In sport, Rolls-Royce has become a synonym for timeless excellence. You’ll often hear those who seem beyond the effects of time be referred to as a “Rolls-Royce of a player”. If a player of class – of tactical acumen beyond their physicality – is the Rolls-Royce of their particular field then surely, chess is the Rolls Royce of games.
In the 64 squares of a chessboard there lies a microcosm of the most eternal game we have – war. Chess is the language of the human condition. Across centuries and continents, it has transcended borders, been spoken fluently in silence, and offered a stage where intellect, intuition, and patience create a perfect trifecta of tension. Every move is an expression of decisiveness, every sacrifice a meditation on value, and every checkmate a soul-crushing, albeit bloodless, declaration of superiority.
At first glance, it might seem odd that a luxury car company create a chess set. But taking the above examinations into account, the parallels become clearer. Rolls-Royce is the Rolls-Royce of engineering and design. When they make something, they make it to be the best. Unveiled at Goodwood, West Sussex, the Rolls-Royce Chess Set is a sculptural masterpiece, a tactile symphony of decisive engineering and artistic intent.
Like the slow, ceremonial reveal of a Rolls-Royce saloon, the chess set opens in a single, graceful motion. The board doesn’t simply unfold – it performs. The leather-clad base, gently rising from its centre mimics the floating waft lines of the cars it is inspired by. But beyond the initial theatre of the whole thing lies an extraordinary attention to craft. Every element has been engineered and refined over a year of design and experimentation. The board itself is a feat of eye-popping artistry. Its polished aluminium grid – machine milled and then hand-finished – speaks to the brand’s obsession with abject beauty. Incredibly, the veneer squares, laser cut and hand-placed, are all drawn from the same log, ensuring not only uniformity in grain, but a graceful aging process over time.
Discreet drawers, accessible with a gentle touch, hold an additional queen. Magnets embedded beneath the board lend the player’s every move a sense of authority and weight. The magnet strength was tested across six different types before an optimal balance of floaty resistance was achieved; which is the kind of dedication usually reserved for aerospace components.
The pieces themselves are like studies in sculptural minimalism. Inspired by the classic profiles of traditional chess, the Rolls-Royce design team reinterpreted the familiar silhouettes with modernist restraint. Extruded into monolithic square bases, each piece is crafted ceramic-coated aluminium and topped with a polished stainless-steel crown. They are at once architectural and anthropomorphic, echoing the clean lines of contemporary sculpture while retaining their symbolic integrity. In the hand, they are cold and solid with a weight that mirrors the feel of the solid-metal organ stops found in Rolls-Royce interiors. The black pieces are treated with a satin finish; the white pieces shimmer with an iridescent glaze. It’s in this contrast – between shadow and light, matte and gloss – that the spirit of the game is expressed: a battle of opposites reduced and refined into a board game.
The Chess Set offers four veneer finishes, from high-gloss Blackwood with Ceramic White, to open-pore Smoked Eucalyptus with Paldao. These surfaces are not just beautiful, they are chosen for their compatibility with both natural aging and light reflection. The same can be said of the leather options: clients can choose from 13 hues taken from the Rolls-Royce palette, including Forge Yellow, Havana, Arctic White, and Tailored Purple. And while the artistry takes centre stage, the spirit of the game is never forgotten. Chess, like a Rolls-Royce, is about anticipation, presence and class. It’s about winning.
As Nick Abrams, Accessories Designer at Rolls-Royce, puts it:
“Knowing that many clients enjoy chess – often at an extremely high level – we were inspired to create our own Chess Set as a natural evolution of the sense of hosting and occasion that defines the Rolls-Royce experience.”
Just as chess invites contemplation and a channelling of that intrinsic will to win, so too does this set invite you into a world where presence, poise, and precision define the experience. It is, in essence, a Rolls-Royce – not to be driven, but to be played.
