Aviation chess was invented in 1913, and played during WW I. In most aspects, this chess variant is identical FIDE chess, but there is one difference: the pawns on the b-file and g-file are replaced by 'aviators'. These 'aviators' fly diagonally, over any number of pieces, to either an empty square, or a square occupied by an enemy piece (which is then captured and replaced).
As one of my other interests is Spitfires and their history, I decided to adapt Aviation chess slightly by having Spitfires as 'aviators'!
Off eBay, I got a full set of 32 laser cut chess pieces (of course, I don't need four of the pawns) as well as four laser cut Spitfire shapes. They smell really nice as a result of the laser-cutting process!
Then I used two colours of wood stain ('pine' and 'mahogany', respectively) to create the 'white' and 'black' pieces.
I decided to use the board of my Kyrgyz set, as it had the right size squares and also looks relatively old.
So there we go: a Spitfire-inspired set for Aviation chess!
