The black and white squares with the line-up of miniature battalions have always been the object of artistic curiosity and expression. Exceptional designs and experiments have been part of chessboard innovations. The luminous chessboard, the chessboard with a robotic player, three-dimensional chess pieces, and the digital chessboard are some of the futuristic additions to the brainy sport’s battleground. For the quirkier lot there’s even an edible version of the board game!
The recent “Mind, Art Experience: 10 years of Chess & Culture in Saint Louis”exhibition at St.Louis, Missouri, showcased fascinating takes on the traditional chessboard by some of the top-notch artists from around the world. From Yoko Ono’s all-white-set to Rachel Whiteread’s dollhouses-inspired chess set, the winsome variations reflected that aspect of chess that is appealing to the mind, art, and experience.
So is African designer Philion’s recent version of chessboard that blends Chess and the native African board game Ayo.
The hybrid chessboard
Philion, the creditable designer from Africa has scrupulously crafted a chessboard that is a cross-breed of traditional chess and Ayo, the board game from the West African ethinc community Yoruba.
Philion’s minimalist take on chess with a free-flowing design on natural wood is strikingly elegant and poetic. The hybrid sports a rectangular structure and attributes analogous to that of chess.
As Ayo is conventionally played using seeds, Philion revamped the chess pieces to resemble the shapes of seeds. The designer coalesced the two board games by gleaning the molds of traditional chess pieces into globular forms and engraving circular pockets into the chessboard to replace the traditional black and white squares. The pieces have smooth curvy edges to make them fit into the circular pockets effortlessly. The pockets provide the chess pieces an anchored grip to ensure the adequate stability and steadiness required for playing the game.
While the game is primarily chess, the setup and tone of Ayo make the board distinct. The chessboard takes on a plain unembellished profile. It is made with organic wooden components and has a chaste design. This blend manages to capture the true essence of both chess and ayo. The game provides a nostalgic significance to Africans with the cultural roots playing a role.
Ayo from Yoruba
Ayo is a time-honored game played by the Yorubas, an ethnic group that dwells in the South Western part of Nigeria. Having striking resemblance to the South Indian traditional board game “Pallankuzhi”, Ayo is played for both amusement and boosting intelligence as it acts as a tool to enhance mathematical abilities.
Similar to chess, Ayo is a two-player board game with both the players taking turns to play the game. Like chess, Ayo enhances the intellectual and cognitive skills of the players. Yet, Ayo differs from chess in the fact that it does not have special pieces that are crafted to play the game. A native game of the ethnic group, Ayo solely uses seeds for gameplay (much like “Pallankuzhi”) whilst chess has distinct pieces that come in diverse shapes and names like King, Queen, Knight, Rook, Bishop, and Pawn, each possessing significant benefits to win the game.
While both the games help with developing the analytical thinking skills in the players; there is still a subtle difference. Chess mostly caters to the evolution of the player's logical thinking while ayo focuses on both logical progression and fostering mathematical skills.
The hybrid chessboard is perfect for people who are stultified out of playing the same games and wish to experiment by getting their hands on something new.
Contemporary designs for chessboard
We must be fortuitous to the creative minds who keep the spark of ancient games alive with innovative designs and artistic expressions.
Like Bülent Ünal, from Turkey, who invented a chessboard that lightens up while playing, modern twists to traditional games makes them more appealing to learners or the public.
'Illuminis', the artificial intelligence-based chessboard designed by Bülent in 2019 was inspired by his little daughter who had asked him to teach her the game. Bülent’s unique chess board consists of visual indicators that are battery-powered and have a light display for younglings learning how to play the game.
The unique designs displayed at the exhibition at the St.Louis Hall of fame also speaks of mass appeal, and meaningful innovations to the chess board. Tom Freidman’s chess set at the exhibition was crafted in such a way that every piece was distinct and unique. Yoko Ono’s all-white-set, named ‘Play it by trust’, reflected grave issues like the Cold War, military conflict, and nuclear arms race in Vietnam, while Rachel Whiteread’s Modern Chess Set took a lighter note on dollhouse-inspired pieces.
Winding Up
Ancient board games like chess are interlaced with an essence of nostalgia that makes it precious to be preserved for the future generation. The avant-garde of releasing natty versions of the games helps in both preserving their cultural and historical values besides making them more appealing for the current generation.
Be it Philion's hybrid chess-ayo version or Bülent's AI-backed chessboard, these unique concepts give an appealing twist to the mind games, keeping them afloat amidst the surge of virtual and video games.