As if playing chess wasn’t geeky enough already, evil genius Paul Fryer has gone and paired it up with vacuum tubes that actually light up as you move them around the board. This gorgeous example of geekery is appropriately titled Chess Set for Tesla.

The top of each tube is emblazoned with a small character that tells which chess piece it represents. As you move each piece to a new spot on the board, you plug it into the electrified slot on the bottom of the square, lighting it up.

There are only seven of these bad boys in existence, and we expect you’d have to be super careful while playing to avoid any heartbreaking, unfixable accidents – but this is easily one of the coolest chess sets ever created.

The post Glowing Endorsement: Retrofuturistic Tesla Chess Set first appeared on Gajitz.

Remember coming up with truly unachievable Lego designs as a kid? Those overly ambitious projects always looked great in our heads, but we could never quite figure out how to transfer them to the real world. Derek Seiple actually figured out how to make one of our ultimate geeky Lego fantasies come true: he makes custom chess sets entirely from Lego bricks. Each set contains approximately 4,000 bricks and plates and is lovingly made to order by Seiple’s own hands.

The board is made with the hilariously-named SNOT (studs not on top) building technique, giving players a smooth playing field on which to kick butt and take names. The board measures 22.75 inches on each side, and the king pieces – the tallest of the set – are around 4.5 inches tall. Once Seiple receives an order, he buys the necessary pieces directly from Lego (in your own custom colors, if you choose) and then assembles the disarmingly-awesome board and pieces before sending them on their merry way to his buyer.

Unfortunately, you would have to really, really like someone to purchase this as a gift: it’s got a regular price tag of $1295 plus $50 shipping. Even with its current sale price of $1036, that’s beyond the holiday shopping budgets of most mortals. Still, if you’ve got a little over a grand to plunk down on some insane piece of geekery this holiday season, this wouldn’t be a bad choice at all.

The post Check (It Out,) Mate! Beloved Bricks Build Geeky Chess Set first appeared on Gajitz.