The New York Toyfair – February 2014.
Chess and the Toy Fair (2014)
Early this month was the annual Toyfair at the Jacob Javits center in New York. I go to the toyfair each year and it is a great time to see what is new from various manufacturers and distributors, as well as interesting new ideas as they are developed.
Of course, the toy fair is about a whole lot more than chess, and i’m allowed to take a peek at all that too. I can see literally thousands of new toys from suppliers big and small. It’s a really interesting event where you can see well established companies near by new start ups. The games range from traditional to electronic and unique and obscure. I even got to see some celebrities….
..such as the world famous grumpy cat!
..and Emmett, star of the Lego Movie.
I thought it would be nice to share a little about my experience and share just a few of the New (and classic) chess sets that will be coming out later this year.
Jennifer Shahade and Yamie Chess Set
WGM Jennifer Shahade and me at the Yamie Chess Booth
Yamie chess is a new tool that combines the classic game structure of chess with insight and education in math progress in the classroom (and beyond). A colorful story introduces young readers to both chess and mathematical principles, which can really help the learning process.
The Yamie Chess set shown with the full contents of the game box.
Yamie Chess contains a full set of chess pieces with foldout chessboard, coloring book (and color pencils!) which includes the story of Tigermore and the Mind Angels. It’s a great chess set for learning, as well as all the other educational advantages – and it is also made in the USA!
This is an exciting combination as it spreads the focus of educational and instructional chess sets from just the game to other aspects of learning, as written on their own press page:
“Dedicated to enabling all children to fulfill their full intellectual potential in school, Yamie Chess® was created as a K-8 supplementary educational learning system, to inspire a foundation of math progress for young minds through classic chess; and develop children’s thinking capabilities in K-8 math, logic and science education, for future math and science college careers.”
It is great to see how chess is growing in our education system and also how it is being increasingly acknowledged as being more than a game – to the extent that it can be applied in other fields during child development. It’s also not just an idea that a few folks had – this educational tool was developed by those with the experience to really develop something innovative in education – not only was WGM Jennifer Shahade involved, but she collaborated with a team of engineers, math educators, and scientists from prestigious institutions such as MIT, Vanderbilt University, Caltech, Stanford, Columbia, and the University of Arizona.
Find more about Yamie Chess directly from their website, here:
Click here to visit the Yamie Chess Webpage for more information
The Revelation II Chess Computer – The strongest chess computer in the world!
DGT Projects – including the DGT eboard and DGT chess clocks – Coming to Chess USA!
The DGT e-boards are nothing new – this have been top of the line electronic interface boards for chess for a long time now. What is new, is we now have them here at Chess USA!
If you’re not familiar with them, the DGT e-board is a wooden autosensory board that connects via USB to your PC or laptop – with it you can play either one of the top playing programs such as Fritz, Houdini, Rybka, or more (there is an expansive list of related programs available on the DGT website). You can also play chess with an opponent over the internet, and even broadcast your chess match!
The DGT boards are awesome, and with a growing hole in the chess computer market, these boards are definitely the future of electronic chess. We’re also bringing in a number of the popular DGT clocks as well, including the DGT XL which can be connected to a DGT board and allow you to see your opponents move directly on the chess clock itself – meaning you do not have to even look at a computer screen!
You can find out more about the DGT e-boards as well as the range of DGT clocks on our website.
You’ll also see our friend Albert playing with an interesting looking machine in the image above – that is not the DGT e-board, but actually the Revelation II chess computer. Featuring a dual core processor that can play classic and new chess programs, this is the top dog in the chess computer world now. If you have questions about it, feel free to email.
Laszlo and Klara Polgar, the parents of Susan, Judit, and Sophia! They have a new chess variant coming soon… stay tuned!
Other New Chess Items at the Toy Fair?
You bet! But there’s too much for just one post. Keep your eyes peeled and you might see a future post with a number of newcomers to the chess market – both new manufacturers and new items from old favorites.
Click Here to get started and view our dozens of chess sets, pieces, boards and more.
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