Giant and Lawn Games
Giant Chess Rentals
A chess set where the king stands two feet tall and the board is a mat on the ground. It holds two players far longer than anything else in the range. It reads as a feature rather than as a game.
On the list. See the list
Specifications
A two-foot king on a folding mat.
Pieces run from 16 inches at the pawn to 24 at the king, moulded in a plastic that takes weather and handling. Each one fills with sand, water or stone, which is what makes an exposed lawn or a rooftop workable. The vinyl mat folds flat for transport and lies straight on grass, paving, carpet or a hard floor.
| King height | 24 in |
|---|---|
| Pawn height | 16 in |
| Play mat | 10 × 10 ft, folding vinyl |
| Material | Weather-resistant moulded plastic |
| Ballast | Pieces fill with sand, water or stone |
| Players | 2 |
| Surface | Grass, paving, carpet or hard floor |
| Use | Indoor and outdoor |
Where it becomes furniture
Six settings that keep it out for days.
Hotel lobbies and courtyards
Carpet is as good a surface as paving, so it can stand in a lobby for the length of a booking rather than only on the lawn day.
Corporate lawns
Allow a clear 10 by 10 feet for the mat plus room to walk right round it, so players move a piece from the side rather than reaching across the board.
Conference breakout space
Somewhere for two delegates to talk while doing something else. It occupies the hands and leaves the conversation alone, which is what a breakout is usually for.
Long receptions
A full game runs long and most guests play a few moves before handing over. Worth telling your host, so nobody feels they are holding up a queue by stopping.
Rooftops and exposed terraces
The ballast is the reason this one goes where lighter games cannot. Filled pieces stay where they are put. The mat lies flat rather than lifting at a corner.
Ground that is sound but unattractive
The mat covers ten feet square of whatever is underneath it. On a tired lawn or a stained slab that is half the reason to book it.
What usually goes under it
When the ground under the mat is the problem.
A vinyl mat follows the ground it is laid on, so a rutted lawn shows through it and a piece finds the low spot. Artificial turf goes down first at 0.8 in pile and gives the board a flat, even bed. It rolls out over grass, soil, concrete or asphalt.
See the artificial turf