For the modern enthusiast with old world style. First They Had Chessboards, Then Computers, Now This.

Chess is among the oldest games on Earth, and one of few that’s still played regularly (alongside Go, notably). Traditionally, chess is played on a surface marked into an 8×8 grid of squares, alternating between light and dark colors. The standard rules and pieces have been in place virtually unchanged since the 1600s. A chess table set up in preparation for a game has long been a symbol of elegance, erudition, and cleverness wherever it is displayed.

Then, along came computers.

Chess strategy eluded computation for a long time, but the first chess programs themselves were easy enough. The flat board translated directly to a flat screen. Symbols commonly used in chess literature and newspaper puzzles became icons for pieces from the earliest chess programs and persist to the present day.

Nowadays, chess software is smart. Humans can’t beat the best computers, and only the best humans can beat halfway decent chess engines that aren’t programmed to lose. (Fun Fact: If you have “beaten” a chess engine in the past decade, it let you win because it was on a human-friendly setting). More and more, chess is a game played on computers and over the internet, pairing amateurs and professionals alike across vast distances.

Other than tournaments and a few performative venues, over the board chess has become a rarity. Chess sets are home decor more than board games.

That’s the gap that Phantom Chess attempts to divide. They offer physical boards that allow internet play, and while the players use an app to battle over the internet, the board itself moves the pieces along.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t solving world hunger or getting us a colony on the moon. This is just plain cool. Remote control chess pieces that move themselves? Imagine coming into the room and noticing that your opponent has played by the fact that the board has shifted since you last looked.

And if you’re at all curious what goes into inventing and manufacturing something like this, the updates on the Phantom Chess Kickstarter campaign chronicles, in detail, the entire 4-year process from funding through delivery. The amount of testing they did to ensure the durability of both the internal mechanisms and the surface of the board itself is particularly fascinating.

While this is no impulse purchase, if you know—or are—a dedicated chess player, Phantom Chess is certainly a modern technological showpiece and a beautiful collector’s item.

Not every invention needs to change the world. Sometimes, just seeing the power of whimsy applied to an ancient game and a modern implementation is enough to feel like you’re living in the future.