Mechanical folding chess set - GIF

[greyhoundollie]

The one thing the man never does during his performance is, He never sets the chess board down on the table. It appears that the chess board will not set level on the table when it is ready to play a game of chess.

[Frank S]

The one thing the man never does during his performance is, He never sets the chess board down on the table. It appears that the chess board will not set level on the table when it is ready to play a game of chess.

I imagine it would set level enough and be stable enough for a game the 2 game piece compartments would cover 2 of the 4 quadrants of the surface area from diagonally opposite corners while meeting in the center. About the only way the playing surface would become unstable would be if every game piece were positioned on a single unsupported quadrant and then only should the total weight of the game pieces exceed of the weight of the board itself. I doubt if the game pieces were made of lead and all placed in a single unsupported quadrant if the board would be unstable. Looking at it another way there are only a total of 6 whole squares and 4 half squares outside of the support area of either unsupported quadrant.