World Chess X Yoomoota Chessity - Limited Edition Chess Set

Bangkok-based artist Taras Yoom has transformed the official World Chess Championship pieces into a collectible art object. The Pentagram-designed set that defines elite play worldwide — walnut and maple, the pieces every serious player recognizes — has been hand-painted, hand-engraved, and rebuilt as something you'd put behind glass. Yoom calls the world inside them Chessity: an imagined city where each piece is a citizen with ambitions, hidden conflicts, and a place in a society that mirrors how decisions actually get made. It is fully playable. It is impossible to reduce to just a game.

This collectible chess set is the first glimpse into Yoomoota’s long-term collaboration with World Chess, reimagining the classic Championship edition. Through hand-painted details and delicate engraving, this walnut and maple piece reveals the surreal landscape of Сhessity, where thought takes shape. From pawn to king, each inhabitant is a miniature mind with its own name, personality, and life mission. Centuries-old rules govern the town, balancing logic with diverse perspectives in the spirit of fair play. The work is dedicated to the World Chess Championship 2026, offering a bold perspective on the timeless game.

The set combines the official World Chess Championship pieces with Yoom's signature biomorphic surrealism: acrylic paint, delicate engraving, a 44×44 cm veneered board, and a custom ashwood cabinet with removable lid and storage drawer — designed to move between play and display without ceremony.

This is the first chapter of a longer collaboration between World Chess and Yoomoota. The next unfolds later in 2026 across the FIDE World Championship cycle.