A beautiful move is a beautiful move: and it doesn't matter whether it is played on a glittering, giant board with human pieces dressed perfectly in character, horses et al, golden banners shimmering above, or on a battered travel set in the middle of a crowded tube with a sachet of salt standing in for the white king. As an aesthetic experience chess is a pristinely mental thing; the where, the how, the with what - uninteresting, irrelevant, beside the point. In some ways, then, the website Etsy is the complete opposite of chess: Etsy is a website whose users directly sell their home-made, one-off arts and crafts; all things individual, unique, unreproducible.
But you know what they say about opposites attracting. And lo, there's rather a lot of chess stuff on Etsy. Here are some of my favourites:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_SS_QVYI3vJ9VyIOqxRF4O5aXwolFpl2uun_zRYa2iJR91RQkTr8v8Y3e1RktEqfSndiDlCfx294FFDSRy1ZzC_Iga0JQWaX3-RLQszvDlCP4wFEZt75o7tyCzoREYtuDxVGkg/s400/steampunk-chess.jpg)
A snip at $6500:
a steampunk chess set, apparently.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheSsDHf9-XjETrYsFi-En2kloWpin2x-RndXSsQj9R_z5pJd_mguIMo7fEkKWiI-rtPCfaEMqdmXhiHDGzgDjrP6yF_6ZQdDvKnGHLskL94XJrrbNIYjztYuIIA_M0r6OTNKKzxw/s400/vicious-chess.jpg)
Much more affordable. A $1 badge.
Splash out another 50 cents, and they'll magnetize it.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_-FTcJBDnpTuEVW-7dJtgwxN0OkIlHb_7vuLNN8lD4rZwipUxeh_19S-PGqKbvgKeWu9JBh69WwnXieGBFhTKLAHE7YNaGMwXC8_Pfxi3JmX2SwTl_rxNqQo8_QptKS3BlQGug/s400/sad-knight.jpg)
Aw. Could you ever sacrifice such a soft, sad thing?
This knight's name is Arnold.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTP5V2G6WudPub0hXfp15_80fyyMIP-1RJRuu4WZxm352sz27sz3L043iziOo0zcnb-bFLxtDY7vSUq97Vc0OD2x0CXyzVdxuE3q5KbZeQv4ftwEwz3W39Ohqw84TME_J191m2LA/s400/chess-lights.jpg)
Subtle, non-embarrassing, and chess - but $250.
Where's the IKEA version?
So. Perfect presents for the chess player who has everything? Or is all such stuff that is not the moves, mere unmattering nothings?
4 comments:
If you don't fancy splurging $6,500 on a steampunk chess set you could always make your own
I like the badge though.
Those lampstands look rather octopus-friendly.
The link to the steampunk set has lapsed. Maybe she sold it somewhere other than Etsy? Anyway for future reference the lady who made it has her homepage here.
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