Wire chess set

  • Period

    1970s
  • Place

    USSR, Vorkuta

  • Material

    Сopper wire

  • Location

    Russia, Moscow, Chess Museum of the Central Chess Club

  • Category

    The Game
  • Subcategory

    Chess sets

One of the black squares on the board of chess history is dedicated to chess sets made in prisons and camps. An invention, implemented in camps of Vorkuta, USSR, consisted of bending wire to form both the stand and silhouettes of chess pieces. Human ingenuity knows no limits: other museums carrying GULAG-era exhibits showcase chess pieces made of sticky bread and chessboards made of bed sheets squared with soot.