The first machine had a vertical board. Of course, it couldn’t play a full game of chess. The machine always played white with a king and rook in a fixed position. The human’s lone black king ...

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a magnetic chess board, but it’s probably ... would be more powerful because a spherical board lacked vertical edges. I was proven wrong very quickly.

Vertical chess boards that use standard game pieces on ledges or shelves have been around for a while. But Bailey’s patent-pending magnetic spin takes up less wall space, weighs less than half a ...