Chess is a game that has existed for centuries, and it hasn’t really changed much during that time, especially in recent decades. The rules of the game are pretty much the same, which includes “power-ups” that were invented way before the term even showed up in video games. Of course, these moves don’t require any special piece outside of what’s already included in the entire set, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything to spruce it up.
This rather elaborate 3D printed design, for example, solves the practical problem of how to represent a pawn that has reached the opposite end and “evolved” into a queen. Sure, you can just try to remember which is which, but wouldn’t it be easier if you had spare queen pieces instead? Better yet, why not just literally evolve the pawn instead, keeping the chess set simple, relatively?
Designer: Works By Design
“Queening” is what happens when a pawn is crowned and gains the queen’s large movement powers when it reaches the opposite end of the board. In some cases, when your queen has already been captured, you can simply swap out the pieces. But what if your queen is still there or, by some stroke of luck, you have two pawns that become queens?
This form-changing pawn is one solution that utilizes 3D printing, springs, magnets, and a rather complicated internal design. The challenge was to take a regular-sized pawn and have it not only expand to the size of a queen but also exhibit its features, particularly its flared crown. If you’ve ever watched Transformers, then you might get the idea more or less.
The design underwent several iterations, particularly with the spring mechanism that holds the pieces together and then pushes them out to expand. In the end, the simpler version won out, though the final pawn size was definitely larger than normal. Fortunately, it still fits within international standards, so it probably won’t be contested in an official match.
The 3D-printed pawn uses magnets in its feet to trigger the expansion mechanism, so placing it on any metal surface, like the back row of this custom-made chess board, would make it spring into action, so to speak. It’s definitely a convoluted design for a rather simple problem, but it also adds a bit of excitement and thrill to the game, becoming a goal of its own in addition to actually winning the match.
