The Transamerica Pyramid is the queen and Salesforce Tower is the king in this bronze-cast chess set from UK-based Skyline Chess. Also, the Painted Ladies are pawns, and 555 California didn't make the cut.
The chess set, which comes with a screen-printed Corian board (complete with detailed map outline of the city) and 32 pieces, retails for 3,000 pounds or about $3,900 — there's also a metal version for around $500, and special "London vs. San Francisco" or "New York vs. San Francisco" metal versions for $534.
It could get a little confusing until you've memorized what's what, but the breakdown goes like this:
- King – Salesforce Tower
- Queen – Transamerica Pyramid
- Bishop – Coit Tower
- Knight – Columbus Tower
- Rook – St. Mary's Cathedral
- Pawn – Painted Ladies/Victorians
The sets are numbered and reportedly ship within four weeks.
The idea for Skyline Chess came to London-based architects Chris Prosser and Ian Flood over an evening of chess, and they decided to apply their love of architecture and bespoke design to a group of chess boards.
The company now sells versions representing four cities: London, New York, San Francisco, and Dubai.
The chess sets are marketed both as corporate gifts and sold in places like the MoMA Design Store in New York.
[h/t: SFGate]
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