What can you make chess with your own hands. How to make a paper chess board with chess

Chess is the greatest game of all times and peoples, which develops in a person the ability to think logically and calculate their actions several steps ahead. There are many tips on how to make a field and chess pieces with your own hands, but in order to carve beautiful figurines from wood, you need to have real skills. I cannot boast of such skills, so I will tell you how to make chess pieces from improvised materials.

Let's say you have a chessboard. But even if this is not the case, it will not take much time to make it. For this, even two A4 sheets connected together and lined into 64 fields are suitable. And now attention - as a material for the manufacture of figures we will need .... conventional fasteners: nuts, bolts, washers, etc.


How to arrange them is up to you. The combinations can be different, for example, I did this: a pawn - a washer + a nut + a bolt, an elephant - a washer + 3 nuts + a hook, and so on, as shown in the figure. The connection of metal parts can be done by welding or special glue. However, if you plan to use the figures frequently (i.e., play), then it is better to resort to welding.


The main thing is that there are fasteners of several colors. Those. Some are dyed and others are not. You can make chess with your own hands from plywood, paper or even stone. And there is also another way - figures can be made from old corks and colored wire, decorated with felt-tip pens. Look:

I think there is no need to describe in detail the process of creating such chess pieces - everything is clear. And you can also stick photos of your friends on the corks - in this case the game will become much more piquant.

Chess is one of the most mysterious and greatest games of all time. Shrouded in ancient mystery, black and white figurines continue to excite the minds of a huge number of people around the planet. The favorite occupation of sultans, kings, shahs, emirs and other powerful people of this world has not lost its relevance in our days.

great game

Chess helps to learn to think logically, carefully, to calculate one's actions and deeds many steps ahead.

There are various variations of materials for the figurines and the board: they could be made of gold and other precious metals, black, mahogany or ebony, ivory, crystal, inlaid or decorated with precious stones, mother of pearl and gems.

In the same way, many versions are known: in the form of fighting armies belonging to a particular historical era, in the form of famous people, various animals, characters from favorite films, etc.

However, the chess order remains unchanged - 32 pieces (16 white / light and 16 black / dark) on the field with a corresponding 64-square cell layout.

It is not at all necessary to save up for golden chess, because today they can be made from literally anything. If you know how to carve wood, then it is quite easy to carve wooden figures with your own hands. It is even easier to cut them out of plywood or glue them from thick paper using a stencil.

Special craftsmen make chess sets from the insides of a computer (a motherboard for a board and chips in the form of figures), from electronic vacuum tubes, from plastic, glass, LEDs or neomagnets, etc. Turn on your imagination - and go ahead.

How to make chess with your own hands: manufacturing options

One of the most popular homemade chess technology options is sawing them out of plywood.

  • Take the sketches of the figures, a ruler, a pencil, a rail, plywood and carbon paper. You will need to transfer the images to plywood first. To do this, place carbon paper under the sketch and carefully circle all the figures in full with a pencil.
  • The next step is to cut out the flat figures that you have drawn with a jigsaw. The holes will also have to be cut out, having previously marked them: their thickness must correspond to the thickness of the plywood, and in length they must match the length of another product. The hole can be made with a drill or an awl. At the joints, it is better to leave a margin of 1 mm so that the figures sit tighter.
  • You should get 32 ​​figures and stands with holes - in the same amount, and another 30 round blanks for future checkers. All of them will need to be sanded with sandpaper.
  • Next, start assembling. Attach the figurines to the stands using glue.
  • Then separate half of the elements and paint them with black acrylic paint. Leave them for a while for the paint to dry.
  • A chessboard can be made from a piece of plywood (4 mm thick will do). You will also need rails. Cut out two blanks (400 * 200), and make frames from the rails - in the same quantity and in the same dimensions. Glue plywood blanks to them, and place hinges between the halves so that the board opens and closes well. Using a stencil, put numbers, letters on the surface of the board, make a “cell” marking. And inside the board you can draw markings for playing backgammon. Paint the sides with red acrylic paint.

For figures, take plywood, 3 mm thick. Make sure that there are no cracks or knots on it. Apply the varnish in two layers so that the color at the output is more presentable.

In order for chess to be voluminous, more skills and abilities will be needed, since wood carving is indispensable here. For the light side, you can pick up the following species: boxwood, birch, ash, maple, hornbeam, and for the dark side, walnut, ebony, apple and others are well suited. If it is not possible, then it is easier to make all the figures from linden, for example, and then burn or varnish.

Using the "Dutch" thread, you can do without a lathe. To do this, you will need square bars of various sizes: blanks for future figures:

  • cut out stencils of chess from cardboard and transfer them to the edges of the blanks (for the horse you will need two views - from the side and from the front);
  • to get the profile of the leg of the figure, drill it by holding the workpiece in a vice (for different figures you will need drills of different sizes);
  • cut out the figures along the marked lines using a jigsaw (follow the profile of adjacent faces and leave bridges on them);
  • carefully cutting out all the figures, remove excess wood and file the surface with a file (you can sand it with sandpaper);
  • finished chess must be soaked in hot drying oil and coated with the appropriate varnish (black figures will first need to be tinted with stain). To make them stand better on the board, you can glue pieces of felt, plush or thin suede on the legs.

With desire and imagination, chess is easy to make from paper using the origami technique, and from wine peels or bottle caps, and even molded from plasticine.

Some nuances

A chess set can be very large: such pieces are considered outdoor or garden. That is, they can be placed as an element of landscape design to play a party or two in the fresh air. There are also mini-sets that are easy to take with you on the road or travel.

But the most common size of figurines is considered to be the classical measure: the king has a height of about 7-10 cm, and other figures decrease in size, depending on what rank they are. Consider the height of the base when working.

As you can see, making chess with your own hands is quite simple. It doesn’t matter what material or theme you choose for your set, the main thing is that it will be created with love and soul, which means that the “royal game” will reveal its innermost secrets to you a little…

Source: toysew.ru

Source: http://tehnologi.su/kak-sdelat-shahmaty-svoimi-rykami/

DIY chess on the wall

Unusual? Yes. Elegantly? Yes. Comfortable? Yes. Thanks to the new design with shelves for figures, you can not only enjoy the ancient game at the table, but also hold chess tournaments in front of the audience.

Starting with cells

1. From 6mm birch plywood, cut four 83x610mm blanks for dark cells BUT and six blanks with dimensions of 51 × 610 mm for light cells B (Fig. 1).

Note. We chose birch plywood due to its lack of voids and relatively thick face veneer, which allows for small chamfers on the edges of the cages.

2. Glue together two pieces of 19mm MDF board, 152x152 and 64x152mm, to make an L-shaped stop-stop (photo A).

Fasten this stop with a clamp in front of the saw blade and adjust its position using a blank for light cells. AT to saw off pieces 51 mm long. Then make 32 dark cells BUT 51 mm long.

Use the rest of the blank for dark cells as a template for a new stop-stop setting. In the same way, cut out 32 light cells B 83 mm long.

With the light-celled workpiece B placed next to the saw blade, adjust the rip fence so that the offcut stop stops touching the workpiece as shown at left. Lock the rip fence and saw off 32 pieces from the blank for dark cells A, placing its end against the limit stop, as shown on the right.

3. Make small chamfers on the front side of all cells A, B using a sanding block or small planer. Then proceed to toning the dark cells (see the section "How to make chess cells dark").

Mark the playing field

Press cells A, B one at a time, using a separate clamp for each of them. A piece of MDF board, fixed with clamps parallel to the edge of the backdrop C, will help to align them.

1. To determine the width of the heel FROM, dock in one row four dark and four light cells A, B, measure the row length and add 12mm. Cut a backdrop from a 6mm MDF board FROM specified dimensions (Fig. 1).

Draw lines parallel to one short and two long edges, departing from them 6 mm to indicate the boundaries of the playing field. Glue the first row of checkerboards along the top edge of the backdrop, starting with the lighter checkered area in the top left corner. (photo C).

2. Cut out seven 6mm shelf planks from walnut boards. D. Glue the edge of one shelf to the backdrop C close to the first row of cells A, B (Fig. 1).

Carefully install the clamping device so that cells A, B do not move, and, squeezing its ends with clamps, leave it until the glue dries.

The dimensions of cells A, B and shelves D may differ from those indicated, so the position of shelf G may change. Mark it on the walls of the case after assembling the playing field A-D.

3. To glue the next row of cells in place A, B, make a clamp by gluing two 38x76x457 mm bars with a 12 mm spacer at one end (a photoD). Continue gluing cages and shelves D to the back FROM until the completion of the assembly of the playing field. Note. Apply the adhesive in a thin layer to avoid squeezing out excess, which could cause the clamp to stick to the cells.

Checkerboard framing

1. From 12 mm walnut boards, cut out the side walls according to the indicated dimensions. E, top bottom F, shelf G, cornice H, base I and false panel J. Select a 6 mm deep groove on the inside of the sidewalls, top and bottom to insert the heel counter FROM(fig. 1 and 2). Then cut 12mm seams along the ends of the side walls.

2. Insert the game board A-D into the side wall tongue E by aligning the top row of cells A, B with a shoulder of the top fold. Mark the position of the shelf G(photo E). Saw out grooves in both side walls for inserting a shelf.

3. Dry (without glue) reassemble the body to check all the parts surrounding the playing field and adjust them if necessary. If the dry assembly is successful, apply glue and fix the body with clamps.

Brief advice! Gluing the case will require a lot of clamps, so it is advisable to divide this operation into stages: first glue the shelf and the playing field to the side walls, and then insert the top and bottom into place.

Add a figure box

1. Saw the side walls out of 6 mm walnut planks To, anterior and posterior walls L and bottom M (Fig. 3). Make 3mm tongues and grooves in the sides of the box (Fig. 3 and 3a, photoF). Then saw out 3 mm folds along the ends of the front and back walls, as well as around the perimeter of the bottom. After assembling the box dry, check the connections of the parts, then glue and fix with clamps.

2. When the glue is dry, tilt the saw blade 35° and file the back of the box from the top (Fig. 3a). With the saw blade upright again, take the sawn-out fall panel J and make a cross cut in the middle with a depth of 3 mm (Fig. 3). Glue the false panel to the front wall L.

Wrap the drill with a piece of masking tape, stepping back from the tip 19 mm. When the flag touches the board, the desired hole depth will be reached.

With one setting of the sawing machine, it is possible to cut not only the tongues in all the walls of the box K, L, but also the grooves in the side walls K.

3. Insert the drawers into the case A-G and drill holes for the axle pins to be installed later. To make the box rotate freely, place a 1.5-2.0 mm thick gasket under it (we used a steel ruler) and fix one side of it with small wedges.

Using a 6mm center point drill, make a hole 19mm deep (Fig. 4, photoG). Then make the same hole on the other side. Drill 3mm holes in bezel J to install push button knobs (Fig. 3).

Add decorative details

1. Mill 10 mm radius fillets along the ends and front edge of the eaves H. Glue it on top to the body, aligning the side overhangs (Fig. 1). Mill 10 mm fillets on the outer edges of the base I and glue it to the bottom of the case.

3. Spray on a colorless finish (we used a semi-gloss nitro lacquer), and after drying, install the push-buttons.

Brief advice! Before installing brass axle pins , insert wooden dowels in their place and make sure that the box rotates freely.

Prepare two 19mm brass pins with a diameter of 6mm and insert them through the holes in the walls E into the axial holes of the box J-M. Finally, fix the remaining mounting plate to the wall. N to hang your game board, arrange chess pieces (no more than 76mm high) and invite your opponents to the tournament!

How to make chess cells dark

To achieve a deep and rich dark color on light woods such as birch or maple without obscuring the texture, use a combination of stain and stain.

Here is how we stained the dark A cells: using a foam brush or cloth, water-soluble Cuban mahogany aniline dye was liberally applied, allowed to soak in, and then wiped off excess liquid. Water causes lint to rise on the wood, so after drying, we lightly sanded the parts with #320 sandpaper before applying the stain again.

A few hours later, when the surface of the parts was completely dry, the stain-gel was applied liberally with a tissue swab, allowed to soak for several minutes, and then wiped off the excess and left to dry overnight.

Source: http://stroyboks.ru/cvoimi-rukami/mebel-svoimi-rukami/shahmatyi-na-stene-svoimi-rukami.html

How to make chess with your own hands?

The oldest game, which is about 1500 years old, has not lost its popularity in our time. Both adults and children love chess. Invented in India, the game quickly spread to almost all over the world. She fell in love with the fact that it requires the adoption of a logical solution to tasks, has a moment of competition, and many variations. Sports competitions of champions attract the attention of the world community.

Variety of chess

Over time, people began to fantasize and make chess with their own hands from different materials. Traditional figures are replaced by a wide variety of heroes. These are the characters of popular films and cartoons, famous athletes and politicians, animals and geometric shapes. The size also varies from the minimum that can be seen through a magnifying glass to a giant king of 4.5 meters. There are desktop, road, huge park, gift.

The materials from which this popular game is made are also amazing in their diversity. Starting from paper and cardboard figures to golden ones, decorated with precious stones. Modern craftsmen and designers compete in creative approaches to this process. Chess can be glass, wood, plastic, clay, bone.

Their craftsmen make from computer parts, bolts, car engine parts and other waste material. Do-it-yourself chess is made by adults and children, professional designers and workers at the enterprise. Joiners and wood carvers make unique works of art. Jewelers prepare gift sets for high-ranking persons.

DIY chess from polymer clay

One of the most popular materials for making various crafts in our time has become polymer clay. The material is bright, strong and durable. The child will especially like the game if the pieces are not ordinary traditional chess, but heroes of their favorite cartoons or fairy tales. How to make chess with your own hands from polymer clay? You can buy a set in a children's art store.

Before sculpting, the clay must be carefully crushed. The longer you knead, the softer the material becomes. A figurine of any character is molded, at the request of the baby himself. To cut small parts, you will need a stationery sharp knife. When the figure is ready, proceed to the most important moment. To make the clay strong and hard, it must be baked in the oven. For firing, a temperature of 130 degrees is required.

It is better to put the figures on ceramic tiles, in extreme cases, you can put parchment for baking on a metal baking sheet. It is desirable for dense products to fill the core with another material, for example, crumpled foil. Then the clay has a thinner layer and bakes better. Bake an average of 20 minutes. More details are indicated in the instructions for use.

paper figurines

Even a child can make chess with his own hands from paper. Here, too, many manufacturing methods are presented. These are origami, cardboard figures according to schemes, quilling, glued paper, on a solid stand. Consider how to quickly make paper figures like a tabletop theater.

White cardboard and, for example, red are taken. Fold in half so that the fold is on top of the pattern. With a simple pencil, a silhouette of a chess piece is drawn. At the bottom there is an extra square for the base on which the object will stand. A picture is cut out along the contour with sharp scissors and its two parts are glued together. The squares of the base are bent in different directions and glued onto a solid base for strength. Everything, the figure is ready. The rest are made under the stencil.

Figures from strips of paper

Now it is very popular to make crafts using the quilling technique. Art stores sell sets of thin strips and hooks, from which you can make different pictures. So do-it-yourself chess is easy to twist from strips of paper. To do this, you need PVA glue, quilling strips in two different colors and a holder. Pawns are easy to make. Wind tightly around the hook in layers of strip and glue the edge to the rest. It turns out a tight twisted cylinder, similar to a checker.

The rest of the figures are made based on the imagination of the master. An elephant or an officer is made in the same way as a pawn, only at the end the hook is pulled out along with the paper neatly upwards, a cone shape is obtained. You can attach hands to the queen and glue a head, twisted separately, to the top of the cone.

For the tour, you can twist several circles of different sizes and glue them so that a turret forms. The most difficult element will be the manufacture of a horse figurine. On the cone described earlier, they put on a triangle made on a stencil ruler for quilling.

The mane is glued on the back side of the leg, cutting the tape with scissors like a fringe.

Wooden models

Beginning amateurs, professional carpenters, and skilled carvers like to make chess with their own hands from wood. The traditions of each country can be seen in the figurines and the design of the board. Here are the heroes from Russian fairy tales, Ukrainian Cossacks, Indians with spears, Norwegian Vikings. The masters pay special attention to the design of the board. It can be a table with a drawer for figures, a ship, veneering from different types of wood or a typesetting canvas from carved squares of different types of wood.

How to make chess with your own hands from wood, the master decides based on his skills and imagination. A novice amateur for a summer cottage can use a thick branch of a tree by making stumps of various sizes with simple patterns cut out. To do this, you need a sharp knife or chisel. If you have a jigsaw or electric saw, you can cut columns of different heights from a bar by making small cuts on the sides of the main figures.

Having made chess with their own hands from wood, professional carvers put them up for competitions and win prizes. The price of some works of art reaches several thousand dollars. Not only the quality of the work performed is valued, but also the transmission of the traditions and history of the people, the originality of the performance.

We develop the creative abilities of children

Children from an early age love to invent, fantasize, play. Making chess together with the children, parents and teachers develop not only the creativity in children, but also practical skills and abilities. Working with paper, wood or clay, kids get unforgettable emotions. And if there is work together with adults, then children gain valuable experience in communication and work skills. The pleasure of playing such homemade chess cannot be compared with anything.

Learn to fantasize, work with your hands and think through games with your head. The all-round development of your children is guaranteed!


Chess is one of the most mysterious and greatest games of all time. Shrouded in ancient mystery, black and white figurines continue to excite the minds of a huge number of people around the planet. The favorite occupation of sultans, kings, shahs, emirs and other powerful people of this world has not lost its relevance in our days.






great game

Chess helps to learn to think logically, carefully, to calculate one's actions and deeds many steps ahead. There are various variations of materials for the figurines and the board: they could be made of gold and other precious metals, black, mahogany or ebony, ivory, crystal, inlaid or decorated with precious stones, mother of pearl and gems. In the same way, many versions are known: in the form of fighting armies belonging to a particular historical era, in the form of famous people, various animals, characters from favorite films, etc.

However, the chess order remains unchanged - 32 pieces (16 white / light and 16 black / dark) on the field with a corresponding 64-square cell layout.

It is not at all necessary to save up for golden chess, because today they can be made from literally anything. If you know how to carve wood, then it is quite easy to carve wooden figures with your own hands. It is even easier to cut them out of plywood or glue them from thick paper using a stencil.


Special craftsmen make chess sets from the insides of a computer (a motherboard for a board and chips in the form of figures), from electronic vacuum tubes, from plastic, glass, LEDs or neomagnets, etc. Turn on your imagination - and go ahead.

How to make chess with your own hands: manufacturing options

One of the most popular homemade chess technology options is sawing them out of plywood.

  • Take the sketches of the figures, a ruler, a pencil, a rail, plywood and carbon paper. You will need to transfer the images to plywood first. To do this, place carbon paper under the sketch and carefully circle all the figures in full with a pencil.


  • The next step is to cut out the flat figures that you have drawn with a jigsaw. The holes will also have to be cut out, having previously marked them: their thickness must correspond to the thickness of the plywood, and in length they must match the length of another product. The hole can be made with a drill or an awl. At the joints, it is better to leave a margin of 1 mm so that the figures sit tighter.


  • You should get 32 ​​figures and stands with holes - in the same amount, and another 30 round blanks for future checkers. All of them will need to be sanded with sandpaper.


  • Next, start assembling. Attach the figurines to the stands using glue.
  • Then separate half of the elements and paint them with black acrylic paint. Leave them for a while for the paint to dry.


  • A chessboard can be made from a piece of plywood (4 mm thick will do). You will also need rails. Cut out two blanks (400 * 200), and make frames from the rails - in the same quantity and in the same dimensions. Glue plywood blanks to them, and place hinges between the halves so that the board opens and closes well. Using a stencil, put numbers, letters on the surface of the board, make a “cell” marking. And inside the board you can draw markings for playing backgammon. Paint the sides with red acrylic paint.


For figures, take plywood, 3 mm thick. Make sure that there are no cracks or knots on it. Apply the varnish in two layers so that the color at the output is more presentable.

In order for chess to be voluminous, more skills and abilities will be needed, since wood carving is indispensable here. For the light side, you can pick up the following species: boxwood, birch, ash, maple, hornbeam, and for the dark side, walnut, ebony, apple and others are well suited. If it is not possible, then it is easier to make all the figures from linden, for example, and then burn or varnish.

  • cut out the figures along the marked lines using a jigsaw (follow the profile of adjacent faces and leave bridges on them);
  • carefully cutting out all the figures, remove excess wood and file the surface with a file (you can sand it with sandpaper);
  • finished chess must be soaked in hot drying oil and coated with the appropriate varnish (black figures will first need to be tinted with stain). To make them stand better on the board, you can glue pieces of felt, plush or thin suede on the legs.

With desire and imagination, chess is easy to make from paper using the origami technique, and from wine peels or bottle caps, and even molded from plasticine.

Some nuances

A chess set can be very large: such pieces are considered outdoor or garden. That is, they can be placed as an element of landscape design to play a party or two in the fresh air. There are also mini-sets that are easy to take with you on the road or travel.

But the most common size of figurines is considered to be the classical measure: the king has a height of about 7-10 cm, and other figures decrease in size, depending on what rank they are. Consider the height of the base when working.

As you can see, making chess with your own hands is quite simple. It doesn’t matter what material or theme you choose for your set, the main thing is that it will be created with love and soul, which means that the “royal game” will reveal its innermost secrets to you a little…





Chess is the greatest board game of all times and peoples, which does not lose its relevance in the 21st century. In many families, chess sets are passed down from generation to generation, just as the teaching of the royal game comes from father to son or daughter.

If you do not have chess at your disposal, the easiest way to get them is to purchase them at the nearest stationery or gift shop. However, do not rush to spend money, because you can always make chess with your own hands, for this you only need certain materials at hand, as well as a little time and creative imagination.

Craftsmen once again prove that chess can be made from anything. For these purposes, not only plywood, wooden beams and metal nuts are suitable, but also ordinary A4 sheets or homemade polymer clay.

Thanks to numerous videos in the public domain, you don’t even have to be able to draw beautifully or try to come up with something of your own, just follow the instructions in the master classes exactly, and you will definitely succeed!

Be patient, turn on your imagination and go!

Carved wooden chess

Do you know how to cut wood, or at least have an idea about this process? Excellent! In this case, it will not be difficult to cut out voluminous chess pieces according to a detailed video master class.

In order to start carving, it is necessary to prepare sketch blanks for future chess pieces (according to patterns), a set of cutting tools (cutters, chisels), as well as materials for grinding and decorating chess.

Having prepared everything you need, you can start watching a series of video tutorials from the wood carving master Konstantin Belyaev, who gives precise recommendations regarding the manufacture of the following chess pieces:

  • pawn:
  • horse:
  • elephant:
  • queen:

The craftsman carves chess pieces by hand, using special cutting tools. Linden boards with a width of 25-28 mm are taken as the material for manufacturing. At the end of the cutting, the figures must be sanded with sandpaper, if desired, burned or painted with acrylic paints.

Konstantin also has a video on making a chess box in his arsenal:

The master suggests making a chessboard from natural veneer. In the case when such material was not at hand, you can make a chessboard from an ordinary piece of plywood and slats for the frame by drawing a cellular layout with black acrylic paint.

Giant wooden chess

Today, huge chess is especially popular; they decorate spacious halls or a house adjoining area. The cost of such chess in stores is off scale, so many manage to make them with their own hands.

For giant wooden chess, you will need a pine beam (preferably without knots) with a width of 10x10 cm to 30x30 cm and even more, as well as a lathe and sandpaper. Craftsman Valery Grishin will tell you in detail about the process of cutting such chess:

Hand-made polymer clay chess

Modeling chess from polymer clay may appeal to the fair sex. Undoubtedly, this process is more time-consuming than cutting wood, but the final result is amazing - with proper skill, the figures turn out to be incredibly beautiful, with accurate drawing of faces and attire.

In order to make chess from polymer clay, you need the material itself (by the way, you can prepare such clay yourself), as well as special tools for modeling and ordinary food foil for the frames of figures.

Youtube-master Sveta Harmful in an accessible form shows step by step the modeling of each chess piece:

  • frame:
  • pawn:
  • rook:
  • horse:
  • Officer:
  • king:
  • queen

Homemade paper chess

From ordinary office or colored paper, you can make origami chess. True, the creator will need to have skills in this direction of needlework, as well as a developed imagination for making fabulous chess pieces.

Origami chess looks very entertaining, the process of creating them is relatively fast, the only negative is that such paper figures require careful handling. To get acquainted with the process, we offer step-by-step master classes on creating origami chess pieces:

  • origami pawn:
  • origami horse:
  • origami boat:
  • origami king:

Children's bright chess from plastic bottles

You can make chess in a very creative way, and even “junk” material, for example, small plastic bottles, is suitable for this. A stationery knife, acrylic paints, foam balls, fomiaran and a little imagination will help make a colorful board game for kids, see for yourself:

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to create hand-made chess, so if you set out to make hand-made chess pieces, choose the option that suits you and create! The result will definitely exceed your expectations!

The oldest game, which is about 1500 years old, has not lost its popularity in our time. Both adults and children love chess. Invented in India, the game quickly spread to almost all over the world. She fell in love with the fact that it requires the adoption of a logical solution to tasks, has a moment of competition, and many variations. Sports competitions of champions attract the attention of the world community.

Variety of chess

Over time, people began to fantasize and make chess with their own hands from different materials. Traditional figures are replaced by a wide variety of heroes. These are the characters of popular films and cartoons, famous athletes and politicians, animals and geometric shapes. The size also varies from the minimum that can be seen through a magnifying glass to a giant king of 4.5 meters. There are desktop, road, huge park, gift.

The materials from which this popular game is made are also amazing in their diversity. Starting from paper and cardboard figures to golden ones, decorated with precious stones. Modern craftsmen and designers compete in creative approaches to this process. Chess can be glass, wood, plastic, clay, bone.

Their craftsmen make from computer parts, bolts, car engine parts and other waste material. Do-it-yourself chess is made by adults and children, professional designers and workers at the enterprise. Joiners and wood carvers make unique works of art. Jewelers prepare gift sets for high-ranking persons.

DIY chess from polymer clay

One of the most popular materials for making various crafts in our time has become polymer clay. The material is bright, strong and durable. The child will especially like the game if the pieces are not ordinary traditional chess, but heroes of their favorite cartoons or fairy tales. How to make chess with your own hands from polymer clay? You can buy a set in a children's art store.

Before sculpting, the clay must be carefully crushed. The longer you knead, the softer the material becomes. A figurine of any character is molded, at the request of the baby himself. To cut small parts, you will need a stationery sharp knife. When the figure is ready, proceed to the most important moment. To make the clay strong and hard, it must be baked in the oven. For firing, a temperature of 130 degrees is required.

It is better to put the figures on ceramic tiles, in extreme cases, you can put parchment for baking on a metal baking sheet. It is desirable for dense products to fill the core with another material, for example, crumpled foil. Then the clay has a thinner layer and bakes better. Bake an average of 20 minutes. More details are indicated in the instructions for use.

paper figurines

Even a child can make chess with his own hands from paper. Here, too, many manufacturing methods are presented. These are origami, cardboard figures according to schemes, quilling, glued paper, on a solid stand. Consider how to quickly make paper figures like a tabletop theater.

White cardboard and, for example, red are taken. Fold in half so that the fold is on top of the pattern. With a simple pencil, a silhouette of a chess piece is drawn. At the bottom there is an extra square for the base on which the object will stand. A picture is cut out along the contour with sharp scissors and its two parts are glued together. The squares of the base are bent in different directions and glued onto a solid base for strength. Everything, the figure is ready. The rest are made under the stencil.

Figures from strips of paper

Now it is very popular to make crafts using the quilling technique. Art stores sell sets of thin strips and hooks, from which you can make different pictures. So do-it-yourself chess is easy to twist from strips of paper. To do this, you need PVA glue, quilling strips in two different colors and a holder. Pawns are easy to make. Wind tightly around the hook in layers of strip and glue the edge to the rest. It turns out a tight twisted cylinder, similar to a checker.

The rest of the figures are made based on the imagination of the master. An elephant or an officer is made in the same way as a pawn, only at the end the hook is pulled out along with the paper neatly upwards, a cone shape is obtained. You can attach hands to the queen and glue a head, twisted separately, to the top of the cone. For the tour, you can twist several circles of different sizes and glue them so that a turret forms. The most difficult element will be the manufacture of a horse figurine. On the cone described earlier, they put on a triangle made on a stencil ruler for quilling. The mane is glued on the back side of the leg, cutting the tape with scissors like a fringe.

Wooden models

Beginning amateurs, professional carpenters, and skilled carvers like to make chess with their own hands from wood. The traditions of each country can be seen in the figurines and the design of the board. Here are the heroes from Russian fairy tales, Ukrainian Cossacks, Indians with spears, Norwegian Vikings. The masters pay special attention to the design of the board. It can be a table with a drawer for figures, a ship, veneering from different types of wood or a typesetting canvas from carved squares of different types of wood.

How to make chess with your own hands from wood, the master decides based on his skills and imagination. A novice amateur for a summer cottage can use a thick branch of a tree by making stumps of various sizes with simple patterns cut out. To do this, you need a sharp knife or chisel. If you have a jigsaw or electric saw, you can cut columns of different heights from a bar by making small cuts on the sides of the main figures.

Having made chess with their own hands from wood, professional carvers put them up for competitions and win prizes. The price of some works of art reaches several thousand dollars. Not only the quality of the work performed is valued, but also the transmission of the traditions and history of the people, the originality of the performance.

We develop the creative abilities of children

Children from an early age love to invent, fantasize, play. Making chess together with the children, parents and teachers develop not only the creativity in children, but also practical skills and abilities. Working with paper, wood or clay, kids get unforgettable emotions. And if there is work together with adults, then children gain valuable experience in communication and work skills. The pleasure of playing such homemade chess cannot be compared with anything.

Learn to fantasize, work with your hands and think through games with your head. The all-round development of your children is guaranteed!