When people are looking for a serious mental challenge, chess has been a go-to activity for centuries. Strategic and tactical, you need to keep a lot of information in your head at once in order to be a great player. I’ve found that chess appeals to many puzzle fans, since it’s a constantly shifting puzzle to be solved, one controlled by both you and your opponent.

In the past, I’ve written about some of the puzzlier possibilities when it comes to chess, from Knight’s tours and other chess-based puzzles to games that employ chess rules, like ThinkFun’s Solitaire Chess.

But now, the folks at Marbles: The Brain Store have a new challenge for chess fans: re-imagining the classic pieces for a new generation.

Make Your Move is a visual design competition, asking for board game fans, puzzlers, chess enthusiasts, and any other interested parties to submit a new design for each of the traditional pieces used in chess: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, king, and queen.

Now, the deadline for submission is March 13th, so you don’t have much time to brainstorm and pitch your concept. But check out the rewards!

If your design is chosen, you receive:

• a check for $2000
• your game product produced at Marbles’ expense
• your game sold at all of Marbles’ retail locations and web store
• your name on the box

Good luck to any of the puzzlers or PuzzleNationers who accept the Marbles Make Your Move challenge! Let me know if you’re entering, because I’d love to see your designs!

(Hmmm, maybe I should gather the PuzzleNation Crew and submit our own! I wonder how Fred looks in a crown…)

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