That's about it, really. Make, for example, chess pieces out of wax into candles. Light the candles, play as normal. Watch the room slowly darken as pieces are taken.
Also, special stackable tea lights for draughts/checkers.-- calum, Oct 18 2003 Yeah but wouldn't that suck for the players if the candles starting dripping too low and burning their fingertips? And if you were playing in the dark, it would start to get too dark to see to make a play. But I like the tea lights! Get the little scented ones.. for those fellow chess players who don't know what a shower is..-- flamingcrackmonkey, Oct 18 2003 I have an idea! Have every candle / chess piece a certain length, kings large, and pawns small, duh! So anyways you must move your army quickly before their flames go out, in which case they are removed from the board, or you get 2nd degree burns all over your hands. Or, another thought just came to mind. Once at a wedding there were candles floating in a glass. So, imagine if the chess pieces were floating in water. The flame goes down and it is put out by water with a satisfying sizzle.
Hold the floating pieces in place by a magnet in the bottom of the wax under the water, and the board has similar magnets. Would beat those stupid timed games because it would be more fun! Or, have a thin layer of oil over the water in which the pieces float. A piece burns down and for a split second the entire board goes up in flames. Add more oil after each burst. I think chess players would be more motivated to move if they know that their entire army is dying and it would make the game a lot more exiting.
On another thought, have the board split into two halves of water with oil on top. You take to long to make a move and the wick burns down, setting all of your pieces ablaze! Well, I've taken this idea and ran, ran away with it!
Bonuit...-- thelambs, Oct 18 2003 Oh so spooky. I had this idea a few weeks ago when I got hung up on a chess jag. I was thinking about it in terms of the ultimate timed game, though. You'd need to finish before the pieces burned down...-- phoenix, Oct 19 2003 take care when you move that horsey piece. +1
what a romantic way to spend an evening.-- po, Oct 19 2003 Tongs essential. I love the sysmbolism of the pieces getting 'snuffed out' when they are taken. Übercroissant if you can make the candles of opposing sided burn with different coloured flames. (come to think of it couldn't you just do this with additives to the wax. I wonder why no-one has)-- st3f, Oct 19 2003 black and white should be easy enough
one for the favourites list, methinks.-- po, Oct 19 2003 the lambs beat me to it, though here's another variant. Individually timed chess, where each piece can only be moved while their candle is lit. Once the piece melts down and its candle goes out, it serves as a place filler only, and cannot be moved, though it can be taken.-- RayfordSteele, Oct 19 2003 Ideally, the black pieces would burn with a black flame.-- DrCurry, Oct 19 2003 Just to make it interesting, the chess board should be coated with a flammable substance.-- waugsqueke, Oct 19 2003 Better yet. Every time a piece is taken you receive a shock. Higher for, say, a queen, and lower for a pawn.
Player 1; "hmmmm... Ohh!" (captures opponent’s rook)
Player 2; BZZZZZZ!!! "SON OF A *%$#!!!"
I think it would change tactics greatly if the player could feel the pain of his bishop he is about to sacrifice....
MWHUAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!-- thelambs, Oct 19 2003 Should make the black queen as the Wicked Witch of the West.-- RayfordSteele, Oct 19 2003 The dripping wax problem can be solved easily: put the candles in some sort of receptacle. Like a finely crafted glass, carved with the name of the peice, perhaps. Or just cram them into the open necks necks of half-raffia'd wine bottles, for that down-at-heel Italian restaurant feel.
As for the hot wax - wear gauntlets.-- calum, Oct 23 2003 Very inventive. I think singed hair and eyebrows and blackened fingertips would be the only drawback. +-- k_sra, Oct 23 2003 good one.-- nomadic_wonderer, Dec 08 2003 I think this idea is amazing for timed chess!-- nomadic_wonderer, Feb 29 2004 Love it! Though the visual effect of snuffing out the final candle is in my mind cause enough to invent some entirely new chess variant, the final move of which causes the players and any spectators to be plunged into darkness.-- zen_tom, Sep 28 2011 For that, I suggest perusing any book about/having anything to with chess. The effect is much the same.-- Alterother, Sep 28 2011 I'm with [nomadic], smells like a good way to keep the pace up. new rule: When your queen looks like a pawn - it is a pawn.-- theleopard, Sep 28 2011 random, halfbakery