The Art of Chess, by John W. Healy

This lesson expands students' application of art to the strategic game of chess

The game of chess challenges students to plan strategies that determine future outcomes. Goal-oriented, logical, sequential decisions create an area of focused learning and expanded development. The chess set that facilitates this activity is an art form that adds to the appeal of the game.

This original chess set on the theme of Snow White was created by Michelle Beganskas, eighth grade.

The chess set, reimagined
Traditional chess pieces – kings, queens, knights, bishops, rooks and pawns – are based on the hierarchy of the middle ages. Consider changing the theme of the chess set to express the needs of the contemporary student player. This is where the art teacher can make a special contribution. Share with your students that the game of chess as we know it was developed over time from different board games as it traveled from distant places including China, India and Europe. Since the game of chess has changed over time, why should it not continue to change?

The origins of chess
Chess is thought to have its origins in China and sixth-century India, where the game of Chaturanga was played with opposing armies of elephants, calvary, chariots and infantry. The grouping of these characters reflected the four main divisions of an Indian Army at that time.

Chess became very popular in Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Europeans modified this Indian game of strategy and changed the characters on the board to symbolically reflect echelons of their society that had varying amounts of power.

Expanded expectation of art
A comparison of chess and art may seem implausible to some; however, many great works of art have followed similar paths of logical planning that seek to achieve specific goals.

Here lies an opportunity to expand student and parent expectations of art and of your school's art department. Not only could an introduction to the game of chess be offered in the art room, but the challenge could also be presented to create theme-based chess sets.

A personalized chess set
Norma Malinverno, middle school art teacher extraordinaire, introduces this lesson by showing examples of chess sets where the theme and pieces have been changed. "Snow White," "Harry Potter" and "The Wizard of Oz" are some of the themes her students have selected to create their unique chess sets. Norma presents a questionnaire that encourages students to make creative choices for their chess boards. Your questionnaire might include the following instructions:

1. Choose a theme for your chess set. Your theme should reflect your interests, and the time and place in which you live.

2. Replace the traditional chess pieces with characters consistent with your theme. Each opposing side of your chess set should have replacements for the following: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 8 pawns. With what characters will you replace the traditional pieces?

3. In order to maintain continuity, the opposing sides repeat. What you've just listed should be doubled, or you can choose to make one side of the board display the evil characters and the other side of the board the good characters.

The chess pieces are molded from Model Magic® and painted with a coat of Mod Podge® for protection. For the board, students can simply modify an existing chess board to suit the theme or create an original board with cardboard and drawing or painting supplies.

Creating a chess set with modest art materials invites all children in a class to participate. This art form can then be shared with others in a practical and entertaining way.

Dr. John W. Healy teaches art at Woodland Middle School, East Meadow, NY.