Wizard-dragon set

Not much I can say about this particular 'wizard and dragons' set. Sets identical or very similar to this pop up on eBay every once in a while (the design of the dragons/pawns varies between sets), so there came a point the set was added to my collection. It didn't come with a board, but I felt it looked good on the red wooden board that originally came with my Roman set, and which I also used for my Louis XIV set. 

Two more Dou Shou Qi sets

As I argued in a recent blog post, I consider the game of Dou Shou Qi to be derived to some degree derived from xiangqi. I won't go into details as to why here; you can read the blog post if you're interested. 

Recently, I picked up two more Dou Shou Qi sets. The first one of these is marketed as "Jungle King". No date is given anywhere, but I guess it dates back to the 1960s or 1970s. 

Both board and pieces are made from sturdy cardboard. 

The different animal pieces are indicated by pictures and a number, which matches the number on their starting squares on the board.

The second set is a more recent plastic magnetic travel set.

Here, the pieces are indicated by a small picture and Chinese writing.

I will keep my eye open for more Dou Shou Qi sets ...

Children's xiangqi set

Saw this rather unusual xiangqi set on eBay, and couldn't resist .... 

The board is made from wood, and looks quite neat.

The pieces are all figurines, also made of wood, and with Chinese writing clarifying the identity of each piece. 

Seems to me that this particular set is mostly targeted at children, in the hope of enthusing them for the game. 

Definitely a unique addition to my collection of xiangqi sets!

Xiangqi set for the garden

Saw a xiangqi set with large jade pieces on eBay for not very much, and I snapped it up. The set didn't come with  board, and, given the size of the pieces, it didn't fit on any of the boards I have. And that also meant that any board I'd buy or make would have to be quite large ... 

And then I had an idea .... Why not create a temporary board in the garden, on the garden table? After all, I'd already created a 'garden board' for my Royal Beasts set, so ... On top of that, the colour of the garden table would match the jade-green of the pieces nicely ...

Easy enough to create a board on the table using electrical tape.

Looks quite good with the pieces on it!

Not sure how long the tape will hold on the table; the first rain may well be the end of it, but a new grid is easily put in place again.

Minotaur chess

I got this Minoan set quite a long time ago. My aim was to create a board for it, but good ideas for that never materialised, so the set remained in its box for some years. Recently, I thought that it would actually fit well on the mother-of-pearl board of my Egyptian set. And if I ever get a good idea for a custom-made board for it, there will be nothing stopping me doing so ...

For a Minoan chess set, there can only be one appropriate variant: Minotaur chess! Check the link for the backstory of this variant, as well as the full rules. A major difference with FIDE chess is that the non-moving queen is the target rather than the king.

One of the two bishops on each side, the one on the dark squares, can be placed on any of the remaining dark squares in front of the other pieces.

Even though capturing the queen is the aim for winning a game of Minotaur chess, and her powers are basically zero compared to the queen in FIDE chess, you still have to go through all the other pieces to get to her ...

Congo

Congo is a chess variant, invented in 1982 by Demian Freeling when he was just 7 years old. All the main pieces are (African) animals, each with different moves. The lion is the 'king', whose capture wins the game. More information on the moves of all the pieces, further rules, and more information is given here and here. The game is clearly and strongly influenced by Xiangqi: consider the river, the palaces and the 'flying general' rule. 

I decided to make my own version, using faux leather for the board, and small plastic animals for pieces (found two bags full of them on Amazon).

I still had quite some faux leather left from making the boards for my Klin Zha and Tablut sets; plenty for a Congo board. First, beige and tan leather squares were cut to size ...

... and then glued to the back of a sheet of black leather.

Board done!

Then the pieces. Congo's main pieces are African animals:

In front of the main pieces in the starting array in Congo is a row of pawns, but I decided to take the 'animal theme' one step further and to have the pawns also represented by animals. Not African, but Australian; plenty more animals in the bags I bought!

So here's the full set-up on the board:

Quite pleased with it!

Nigerian thorn carving set

I regularly post pictures of made or acquired chess sets, often with links to this blog, on my Facebook page. A friend of mine from the kite-flying community must have seen those, because he contacted me to ask if I was interested in a wee chess set, hand-made by someone in Nigeria. He wasn't using it, it was just collecting dust, so ...

Obviously I said "yes"!

The board is made of wood, and the pieces are carved from the thorns of a particular tree:

Thorn carving is a traditional Nigerian art form, and the material the thorns are made of is soft enough to lend itself to being carved. 

Two colours of thorn material, light brown and dark brown are used for the pieces.

I really should mention the name of the guy who made the set (or at least the name that was on the back of the board): Lawrence Ajibula.