Awesome Nixie chess set now available as a limited edition kit

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The bottom of the NOS Tufnol and phenolic resin laminate case, showing the placement of brass bolts

The case before the huge driver PCB is put in place

Air-core transformers are placed under each square of the chess board to power the tubes in a similar fashion to an induction charging system

Both sides glow the same orange color, which could make identifying opposing pieces during game-play an interesting proposition

The chess set features IN-7 and IN-7A ex-Soviet Nixie display tubes from the 1980s that display scientific symbols instead of the more common numerals

When a Nixie chess piece is placed on the board, the display lights up

Close up of the chess piece printed circuit board

Close of the Rook piece of the Nixie chess set

The gorgeous Nixie tube chess set made by Tony Adams is now being made available as a limited number of self-build kits

They may look to be burning hot but unlike vacuum tubes, the gas-filled Nixie tubes are cool enough to handle

Article Summary

The gentle orange glow of a Nixie display tube has held a special place in the hearts of DIY device builders for as long as I can remember but they seem to be undergoing something of a mainstream revival of late. Many are used as clock displays (as evidenced by our recent coverage of the Ramos alarm clock and ThinkGeek’s DIY Nixie Tube Desk Clock kit), due to the most common tube featuring a stack of numerical cathodes. Some display scientific symbols, of course, and its these Nixie tubes that have been used in the creation of the gorgeous chess board you see above. Developer Tony Adams (otherwise known as Lasermad) has received such a positive response to his design that he's decided to sell a limited number as self-build kits.

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