you for years.
But if you are looking just for a board to play a game of chess on with the superb championship pieces, there is plenty of choice without the electronic that will, look, feel and be the part without causing the same sized hole in your bank account.
Summary
Owning the exact same chess board and pieces used in the official Chess World Championship would be some treat and thankfully, while it may cost quite a lot to have the pieces and board, you can own the pieces at least, for less than $400, and that feels like a bargain for me.
Featured image photo credit: https://ruchess.ru/news/all/magnus_karlsen_sokhranil_titul_chempiona_mira/
Also Read
One may presume if you are reading this article then you are already quite familiar with the game of chess. If you have arrived and are still learning, right form the fundamentals then also consider How to Set Up a Chess Board Correctly
