London-based company Purling produces bespoke, hand-painted chess sets that are more works of art than normal gaming sets. These exclusive items are normally out of reach of most people, but thanks to Chess Ultra publisher and develop Ripstone teaming up with Purling, you might have the chance to admire virtual copies of some of its famous sets.
Purling produces Art Chess sets which are widely admired, though since they are all one-off bespoke items, the price is accordingly high – too high for most. The Chess Ultra X Purling London collection brings those sets into reach of everyone.
The Ripstone development team have worked with Purling artists to carefully model the Purling London chess sets in highly detailed 4K resolution in order to properly match the details of the real-life versions.
Four Purling sets will be available in the Chess Ultra collection:
- Chess Ultra X Purling London Bold Chess – Purling London’s best-selling set. The pieces are hardwood finished with glossy lacquer to combine the modern with classic.
- Chess Ultra X Purling London Olivia Pilling Art Chess – Created by artist Olivia Pilling, each piece has been given an abstract design in a rich colour palette to create a stylish statement.
- Chess Ultra X Purling London Mr. Jiver Art Chess – London-based street artist Mr. Jiver created a chess that features colourful and distinctive graffiti art across each piece.
- Chess Ultra X Purling London Nette Robinson Art Chess – Created by artist and chess player Nette Robinson, this chess set was inspired by Russian landmarks.
Purling London’s founder, Simon Purkis conceived of the company’s Art Chess line. “I discovered the long history of art and chess, but found that many artist designed chess sets were exquisitely beautiful, but impractical to play. I was inspired to collaborate with artists to create meaningful and handsome artworks based on the iconic Staunton shape. Tradition with a twist”
Chess Ultra is available on Steam for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, currently available with a 20% discount, bringing the price to £7.99 (GBP). The title is available for the PlayStation VR. VRFocus will continue to bring you further news on Chess Ultra as it becomes available.