Chess in the sand
22.07.2003
– We known chess pieces made of wood, ivory, marble, metal, plastic. We have
a hot
air baloon set. But chess pieces made of sand? With eight-foot tall
kings? They are certainly not meant for blitz games but part of an exhibition
in the German sea resort of Travemünde called "Sand World 2003".
Nadja Woisin reports.
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Chess at Sand World 2003
We figure to ourselves
The thing we like; and then we build it up,
As chance will have it, on the rock or sand,—
For thought is tired of wandering o’er the world,
And homebound Fancy runs her bark ashore. – Sir Henry Taylor (1800–1886)
"Oh! Cool! Chess!!! At last something interesting!" said a six-year-old
when he caught sight of the giant chess pieces at the "Sand
World 2003" exhibition in Travemünde. Chess is definitely "in",
and it is natural that the "carvers" produced some very impressive
pieces between between Angkor Wat and the Sphinx of Gizeh.
Chess pieces made of sand? The obvious disadvantage is the immense difficulty
involved in making a single move. It is not just the stability of the pieces,
which have been built to withstand rain and wind, but also their size. In a
regular chess set the king is about three and a half inches high, open-air
chess sets have two and a half foot pieces. In Travemünde the kings
stand more than eight feet tall.
 
Imagine the effort involved in simply playing 1.e4 with these pieces!
A giant chessboard in front of the Angkor
Wat temple of Cambodia, both in sand
Jengis Khan seems interested in this chess game
The technique of making sand sculptures is relatively simple – Sand World
2003 even offers courses for beginners. First you create a very firm block of
moist sand, using mallets to compress layer after layer of sand until the block
is large and firm enough for the project you plan. After that you use different
carving tools – trowels, scoops, knives, spoons – to form the sculpture.
Here are some astonishing non-chess examples of sculptures at Sand World 2003.
The Temple
of Artemis at Ephesus
Johann Gutenberg and his printing
press
Restored to full glory: the Sphinx
of Giza
Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the use copper wires for communication
The mad hatter's party from Alice in Wonderland
The Great Barrier Reef, where you can spend your next holidays scuba-diving
Pictures and report by Nadja Woisin
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