Quick link: jump to Story | The playing surface | Frame and drawer | Finish and size | Gallery | Information
- The board is in stock and will be shipped within 7 business days, reflecting Jelly Key’s In-stock sales approach, which is different from the Groupbuy model.
- It is a real chessboard. Eight by eight, 23mm squares, and it plays with any set of pieces you already own.
- Under the playing surface there is a drawer, and inside it a soft foam tray with 35 compartments sized for 1u keycaps.
- Solid noble ash and walnut. Two natural wood colours, no stain, no paint, no printed surface.
- Every strip is planed, sorted and glued by hand, so no two boards come out exactly alike.
- Chess pieces are not included. The board is sold on its own.
A board first, a keycap case second
This is a chessboard, not a display prop. Eight by eight, squares 23mm across, a surface flat enough to slide a piece over without catching. Put any set you own on it – wood, plastic, the travel set that has been in a drawer since school – and it plays.
We built it because our own Chess series needed somewhere to live. The pieces in that series are artisan keycaps first and chessmen second, and a keycap has nowhere to go when the game is over. So the board got a drawer, and the drawer got a cut foam tray with a compartment for every piece.
That is the whole idea. Chess pieces while you are playing, artisan keycaps while you are not. Thirty-five compartments: the thirty-two of a full set, and three left over for whatever else ends up on your desk.
The playing surface, strip by strip
Two woods, kept apart and never stained: noble ash for the light squares, walnut for the dark. The colour you see is the wood itself.
Each one is planed down to a 4mm sheet and cut into strips 23mm wide. The strips are sorted by hand and only the ones holding the exact width go on, because an error here is an error repeated sixty-four times.
Light and dark are glued edge to edge into a striped panel. That panel is then cut a second time, across the stripes, which turns them into squares. The new strips go back down offset by one square, and the chequerboard appears.
Frame, drawer, and a top that floats
Walnut takes the drawer front. It is the darkest wood on the board and the first thing you see, so the face of the box reads as a single deep panel. Noble ash takes the frame and the base the drawer runs on.
The runners are cut into the frame itself rather than bolted on, so the drawer slides wood on wood. Two magnetic catches pull it the last few millimetres and hold it shut, which is why a closed board can be picked up and carried without it sliding open.
A flat ash panel closes the top of the frame, and the playing surface is glued onto that panel standing 3mm proud of it. The step throws a shadow line all the way round, so the chequerboard looks like it is hovering over the box rather than sitting on it – and it is held twice over.
Sanded, sealed, and lined with foam
Once every joint is closed, the whole board is sanded – top, sides, the inside of the drawer, the parts nobody will look at. Then a protective coat is sprayed on. It evens the colour out and leaves the wood smooth enough that picking the board up is part of the pleasure of owning it.
The drawer is lined with soft foam and cut into 35 compartments, each one sized for a 1u keycap. The foam is there to stop pieces knocking into each other and to keep a resin cap from being scratched by the one next to it.
Both woods were chosen for hardness and for the long life that comes with it. That is what keeps the lines between the squares dead straight, and it is why the board will not shrink on you over the years. It is still wood, though: keep it dry and do not let it soak.
Size. 184 x 184 x 47 mm. That is 18.4 x 18.4 x 4.7 cm, or 7.24 x 7.24 x 1.85 inches – small enough to live on a desk beside the keyboard rather than being put away between games.
Gallery
Real photographs of a finished board, not renders.
Board information
Specs
- Solid noble ash and walnut. No stain, no paint, no veneer print.
- Playing surface: 4mm wood, 23mm squares, 8 x 8.
- Frame and base: noble ash. Drawer front: walnut.
- Surface sits 3mm proud of the frame on its own panel.
- Drawer: two magnetic catches, runners routed into the frame.
- Inside the drawer: soft foam tray, 35 compartments for 1u keycaps.
- Sanded on every face, then sprayed with a protective coat.
- Size: 184 x 184 x 47 mm – 18.4 x 18.4 x 4.7 cm – 7.24 x 7.24 x 1.85 in.
- Plays with any chess set, not only ours.
- Design and Handcrafted by Jelly Key
Shipping
- Shipping is calculated at checkout, from the weight of your whole order.
- The board ships in the same parcel as any keycaps you order with it.
- Instock products sell out and are restocked when we produce the next batch.
What is in the box?
- 01 Citadel Chessboard by Jelly Key, in solid noble ash and walnut.
- 01 cut foam tray, already fitted inside the drawer.
- Chess pieces are not included. The board plays with any set, including our Chess series artisan keycaps.
Sidenote
- Every board is made from natural wood and finished by hand, so grain and colour vary from piece to piece and yours will not match the photographs exactly. We appreciate your understanding of these reasonable variations.
- Keep it dry. The wood will not shrink over the years, but it should not be left wet.
- Enjoy a 1-to-1 replacement warranty with free shipping on replacement items. Our no-risk, money-back guarantee ensures hassle-free refunds.
