After completing the first two Giant LEGO Chess Pieces, I realized I would need to build something smaller if I wanted to have a full LEGO Chess Set any time soon.  So, I set out to build a chess set sized so that would fit entirely on a board made from an X-Large Gray Baseplate 48 studs (15 inches) square.

There are 64 squares on a chess board, so some quick math told me this meant each square would be 6×6 studs.  It also meant each piece would need to be no larger than 4×4 studs if I wanted the chess pieces to be able to sit on the board without touching each other. I wasn’t sure I could get enough detail in such small pieces, but I decided to give it a shot and see if I could design within these constraints and still have identifiable pieces.  Shown below is a picture of the result.

I was able to stay within my design constraints with one exception. In order to get the shape I wanted for the Knights, I extended a small portion of the design to 5 studs, but centered it within the 6 stud square, so two Knights can still face another on the board without touching.

Here is a closer look at the red side. All pictures below are of the red pieces since they photograph much better. (The pieces for both sides have an identical design.)

Pawn

Castle

Knight

Bishop

Queen

King

I will publish an article series in the near future with instructions for each piece in case anyone is interested in building a set like this on their own.  The pictures above expose most of the design, but the instructions will spell it out in complete detail.

[Updated - 02/12/2008: Here are the links to the plans: Pawn, Knight, Castle, Bishop, Queen, King.]