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How the chess set came about.

On a trip around the world that began in New Zealand, I met a guy and we played some chess.  Leon (real name: Tom or Thomas) became a good friend and we traveled and played more until I was no match for him.  You could say I searched the world over for a good travel chess set and found none (I'm sure yours is nice though).  There was always the issue of space around the outside of the board; if you had a place to put captured pieces, then the playing area seemed small.  I just couldn't find something I really liked.

After a dozen or more prototypes, hundreds of 3-D engineering drawings, a patent, more trips overseas, encouragement and reviews out the wazoo, we have a product.  I decided to make it a little larger than your average travel set; I would call it "portable".  I wanted people to use it at home, take it to a coffee shop or over to a friend's house (until he or she gets their own).

I would like to thank Leon, my brother Charlie (co-inventor), my wife, family, and friends: Tony, Pete, Jeff, Steve of Design Models, Inc., Ron of Kingcage.com and John of worlddiscoverybox.com for their help, feedback, and encouragement along the way.  David of Chessmate.com was generous to give good criticism.  I would also like to thank Janet at ChessBaron.com (The nicest people in the chess business).

I really hope you like the set and get the chance to play often.

Sincerely,
William Holden

Email: info@holdenart.com