Civic Skyline

A city you can play.

Both armies, ready.

Thirty-two chessmen on a 15.1 in board: towers on the back ranks, rooftop water tanks in front. Keep scrolling to play a real game, one move at a time.

Light moves first.

This is the Opera Game, Paul Morphy's win in Paris in 1858. The water tanks claim the centre and a city horse jumps out to f3.

The Flatiron pin.

Midnight's bishop pins the horse to its queen, then takes it on f3. The Chrysler queen takes back, and the centre pawns trade.

Every piece joins in.

Bishops, knights and the queen find their squares. Midnight pushes a pawn to b5 to drive the Flatiron bishop away.

The king castles long.

A knight is given up to open the b-file. Then the Empire State king steps to c1 and a Brooklyn Bridge rook swings to d1.

Mate from a bridge tower.

A rook crashes into d7, the queen gives herself up on b8, and the last Brooklyn Bridge rook lands on d8. Checkmate.

Six buildings, six roles.

Both armies share one shape per role. Each silhouette comes from a New York landmark or from the water tanks on the city's roofs, stylized so the chess role reads first.

The chess set on a dark walnut table by a window, late sun throwing the towers' shadows across the board

Built for an ordinary table.

The board is 15.1 in square with 1.65 in squares, sized to sit between two players on a dining table, a café table or a desk by the window. Every piece stands on a flat octagonal base.

Board-level view: rooftop water tank pawns in front, towers rising behind them — Water tanks in front, towers behind: the ivory army from the middle of the board.

Close-up of the king's cross, the queen's arched crown with triangular windows and the bishop's gridded wedge — Setbacks on the king, stacked arches and triangular windows on the queen, a gridded wedge on the bishop.

The set on a charcoal stone table at dusk, a blurred city skyline in the window behind — After dark, from the midnight side.

A game in progress on a round oak café table, an espresso cup beside the board — Five moves in, Italian opening.

Five neighbourhoods around the frame.

Walk the 0.9 in border and you pass five raised reliefs, each drawn from documented history in one New York community. Both players share the border; no neighbourhood belongs to a side.

Close-up of the Bronx relief: two concentric record decks raised from the ivory frame — The Bronx: two record decks on a common backing, raised from the frame beside the a8 corner.

Sixty-eight pieces in the box.

32: chessmen, 16 ivory and 16 midnight
4: board panels, 7.6 in square each
32: teal inlays for the dark squares

Board: 15.1 × 15.1 in
Tallest piece: 3.4 in, the king
Complete set: 1.4 lb

The panels rest side by side and the inlays lift out, so keep the board on the table while you play and take it apart to carry it.