The Andes

Description

What better design than an Andean style can there be for Tagua Chess Pieces? These marvellous chess pieces in front of you have been handcrafted by artisans from Ecuador and the Andean theme is paying tribute to their origin.

All figures have been delicately crafted by hand and all 16 pawns even have a face! For the traditional Staunton design, most attention is given to the knight, but for the Andean pieces, it is quite the opposite and this makes it the perfect set for putting on display. Due to the nature of the product, the pieces themselves are on the smaller side, and this makes them an excellent choice should you only have space for a smaller chess board. A board with 45mm square size fits them nicely, as is shown in the pictures. Of course, you can also play chess with them.

The king of the set – which interestingly isn't even the biggest figure on the board – measures ca. 68 mm (2.7") in height and has a weight of approximately 43 g. Putting the entire set on the scale returns a weight of approximately 730g. A board with a 45mm square size fits them comfortably and is also the minimum size recommended. But the choice is yours!

Tagua is an wonderful material which is increasing in popularity. It is the fruit from the tagua nut palm and once dried has an extraordinary hardness, equalling that of bone. This makes it an excellent material for carving and all kind of handicraft. However, the hardness also makes it prone to breakage and the pieces should be handled with care. As only the nuts are collected, no trees need to be felled or harmed and this makes tagua an environmentally friendly choice. Its resemblance to ivory gives it a desirable look and thus tagua is also referred to as "vegetable ivory". These chess pieces have been sourced from Ecuador and the production of jewelry, artwork and not least chess pieces gives the indigenous population an ethical source of income and contributes to their livelihood.