I’ve spent a good chunk of my career writing about chess sets. Wooden boards, electronic boards, robot arms, vegetable-tanned leather sets; I’ve seen and tested most of it. So, when I came across Victory, which its maker claims is “the world’s first infinitely foldable pocket chessboard,” I was sceptical and wanted to find out more.
Currently the subject of a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, the Victory chessboard set is designed by Besidar, a Chinese startup. The pocket-sized chessboard is machined from titanium and built as two eight-panel sections that connect magnetically. A mechanical interlocking hinge lets it fold down to a sixteenth of its unfolded size, collapsing into a stack slim enough to slip into a jacket pocket. The hinge offers enough resistance to double as a fidget toy between games.
A legitimate question that arises here is what happens to the chess pieces? Besidar notes 64 magnetic chess and checker pieces stow inside cutouts machined directly into the board’s back. “The pieces feature a magnetic anti-drop design that ensures they stay securely attached to the board, along with a mechanical interlocking mechanism that allows for infinite folding,” the brand states. The pieces also feature different colors on their front and back, so a single set can play chess, checkers, Gomoku, and Othello while also functioning as a stress-relief toy.
It also lands at an interesting moment for chess hardware. I’ve spent recent months reviewing boards that lean hard into automation, like the Millennium Chess Classics Exclusive and the SenseRobot Chess Mini, the former of which uses AI and the latter relies on a physical arm to move pieces against you. Those boards are clever, but they’re not going anywhere near a backpack.
This is where Victory excels, as it strips everything down to titanium and magnets so the board disappears into a pocket rather than sitting on a tabletop. That multi-game flexibility is what I liked about the Chessxiangqi double-sided board, which paired Western chess with Xiangqi on a premium build instead of forcing buyers to pick a single game and stick with it.
Pledges for Victory start at $69, and the campaign is now in its final stretch with just three days left to back it. While the project may sound appealing, it has plenty of red flags, which makes me wonder: this could very well be a scam. First, there is no track record of the creator. Investing in a brand-new entity with no prior track record is incredibly high-risk.
Also Read: This Portable AI Chess Board Uses Robotic Arm to Move Pieces
Second, the chessboard is marketed as precisely CNC-machined from titanium, featuring an intricate multi-hinge infinite folding mechanism and integrated magnets. Those who know a thing or two about raw titanium know it is expensive, and high-tolerance CNC machining is incredibly labor-intensive.
Selling this complex piece of engineering at a discounted Kickstarter price of around $69 is economically unfeasible for a brand-new creator, a tactic often used by scams to harvest rapid upfront cash. That said, if you still have faith in humanity and cash to splurge, head to Kickstarter to back this project now.
