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How to fold an origami chess set

A real project. Hem a green board and a wooden frame, then fold black and white pieces: coned pawns, a mitred bishop, a snipped castle rook, a crowned queen, kings with crosses and reverse-folded knights.

You need: A 28.2 cm green square, a 32 cm brown square, and small white and black pieces (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, white pen.. Challenge, 65 steps, about 75 minutes.

Steps

  1. Board: neat edges. Start with the board: a 28.2 cm green square, green side up. Fold the top and bottom edges behind, 5 mm.
  2. Board: square it. Fold the left and right edges behind, 5 mm, too. The board is now 27.2 cm: eight squares of 3.4 cm each way.
  3. Pawn: body. Set the board aside. Now the pieces, starting with a pawn's body: a 2.4 × 1.8 cm white piece, standing tall.
  4. Pawn: taper. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, from 4 mm off the middle of the top edge down to the sides, 4.5 mm above the bottom. A cone on a base!
  5. Pawn: head. Set the body aside. For the head, take a 1.3 cm square of the same colour.
  6. Pawn: round head. Fold all four corners behind, 2 mm each way. The head is nearly round.
  7. Pawn: body. Set that aside. Now a black 2.4 × 1.8 cm piece for the pawn's body.
  8. Pawn: taper. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, as before, leaving the band at the bottom: a cone on a base.
  9. Pawn: head. Set it aside. Take a 1.3 cm black square for the head.
  10. Pawn: round head. Fold all four corners behind, 2 mm each way. The head is nearly round.
  11. Pawn: body. Set that aside. Now a black 2.4 × 1.8 cm piece for the pawn's body.
  12. Pawn: taper. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, as before, leaving the band at the bottom: a cone on a base.
  13. Pawn: head. Set it aside. Take a 1.3 cm black square for the head.
  14. Pawn: round head. Fold all four corners behind, 2 mm each way. The head is nearly round.
  15. Bishop: body. Set that aside. Now a black 2.4 × 2.3 cm piece for the bishop's body.
  16. Bishop: taper. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, as before, leaving the band at the bottom: a cone on a base.
  17. Bishop: mitre. Set it aside. For the bishop's pointed hat, take a 1.15 cm black square and turn it to a diamond.
  18. Bishop: slim the mitre. Fold the left and right corners behind, 4 mm from the middle. A tall pointed hat.
  19. Rook: tower. Set it aside. For the rook, take a 1.9 × 2.7 cm white piece, coloured side up, standing tall.
  20. Rook: fold in thirds. Fold the left third over the middle.
  21. Rook: thirds. Fold the right third over on top, like a letter. Crease well.
  22. Rook: snip the battlements. Snip a thin wedge off both top corners of the folded stack, 2 mm across and 4.5 mm down.
  23. Rook: open. Unfold the right third.
  24. Rook: open flat. Unfold the left third too. Two notches leave three square battlements: a castle tower!
  25. Rook: base. Set it aside. For the base, take a 2.4 × 0.6 cm white strip, lying long.
  26. Rook: base. Fold both top corners behind, 3 mm each way, so the base slopes like a real chess piece.
  27. Queen: body. Set that aside. Now a white 2.4 × 2.2 cm piece for the queen's body.
  28. Queen: taper. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, as before, leaving the band at the bottom: a cone on a base.
  29. Queen: crown. Set it aside. For the crown, take a 2.2 × 1.0 cm white strip, lying long.
  30. Queen's crown: fold in thirds. Fold the left third over the middle.
  31. Queen's crown: thirds. Fold the right third over on top, like a letter. Crease well.
  32. Queen: cut the points. Cut both top corners of the stack off on a slant, from the top middle down to the sides 5 mm lower.
  33. Queen's crown: open. Unfold the right third.
  34. Queen's crown: open flat. Unfold the left third too: a crown with three points.
  35. King: body. Set that aside. Now a white 2.4 × 2.2 cm piece for the king's body.
  36. King: taper. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, as before, leaving the band at the bottom: a cone on a base.
  37. King: cross. Set it aside. For the cross, take a 0.8 × 1.2 cm white strip, standing tall.
  38. King: cross upright. Fold it in half lengthwise, the left half behind.
  39. King: cross bar. Set it aside. For the cross bar, take a 1.1 × 0.7 cm white strip, lying long.
  40. King: cross bar. Fold it in half, the bottom half behind.
  41. King: body. Set that aside. Now a black 2.4 × 2.2 cm piece for the king's body.
  42. King: taper. Fold both top corners behind on a slant, as before, leaving the band at the bottom: a cone on a base.
  43. King: cross. Set it aside. Take a 0.8 × 1.2 cm black strip for the cross.
  44. King: cross upright. Fold it in half lengthwise, the left half behind.
  45. King: cross bar. Set it aside. For the cross bar, take a 1.1 × 0.7 cm black strip, lying long.
  46. King: cross bar. Fold it in half, the bottom half behind.
  47. Knight: new sheet. Set it aside. Now the hard one, the knight: a 5.2 × 4.1 cm white piece, white side up, standing tall.
  48. Knight: in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge. The colour is now outside on both faces.
  49. Knight: in half again. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge again: a thick strip. The folded edge on the left is the front of the neck.
  50. Knight: shape the neck. Cut through all layers: slim the back edge from the bottom corner up to 3.5 mm in at the top, then snip the two top corners round.
  51. Knight: the head. Outside-reverse-fold the top forward and down, from the front 1.6 cm below the top, sloping to the back 6 mm lower. Wrap both layers outside: a horse's head!
  52. Knight: base. Set it aside and take a 2.4 × 0.6 cm white strip for the base.
  53. Knight: base. Fold both top corners behind, 3 mm each way, so the base slopes like a real chess piece.
  54. Knight: new sheet. Set it aside. Fold a black knight the same way: a 5.2 × 4.1 cm piece, white side up.
  55. Knight: in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge. The colour is now outside on both faces.
  56. Knight: in half again. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge again: a thick strip. The folded edge on the left is the front of the neck.
  57. Knight: shape the neck. Cut through all layers: slim the back edge from the bottom corner up to 3.5 mm in at the top, then snip the two top corners round.
  58. Knight: the head. Outside-reverse-fold the top forward and down, from the front 1.6 cm below the top, sloping to the back 6 mm lower. Wrap both layers outside: a horse's head!
  59. Knight: base. Set it aside and take a 2.4 × 0.6 cm black strip for the base.
  60. Knight: base. Fold both top corners behind, 3 mm each way, so the base slopes like a real chess piece.
  61. Frame: new sheet. Set the knight aside. Last, the wooden frame: a 32 cm brown square, brown side up.
  62. Frame: hem. Fold the top and bottom edges behind, 1 cm.
  63. Frame: hem the sides. Fold the left and right edges behind, 1 cm, too. A stiff 30 cm square.
  64. Set up the board. Glue the board in the middle of the frame. Glue each piece on its dark square as shown, bases at the bottom: white pieces near you, black ones far.
  65. Stand it up. Stand the board up on its bottom edge and lean it back against a stack of books, like a big chess board on show.

Your move!

Colour every other square white with a paint pen, so the dark squares make a checkerboard. Add the knights' eyes, the bishop's slit and the queen's jewels.

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