Tactile chess

This is a tactile chess set designed for accessible play. It includes a chessboard and a full set of pieces adapted for tactile use, so the game can be followed by touch as well as by sight.

How it works

The board uses several tactile features to make orientation and piece recognition easier during play.

• Braille markings are placed around the edges of the board to identify the ranks and files

• The black squares are raised higher than the white ones.

• The black pieces also have clearly shaped tips, which distinguish them from the white pieces without changing the basic character of the set.

• The fields are cut-out to allow for stable positioning of the pieces.

Things to note

• The board is quite difficult to print. It requires a well-calibrated printer and may be impossible to produce reliably on cheaper machines.

• The board also requires several filament changes between white and black sections. With a 0.2 mm layer height, this means 5 colour changes in total. This can be done with systems such as MMU, AMS or other multi-tool setups, or by changing filament manually.

• The pieces can be printed either in FDM or SLA.

Recommended print settings

Board

• Use a well-calibrated printer with good dimensional accuracy.

• Be prepared for filament changes.

• Scarf seam is recommended.

Pieces, FDM

• 0.25 mm nozzle can be used for fine details, but 0.4 mm nozzle is detailed enough for usability.

• Supports required for knights only.

• No raft or brim required.

• Scarf seam is recommended.

Pieces, SLA

• Print directly on the build plate if possible.

• Calibrate elephant foot carefully, especially for direct-to-plate printing.