Chess is one of oldest board games still played today. People were playing chess as early as 600 AD. Today, chess is global competition with hundreds of tournaments played every year. For many players though a simple game of chess can’t be completed in one sitting. When your chess match lasts days, weeks, or even months at a time, how do you make sure the pieces aren’t jostled or misplaced while you’re away from the board? You can create a magnetic chess set to keep your game in place so you can pick up right where you left off any time you want.

Supplies:

Directions:

  1. First, use the white paint to paint a grid on your baking sheet. A board can consist of squares anywhere from 1 ½” to 2 ½”. Your board can be as big or as small as your supplies allow. You also want to make sure you’re painting an 8x8 grid onto your sheet. Make every other square white and leave the remaining squares unpainted.
  2. Next, use the superglue to attach the small magnets to the bottom of each chess piece. You should have 16 chess pieces for each player. So, each player gets one king, one queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns.
  3. Once the glue is dry, you’re ready to play!
The magnetic pieces will stick to the metal board you created so you don’t have to worry about misplacing them or accidentally knocking over your board. Your magnetic chess set also makes a great car game during long road trips, because the pieces won’t be affected by a moving car. For this chess game, you don’t necessarily need to use traditional chess pieces. You can create the pieces out of the materials available to you as long as you know what each piece represents. For example, in this DIY chess set, the makers used nuts, washers, and brackets as their pieces. You can use anything to make the pieces as long as you can glue magnets to the bottom. What’s the longest game of chess you’ve ever played?