Wednesday, October 26, 2011

17 Movies about chess, to inspire you in your next game.

hess,If you are thinking to take an hour break at your chess training and relax a little bit, you may check out these seventeen great chess movies, this may help you get inspired in your next game.




 The Seventh Seal [1993]


A Knight and his squire are home from the crusades. Black Death is sweeping their country. As they approach home, Death appears to the knight and tells him it is his time. The knight challenges Death to a chess game for his life. The Knight and Death play as the cultural turmoil envelopes the people around them as they try, in different ways, to deal with the upheaval the plague has caused.




chess movie the seventh seal


Brainwashed


In 1938 Austria shortly after the Nazi occupation, a prominent Viennese intellectual, Werner von Basil, is arrested for smuggling art treatures out of the country and imprisoned by the Gestapo in a hotel room without any mental sustence of any kind to break him down to make him talk while a young ballerina, named Irene Adreny whom is the lover of the SS officer Berger playing mind games on von Basil, tries to intervene and help the poor intellectual keep his mind intact.






Chess Fever [1925]


With an international chess tournament in progress, a young man becomes completely obsessed with the game. His fiancée has no interest in it, and becomes frustrated and depressed by his neglect of her, but wherever she goes she finds that she cannot escape chess. On the brink of giving up, she meets the world champion, Capablanca himself, with interesting results.






The Chess Players [1977]


Circa British rule in India, two slightly eccentric noblemen in India, indulge in chess, day and night, without any regard to the change in the situation, personal life, and the eminent threat of the British taking over their region, becoming a harsh reality. Even when they are forced to leave their comfortable homes, they continue to play chess in the mosquito-ridden outdoors, with two loaded pistols, ready to oppose the British, or even themselves, if need be.




Dangerous Moves [1984]


A well filmed movie of the tense contest for the World Championship between Soviet player Akiva Liebeskind (undoubtedly modeled after International Grandmaster Akiba Rubenstein, a magnificent master of the endgame, originally a rabbinical student in Poland who never quite made it to the World Championship level and declined into mental illness), and Liebeskind's challenger, Grandmaster Pavius Fromm (almost certainly named after "From" of the From's Gambit in chess). Fromm, a Lithuanian political exile from behind the Iron Curtain, is an arrogant dislikeable pawn of the Soviets who have kept his wife prisoner. Virtually unrecognizable are their wives, the once lovely Leslie Caron and Swedish star Liv Ullman who have little more than bit parts.








Fresh [1994]


Michael (or Fresh as he's well known) is a 12-year-old drug pusher who lives in a crowded housing project with his cousins and aunt. His father has become a street bum, but still meets with Fresh on occasion to play chess. Fresh is rather quiet in a crazy world. Fresh's sister is a junkie who sleeps with the dealers who Fresh sells for. As the story progresses Fresh realizes that he doesn't want to sell drugs anymore, he wants out. 






Geri's Game [1997]


watch Geri's game in youtube


In an empty, tree-filled park, an old man sets out a game of chess. Sitting, he puts on spectacles and makes the first move: 1) e4. He removes his glasses, stands, and with the bent shuffle of a pensioner, walks around the table to sit on the other side. He smiles, his eyes brighten, he chuckles and makes his move. He walks to the other side, sits, puts on his glasses, and makes a move. The game continues, and soon Black is shredding White's defenses, taking piece after piece. Soon White is down to his king. Things are hopeless; in fact, White grasps his chest, in pain. Is there any way he can turn the tables on Black, his grinning self?






The Great Chess Movie [1982]


This is an interesting movie for those who are chess fans. It is somewhat dated now.


It deals with the world of professional chess circa 1981 - before the fall of the Soviet Union. Good features regarding a younger Fischer and a good set of scenes regarding the circumstances around the championship match between Karpov and Korchnoi in Meran in 1981.


If you are a chess player, you will really enjoy the scenes of the world class players playing at Lone Pine (a tournament that no longer exists) and the history of chess as portrayed in the film. If you are not player, this will probably not mean much to you.


Definitely a low cost documentary but you can tell it was made with a love of the game.






 Ivory Tower [2010]


Hershell & Thadeus, two chess-playing brothers and their unhealthy rivalry over both the chessboard and a woman. Hershell is a chess purist, the prodigal son, Thadeus a disciplined, ruthless competitor. After 4 nomadic years in Europe, in quixotic pursuit of 'Jazz Chess' (chess for chess' sake, no winner, no loser, only beautiful positions), Hershell returns home. Thadeus is a successful but arrogant Canadian Chess Champion engaged to marry Marsha, Hershell's former sweetheart. Hershell challenges Thaddeus in the next Canadian Chess Championship. During the final match,Thadeus is flustered by Hershell's Zen-like demeanor, and sets himself up for certain defeat. But instead, Hershell uses the principle of Jazz Chess to force a draw. Marsha admires Hershell's selfless move, but leaves - she won't be either brothers' trophy.




Knight Moves [1992]


A chess grandmaster is in a big tournament, and when his lover is found painted up and the blood drained out of her body he becomes a chief suspect. After he gets a call from the killer urging him to try and figure out the game, he cooperates with police and a psychologist to try and catch the killer, but doubts linger about the grandmaster's innocence as the string of grisly murders continues.








Knights of the South Bronx [2005]


A business man decides that he wants to teach school in the inner city and chooses a tough school in the South Bronx. He teaches the children how to play the game of chess, and along the way they learn a lot about life.








The Luzhin Defence [2000]


Set in the late 1920s, The Luzhin Defence tells the story of a shambling, unworldly chess Grand Master who arrives in the Italian Lakes to play the match of his life and unexpectedly finds the love of his life. Discovering his prodigious talent in boyhood overshadowed by his parents' failing marriage, Luzhin's lyrical passion for chess has become his refuge and rendered the real world a phantom. Already matched up by her family to the very suitable Comte de Stassard, when Natalia meets Luzhin, she is drawn to the erratic genius and offers him a glimpse outside of his chess obsession. But it is a world he is not equipped to deal with and his two worlds collide to tragic effect.


chess movie the luzhin defence






Maximum Shame [2010]


Time is running out and future is a black hole.


chess movie maximum shame




Queen of Cactus Cove [2005]


Teenage chess champ Billie (Alia Shawkat) faces the prospect of defeat for the first time when she faces her best friend (Alex Frost) at the biggest chess tournament of her career.


chess movie queen of cactus cove




Queen Sacrifice [1988]


A welsh school teacher attempts to guard his teenage protege's genius for chess from his burgeoning libido.


chess movie queen sacrifice




Queen to Play [2009]


Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline shine in this sophisticated feel-good comedy set in idyllic Corsica. Middle-aged chambermaid Hélène's newfound obsession with the game of chess leads her to seek the tutelage of a reclusive American expat, transforming both of their ho-hum lives in the process.


chess movie queen to move




Searching for Bobby Fischer [1993]


Josh Waitzkin is just a typical American boy interested in baseball when one day he challenges his father at chess and wins. Showing unusual precocity at the outdoor matches at Washington Square in New York City, he quickly makes friends with a hustler named Vinnie who teaches him speed chess. Josh's parents hire a renowned chess coach, Bruce, who teaches Josh the usefulness of measured planning. Along the way Josh becomes tired of Bruce's system and chess in general and purposely throws a match, leaving the prospects of winning a national championship in serious jeopardy.


chess movie searching bobby fisher










Source: imdb.com

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Famous movies chess scene

Its always a treat to see chess scenes while watching a good movie (at least for chesscrafters). And so I hoarded some of the chess scenes from good (if not great) movies.

Here is another post movies about chess if ever you prefer to see movies in which chess is the star.

Twilight - Breaking Dawn [2011]
Not so many teens of this generation have missed the romance between Bella a hot geeky babe and Edward, a mysterious hunk vampire, on this scene we see Edward playing the blood-red pieces.
Twilight breaking dawn edward and bella playing chess chesscraft

Austin Powers: The spy who shagged me [1999]
Austin is playing chess with Ivana Humpalot (hump-a-lot), and became sexually aroused, this scene is actually a spoof of a "The Thomas Crown Affair".

Independence day [1996]
The second highest worldwide gross of all time, with almost $900 million dollar, a great movie about aliens earth invasion, but thanks to Will Smith (a real-life chess enthusiast), luckily he's there to save the day.

The chess scene was filmed in a New York park, but the most unforgettable scene was the alien's gigantic spaceship's laser blast of Washington D.C.
independence day playing chess new york city park chesscraft



007: From Russia with love [1963]
The movie Nigel mentions, From Russia with Love, was produced in 1963. One of the villains is Kronsteen, played by Vladek Sheybal, master plotter for the terror organisation SPECTRE. Kronsteen is also a world-class chess player who, when asked if his plan would be successful, replies: "It will be. I've anticipated every possible variation of countermove." And Bond's colleague, the Turkish operative Kerim Bey, says of him: "These Russians are great chess players. When they wish to execute a plot, they execute it brilliantly. The game is planned minutely, the gambits of the enemy are provided for."

james bond playing chess movie chesscraft


X-men first class [2011]
The prequel of X-men shows how Charles Xavier and Erik Lenscher (Magneto) friendship turned to hostility, but it wasn't chess to blame. Erik's thirst for revenge to the ones responsible to the death of his mother, consumed him.

magneto vs xavier chess xmen chesscraft
Harry Potter [2001]
Based from the book written by J.K Rowlings , tells about the adventures of Harry Potter in the wizardy school Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

A giant Wizard's Chessboard was the third-to-last layer of security for the Philosopher's Stone. Harry played as one of the black bishops, Hermione as a rook, and Ron as a Knight. Using his extensive knowledge of chess, Ronald Weasley managed to get him, Harry, and Hermione Granger across, ultimately sacrificing himself to the White Queen so that Harry could checkmate the King. 

harry potter chess scene chesscraft


Dawn of the dead [2004]
In George Romero's excellent remake of the zombie classic Dawn of the Dead, we see two characters, Andy (pictured) and Kenneth, on two rooftops playing correspondence chess with binoculars and cue cards. Why are they doing this? Well there are thousands of zombies between them and not a whole lot else to do.
dawn of the dead playing chess zombies watching chesscraft

Lucky Number Slevin [2006]
is a decent movie with fast-paced, smart dialogue and, coincidentally, Ben Kingsley who played the chess teacher Bruce Pandolfini in Searching for Bobby Fischer. He plays a jewish mobster here. But I digress. Morgan Freeman, aka "The Boss" (pictured) challenges Slevin (Josh Hartnett) to a game of chess as a chance to pay off a debt. Bruce Willis has a role and also plays against The Boss. We don't see too much, but it's still a nice nod.


morgan freeman playing chess lucky number slevin chesscraft


The Thomas Crown affair [1968]
The movie revolves around Thomas Crown, A millionaire and sportsman trying to pull off a perfect crime, by robbing a money from a bank, on the course comes Vicki Anderson an independent insurance investigator  who swear to retrieve the money.

The chess game between Thomas and Vicki is intimate, adding the great musical score "The Chess Game".

thomas crown affair erotic chess scene chesscraft

Monday, September 26, 2011

Chess games ended in violence (Chess darkest hours)

chuck norris chess club
In some occasions we witnessed (if not been part) misunderstandings Composebetween chess players, or even sometimes found ourselves dreaming of redecorating our opponent's face with checkered, it is not easy to deal defeat's negative feeling nor wear a smile after our  ego got badly bruised, but a determined chess player should also see that surviving the annihilating moments is what makes the champions.

Chess is not just an sport or a game, it is also an art, a complex art that requires a partner to accomplished a masterpiece, and a respect to the second party is a must.
"Chess indeed mimics life, you can't just go on fulfilled playing the light squares, you should also deal with the bitterness dark squares" - Chesscraftman

The oldest recorded chess related violence could be found in Arabic Manuscript. This involves Al Walid an Umayyad caliph (arabic dynasty ruler), the incident happens when the caliph found out that his courtier, who he is regularly playing shatanj or chess with, is intentionally losing the game to him. The caliph got very upset and offended that he hurled the firzan (equivalent  to queen) to the courtiers head resulting to its death, good thing nowadays chess pieces are made out of plastic or wood instead of rocks. That courtier is at the wrong place and time, I know people who enjoys such courtesy and will even pay.


firzan-shatanj-chess chesscraft
An 8 inch Firzan rock













The son of Pepin the Short (Charlmagne 714-768 AD) who have no historical significance, found a way to history context, by hitting Okarius (Okar), the prince of Bavaria at the head with a rochus (rook), resulting to its death, and I am beginning to understand now, why modern chess pieces is made up of light materials such as plastics.



William the Conqueror, was the first norman king of england and the Duke on Normandy, hit the Prince of France with chessboard after he got checkmated.

Of all chess-related violence, the next one should have the biggest impact in history, when around 1120, King Henry I of England and King Louis VI of France got into a fistfight over a game of chess in Paris, this event was supposedly the start of England and France 12-year war.



england vs france chess set
England vs France chess set

The first known chess-related violence leaped to court happened in Essex, in 1251, when a what should be battle of wits chess match ended into stabbing, after losing a game it angered him too much that he grabbed a knife and stabbed his opponent in the stomach, resulting to its death.





A man was injured while operating an Ajeeb (a chess automation), happens when a man got upset when beaten, he loaded his rifle and fired a shot at the machine. One the famous player of the Ajeeb is Pillsbury.

During the Candidates Tournament in Curacao (1962), Arthur Bisguier was assigned to second to Pal Benko and Fischer. On May 9, Benko came looking for Bisguier in Fischer's room to get some help in analyzing his adjourned game with Petrosian. Fischer told Benko to leave and they both got in a fist fight. The next day Fischer wrote a letter to the organizing committee to fine and/or expel Benko from the tournament. The letter was ignored.

I know a pgn game is not as good as the fist fight video, but unfortunately nobody brought their smartphones with them.




Who wouldn't want a wife very supportive of our chess career (or agony), but nothing more on what Tigran Petrosian's wife did during 1971 Candidates Final in Buenos Aires, after his husband lost to Fischer, Rona Petrosian slapped Alexei Suetin for failing to give an accurate analysis for the the adjourned match.
rona petrosian's wife chesscraft
But if you insists that she is your dream girl, and want her to be your queen, here is a little help.

Chess is to blame for what could probably the first space fist fight, when in 1980's the Soviet Union banned cosmonauts to play chess against each other, after it resulting to a fist fight between two cosmonauts.

In 1989, A Russian scientist was killed with an axe by his colleague after winning a chess game at the Vostok Research Station in the Antarctic.
scientists playing chess

In 1994, Martin Wirth of Fort Collins, Colorado, shot to death Vernie Cox after the two argued over a chess game.  Cox died of two gunshot wounds to the chest.  Witnesses said that Wirth had lost a chess game with Cox, knocked over the chess board and some furniture, then began to argue with his opponent.  Wirth went across the street to his home and returned with a gun and shot Cox to death.

During the early 1990s, Rustam Kamsky, a former boxer and father of Gata Kamsky, would often go to chess tournaments with his son and threaten anyone who he perceived was disturbing the concentration of his son.  In 1994, Rustam threatened to kill grandmaster Nigel Short at a restaurant during a Kamsky-Short chess match. 

In 2000, Laurence Douglas of Puoghkeepsie, New York, stabbed Craig Williams to death over a chess game.  Williams had just beaten Douglas in a chess game that had a $5 wager.  Williams took a$5 bill from Douglas after the game.  Douglas then pulled out a knife and stabbed Williams 16 times.

In 2003, Simon Andrews of Falls Township, Pennsylvania, stabbed to death Jerry Kowalski during a chess game.  Authorities said that Andrews was disturbed by Kowalski’s constant talking during their chess games.  Andrews then pulled a knife from under a sofa-bed mattress and stabbed Kowalski in the neck.  Andrews was sentenced from 15 to 30 years in state prison.

In 2005, junior champion David Howell of England (now a grandmaster) punched the organizer of the European Union Chess Championship when it turned out that Howell would not win a prize.  It turned out that titled players were not eligible for junior prizes.
david howell chess chess craft
The prize fighter/boxer


In 2006, during the Turin chess Olympiad, UK grandmaster Daniel Gormally punched Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian to the ground at a nightclub.  The two got in a jealous dispute over 19-year-old chess playing beauty Arianne Caoili.  Caoili’s energetic dancing with Aronian provoked Gormally to fight.

aronian caoili gormally fight chess chesscraft


In October 2008, David Christian of Iowa City got in a fight with Michael Steward while playing a game of chess at the rooming house where they both lived.  He was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.  Christian choked Steward to death.

In February 2009, a man killed a friend with a sword after a chess game in Alameda, California.  An argument broke out during their game, and the two started wrestling.  Joseph Groom retreated to his bedroom and returned with a sword, which he used to stab Kelly Kjersem once.  Kjersem later died. 

Sources:
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/violence.html
http://www.chessville.com/BillWall/ChessViolenceandCrime.htm
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/fischer.htm
      

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Crazy and weird chess players


Wilhelm Steinitz
Willhelm steinitz crazy chess players



As a chess writer he is objective in writing and defended his ideas vigorously  from critics, when at a chessboard, he is worst, he earned the reputation as ill-mannered and violent, on both winning and losing, one of the his remarkable account is when he spat at his opponent, Blackburne, during a dispute in a game, his remarked after the incident was :

…he struck with his full fist into my eye, which he blackened and might have knocked out.  And though he is a powerful man of very nearly twice my size, who might have killed me with a few such strokes, I am proud to say that I had the courage of attempting to spit into his face, and only wish I had succeeded. 


Another of his outrageous and eccentric behavior was walking around his yard barefooted, trying to contact people he knew, with his wireless telephone. He believes his strong will power can relay signals in any distance.  He also tried to contact God using his "wireless" telephone and challenge him to a game. He had a delusion  of having telekinesis, wherein he is capable of move chess pieces using only his mind. He died broke prematurely in an asylum.

Aron Nimzowitsch

The innovator of nimzo-indian in which its name was based to his creator, his most hilarious act was when defeat was inevitable during a rapid chess game match against Fritz Saemisc (another chess opening innovator himself), he climbed up to the table and screamed "Why I must lose to this idiot?," enough to make even poker star Phil Hellmuth blush, in another occasion, he slashed all four tires of someone's Ford focus due to an outrage (probably. It would have been five if there is a reserve tire). During tournaments, he would do aerobics by going to the corner of main hall and stand on his head. A popular, but probably apocryphal, story is that once when an opponent laid a cigar on the table, he complained to the tournament arbiters, "he is threatening to smoke, and as an old player you must know that the threat is stronger than the execution." He is also paranoid that he is always being served with less food compared to others, Kmoch a friend of him, trying to help him with his paranoia offered to exchange plates with him, but after doing so, he shook his head, still in disbelief that he is being served with fewer portion.


Paul Morphy - Widely considered the greatest chess player of his era, and is often referred to as an unofficial World Champion. He had given a five simultaneous game against group of masters considered among the top ten players of the day, scoring 3-2.


Perhaps one of the most tragic stories, at his time, chess was not accepted as a descent profession, when he proposed his love to a handsome lady, he got rejected because of his chess profession, then Morphy decided to abandon chess and focus in practicing law, but unfortunately American Civil War broke, He opposed the war and did not serve in confederate army, causing him not being able to practice law. People would go visit him in his office just to ask him to go back and play chess.

Morphy's final days was spent wandering around the French Quarter of New Orleans, talking to people no one else could see, and having irrational feelings of persecution, and on July 10, 1884, he was found dead in his bathtub.
Carlos Torre
A Mexican Grandmaster,  and an exhibitionist, I don't mean playing a game like his opponent have queens instead of pawns, he is fond of going nude in the public, he got arrested once for running in streets naked, another remarkable stint of him was he did it while riding a public bus, so imagine the reaction of the grannys.

Bobby Fischer
His road to chess supremacy is inspirational, his games are remarkable, but what went wrong, is a mystery, his growing hate for Jews and anti-semitic view has earned him the disgust of those who once adored and worshiped him, He was faithful to his religion Worldwide Church of God donating lots of his earnings, but felt betrayed when the church was put in a series of scandals and failed prophecy causing him to denounced it publicly.

He is quoted in Philippine radio program after the 9/11 attacks "All the crimes the U.S. is committing all over the world ... This just shows, what goes around, that comes around even to the United States." so imagine the uproar of the Americans after being insulted after the injury.


Akiba Rubinstein -
He was scheduled to play a world championship match against  Emmanuel Lasker, but unfortunately World War 1 interrupted, he is an anti-social type that his wife would warn his visitors that do not stay long otherwise he will crawl out of window. A nerd crawling out of window, sounds like Peter Parker to me.

Alexander Alekhine -
You have probably heard grandmasters dozing during the game in tournaments, but Alekhine could all make the like of Vachier-Lagrave look amateur, though losing lots of games due to playing completely drunk, he had managed to salvage a few at least not retiring dozed after 11 moves, okay. He did have moments with the carpet of the floor.  His addiction to liquor and drinking during the game may be due to that he is suffering from anthrophobia, a fear of people and society. There was a game of him that after making a move he would stand up and go to the corner of the tournament hall to hide, and wait for his opponent's reply. Nowadays, people would hide to consult their Pocket Fritz.

Vassily Ivanchuk 
Anand describes him as the most eccentric player:


He's someone who is very intelligent ... but you never know which mood he is going to be in. Some days he will treat you like his long-lost brother. The next day he ignores you completely.
The players have a word for him. They say he lives on 'Planet Ivanchuk'. (Laughs) ... I have seen him totally drunk and singing Ukrainian poetry and then the next day I have seen him give an impressive talk.

When offered a draw by GM Alex Baburin during a game in Istanbul, felt on a deep thought for almost an hour to accept the offer.

In one occasion in Linares tournament, He went in to a restaurant and ask the manager to give him Kasparov's favorite chair, and he seated there meditating, when asked, he said He wants to absorb Kasparov's aura, and this paid off actually, winning his next game.

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
is a Kalmyk multi-millionaire businessman, politician, and president of FIDE since 1995, He visited Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi, during the Libyan civil war, when United Nations is condemning its leader of butchering its citizens, but thats not it, he claims he was abducted by aliens in 1997 and have travelled in galaxy with their spaceship.

Most expensive chess sets

Who wouldn't want to play their favorite game (chess), in glittering and valuable metals and precious stones, and who can resist?

Renault F1 Team Collection Chess Set
This collection is a dream come true for the ultimate gamer, especially so for the gamer that shares passion for both the adrenalin rush of Formula 1 and the classical battle of chess.
The pieces of this beautifully crafted set are actually parts of the Renault car – the suspension, hubs, uprights, wings and cockpit sitting.
The genuine engine pieces of titanium, stainless steel, aircraft specification aluminium and carbon fiber have literally felt the heat of Formula 1, and sit coolly on 64 squares of sterling silver and leather.[source]
Renault F1 Team Collection Chess Set
US $41,600 approx.
Carolingi XIV Chess Pieces
It takes you back to the ages of Goths and Visigoths who invaded Europe and overran Anglo Saxons and also the Slavs.
The chess pieces are made of gold and remind you of all the historic treasures plundered by the so called great kings. The chess pieces are designed to remind you of the Ottoman invasion of the Balkans and the confrontation between the Christians and the Moslems. [source]

carolingi chess set expensive chess set chess craft
$113,575.00



Art of war chess set.
The Art of War Chess Set tailored with a mesmerizing arrangement of gold and precious jewels is a truly magnificent piece. The exquisite gold and rhodium custom-jeweled chess pieces are creations that bring striking new life to the timeless game. The elegant inlaid custom chess board, fashioned with rich gold handles incrusted with a luminous 21 jeweled arrangement makes for a visual masterpiece that is second to none. If you are looking for an incredible gift for someone special, or simply looking for a display that is guaranteed to catch the attention of visitors, this chess set is guaranteed leave viewers speechless. This beautiful culmination of design, element, and class is an exceptional commodity and is only available through artofwarchess.com. For further inquiries, including the history behind the set. [source]
art of war chess set chesscraft
price is on bid, but they declined the $750,000 dollar offer from Indonesia.


Charles Hollander diamond chess set

What if you can’t beat the opponent at the game of chess… you can still win the game the other way round when the game is being played on this gold and diamond chess set. New in Charles Hollander collection who earlier wooed everyone with their $5million Chess Set, the chess set is made out of gold and the king and queen are set with diamonds. And, this time the king and queen actually feature fake figurines to make the game even more interesting. No word on price can still be had but we will keep you posted. [source]

Charles Hollander diamond chess set

Jewel Royale chess set
We have earlier told you about the $36,000 Luxury Chess Set at Asprey’s in Tokyo. And, if you thought that was the priciest chess set of all then you have yet not heard of this $9.8 million (over £5 million) Jewel Royale Chess Set from Boodles, a British custom jewelry company. This exquisite chess set is constructed of gold and platinum and it is decorated with 73 rubies, 146 sapphires and no less than 748 diamonds. Each piece is made from 18 carat yellow gold and encrusted with precious stones. The king alone is worth more than £100,000. Apparently, there will be a limited number of replica sets selling for about $26,700. [source]

jewel royale chess set expensive chess set chesscraft
Chessboard filled with gold, silver and diamonds

Jewel royale chess queen expensive chess set chesscraft
Made with 24k gold ruby and diamonds.
An army that would serve their royale master.