Patent ID: 7568702

Claim:
A collapsible chess set comprising: a generally square chess board having a playing surface with an eight by eight playing grid formed by alternate colored squares on the grid surface to form a chess board playing surface, said chess board having a central transverse dividing the chess board into two rectangular halves forming a first half and an essentially identical second half; a first peripheral wall connected to said first rectangular half of said chess board and extending beneath and away from the playing surface of said first half of said chess board; a second peripheral wall connected to said second rectangular half of said chess board and extending beneath and away from the playing surface of said second half of said chess board; a hinge connected to a first long edge of said first peripheral wall of said first rectangular half of said chess board and also connected to a first long edge of said second peripheral wall of said second rectangular half of said chess board such that said first half and said second half of said chess board can be pivoted from a closed rectangular box configuration to an open generally square playing surface configuration; a first shelf pivotally connected to a second long edge of said first peripheral wall of said first rectangular half of said chess board and being operable to pivot from a closed position within said first peripheral wall, with a generally flat surface of said first shelf generally parallel with an inner surface of said first peripheral wall, to an open position approximately two hundred and seventy degrees from said closed position wherein said first shelf is outside of said first peripheral wall and said first shelf surface being generally parallel with said chess board playing surface; a second shelf pivotally connected to a second long edge of said second peripheral wall of said second rectangular half of said chess board and being operable to pivot from a closed position within said second peripheral wall with a generally flat surface of said second shelf generally parallel with an inner surface of said second peripheral wall, to an open position approximately two hundred and seventy degrees from said closed position wherein said second shelf is outside of said second peripheral wall and said second shelf surface being generally parallel with said chess board playing surface; removable attachment mechanisms attaching chess pieces to the generally flat surface of said first and second shelves, wherein chess pieces can be operably connected to said shelves and said chess board halves being operable to be folded together into a rectangular box storage configuration and then selectively opened and the shelves pivoted outward and the chess pieces selectively placed upon the playing board to start play and then returned to the shelves as play proceeds.