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Building pawns that transform into every piece
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- Published on Apr 17, 2026
- Check out PCBWay at pcbway.com/g/9... for your one-stop
solution for prototype services and more. Plus, be one of the first 100 to use the code ‘PCBWay-WorksByDesign10’ to get $10 off an order over $30
Designing and building a full set of self promoting chess pawns that automatically transform into every piece on the board. You can even 3D print your own! See link below:
Print your very own set by becoming a channel member here: / @worksbydesign
Or get the files on my Patreon shop here:
www.patreon.co...
Special thanks to:
The Mechanic's Institute and all who were involved in the chess meet.
DISCLAIMER: Bambu Lab links below are affiliate links. It doesn't cost you extra to buy through those and I can make a commission on eligible purchases. Thank you!
Bambu Lab Products: shrsl.com/2kzn6...
Software Used:
Onshape
Photoshop
Blender
DaVinci Resolve
Tools and Materials:
Bambu Lab X1 Carbon
Bambu Lab H2D 
Science & Technology
wow since when did engineering become so cinematic
Commenting to let ppl know that it’s not just this video, ALL of his videos are really cinematic and well edited afaik.
Today
It’s not that engineering got easier, it’s that video production got far more accessible
Since Iron Man
@Anibbles he said cinematic
I can't believe he animated a fake "cardboard aided design" program for this video
I so wish it was real 😂 I’d use it
@TheSpiffiest_ I thought it was real for a second and now im so sad. I would use it so much!
@horseanimate27i hoped, I was googling😂
I was wondering the whole time how did he do it. Look so good
Computer-aided cardboard-aided design is the next big thing in mechanical design.
You need a second channel called “doesn’t work by design” showcasing all of the stuff that doesn’t work
fails by disarrangement
first video will be on communism
@xenicatlol
"Unplanned obsolescence"
@xenicat haha you won best comment of the day. fully made me chuckle thanks for that
it's unbelievable that we don't need to pay for tickets to see these videos
TBH this channel could be dedicated entirely to transforming chess pieces and I'd still watch every single video.
One of the greatest channels I’ve stumbled upon, period.
@gunnygt49same
same
The pawn types could have cool nicknames. The Princess will become a Queen. The Squire will become a Knight. The Priest will become a Bishop. And the Outpost will grow into a Tower.
its me, a pawn, specifically the one named squire i guess
Maybe 'friar' for the pre-bishop
The *"Cart"* will become the *"Rukh"* _("Rook")_ i.e. the *"Chariot."*
1 is rook, not tower and 2 maybe the knight one should be called a chariot
Why are there judgement about your creativity. 💀
The amount of effort put not only in the pawns but also the video itself with the editing and ideas and the CARDBOARD PROGRAM????? absolute peak it almost makes me angry how good it is
Right?
I don’t play chess, like chess or even know what chess is but I watched the whole thing!
Need a video on the making of the video!
@joshmccallFR it'd be so cool
teto
@flakesthegreattetoooi
@TurnedTnor tetotetetotetetoteteto
You can play this as normal chess too just by switching the pawns when you promote
He mentioned this but said that pawns rarely promote to anything because most are traded of so it would be a waste to make so many transformable pawns and actually not use any.
@dimitriskalofiris1777 that’s well just not very true at higher levels, and although these might be the coolest videos to watch, they don’t think he’s really in th chess field. However I know that it’s hard to get a “one pawn promotes all” so it’s fine.
So... Chess bakugans?
Yes
Yes
What?
Bakupawn…stand!
@ResidentKlintonfreaking awesome 😂
When its april fools,you should make a pawn that transforms into a king😂
How would that work in the rules? Does check mating one king end the game or do you have to check mate both at once?
@OmegaZyion maybe do something like how "Shotgun king" did - choose 1 pawn to be the king's heir and when the original king gets captured, that pawn will immediately turn into a new king.
Not sure how the magnet would work tho but it's a very cool concept.
@Ascm_as_always Chess Game mode: 2 lifes
A demotion piece: when your opponent takes it, it falls apart into a pawn
@Ascm_as_always Manual Activation for that piece, the hidden King, if he's taken - the faker on the back line presumes the role, if the faker is taken, the true King emerges. A pawn that cannot promote to Queen, but acts as a second life in the game.
What the hell is even this channel?! Is this a 3D artist and motion designer that decided to become an engineer and create a RUclips channel with amazing graphics?
This is super impressive as a motion graphic designer watching who loves the 3D print things as a hobby. Instant sub from me!
Ok I see a few videographers helping. Maybe also motion designers? @20:20
It’s Just me! I had a friend help film at the chess club though
Once you learn CAD, it's not a huge leap to learn 3D motion graphics, esp if you're still using CAD for all the modeling instead of switching to a mesh-based workflow.
Still extremely impressive! A lot of engineers can't even put a basic CAD animation together, while this guy's out here making his renders film-ready. And very few 3D animators can do engineering, obvs lol
@thedalek3374 Is this video not partially made with Blender or something though? This is more than a simple jump from CAD…
@davak72 Don't get me wrong, it's extremely impressive that he put in the work to be able to do that, but what I meant is more just that you already have the ability to make models and are already familiar with the interfaces 3D programs use.
To my eye, it looks like a lot of the work was put in to lighting and rendering, these are basically next-level versions of the CAD animations that show off how these things work. It looks like he put a lot of effort into learning lighting and rigging to me.
The bishop is without a doubt my favorite I love the asymmetrical look matching the vibe of the original bishop
this video doesnt have a single cut corner, every aspect from the designs, the cinematics of it and the presentation of everything was a master class. respect
At 4:17 there are cut corners, actually.
I hate when someone is funnier than me@Videanty
Well that's a corner cutting machine.
@Videanty oh yea you right, nvm. this video is literally unwatcheable
Ahh, the classic Cardboard Aided Design, CAD. Well done all around!
i LOVE it!! I wish it was real haha. I also love the lil cardboard dude living this best life
@pvic6959 I had to google it to double check that it wasn't a real program :P
The product, the animations, the narration - Everything is just top notch!
The narration reminds me a lot of @mustardchannel
Ture not Flase
Also, something kind of poetic about taking the pawns, symbols of cogs in a machine, of faceless, uniform foot soldiers, and using the promotion feature to give them more of an identity - but still within a limited range of identities, still only one thing they can become. Something about the trade being made there. Idk I'm not good at poetry rn but maybe someday i can put it to words in a way that others understand. i barely understand what it feels like my brain is trying to put together as is lmao
Aint it funny how the knight moves
1:14 the "how to edit like scott yu-jan" book right before a scott yu-jan style sequence is genius work
glad someone noticed
@lachlanlau this whole video is his own style. the segment was like an easter egg.
This is the extra secret sauce that makes more people subscribe :)
1:14 this made my day! HAHAHAHA what a clever nod. Thanks for the love. Now I need you to write one that’ll teach me how to design mechanisms like you 🥺
I’ll get started on the book, as long as you keep the cool edits coming
For a second I thought the book was real and was super excited haha
Scott we need this book now, you’ll definitely have to write it
OMG Scott Yu Jan, Works by Design AND CPS drone in the same comment section???
I FOUND IT TOO!
crazy that not only did you spend so long making and designing these but went the extra mile by modelling them all in cardboard and showing how they work something you didn't need to do but adds so much charm to the process
The cardboard was CGI
@kylesaunders8436I know hence why I said "modeled it"
@Thetom5000thought you meant it as a cardboard model. Rendered might be a more apt description
well he already modelled them all in CAD in the first place, so I don't think any new models were created for that animation... just export the CAD models and import them into Blender or something similar and apply cardboard texture
@kylesaunders8436 modeling is a perfectly fine way to describe it, I think you just don't want to be wrong.
This production is INSANE
If instead of steel washers on the tiles you used magnets, then by using the positive and negative polarities you would be able to differentiate the white pawns and black pawns promotion zone, thus enabling you to move the zone independently for each color.
But then you either need to worry about the rotation of the piece or if you ever got a pawn to the opposite promotion square it would repel away, no?
Then if you move past the opposite colors promotion square, the magnets will repel. I mean, it could be another variant of central promotions AND spontaneous visceration but I don't think that's what he wanted.
cool concept but not very applicable with the laws of magnetism and whatnot
@TheQuicksilver115 Given that he's using flat magnets, which have north on one flat side, and south on the other, theoretically it will always attract or repell, no matter the rotation. However, I do see an issue with the pieces trying to "float" on the opposite promotion squares, which could cause some pieces to fall over on themselves. I did notice when they were playing, some of the pieces seemed to activate when they didn't want to (like after a capture), so maybe using weaker magnets?
@TheQuicksilver115it looks like the magnets are much stronger than they need to be. Replace the rare earth magnets with weaker ceramic magnets and ferrite sheets (eg fridge magnets) and it should still work fine, especially because you're getting extra "pull" from the board also being magnetic. The "push" from the opposite-aligned magnets wouldn't be a big deal as long as the pieces are heavy enough (put a weight in the base if need be).
You could have magnetic squares that only promote one color and metal squares that promote either color (might take more tuning), this would be a great addition to the chess variant.
13:32 ... assembling a metal pawn was the best PCBway ad I ever saw. Well-design and well-made! Love it!
If that was supposed to be a sponsor I do not care I'm not skipping it
@Fatal_Error69 I never skip PCBWay ads because they're always relevant to the video and the company is always supporting cool engineering channels
@aryst0kratLike bringus studios! We love bringus studios
@aryst0kratYeah! One of the good sponsors in RUclips unlike the others (Temu and Honey could never)
This mf working on chess pawns like he's Tony Stark making an iron man suit. Respect.
"Jarvis, pull out the transpawnmers."
Transpawners is the best pun I’ve heard all week
😂😂😂
10:30 this also makes dark-square bishop stronger than light-square bishop, and makes it so that the pawns only promote to dark-square bishops
Honestly the best answer is the easiest, whenever you promote a pawn, just swap with the right one
@exothermic1942 "the easiest solution to a self-imposed challenge is to ignore the self-imposed challenge entirely"
maybe have the promotion square be different for each side? maybe three or fours spaces in front of the pawns' starting rows?
CAD sequence was dope.. This whole project is super cool
Game variant: "Pawn wars." I'm not sure if you've already considered this, but just remove the other pieces. Start with one row of the transformable pawns in the back on either side in standard order (Rooks on the ends, then knights, etc.). Have the promotion zones either be predetermined or randomly shuffled and placed with your click board. I think it would be fun to see your pawn randomly jump up when you move it forward. Obviously, there is no king, so the first player to take all of the other players' pawns wins. Or perhaps a king pawn would be of interest.
I like the idea of a King Pawn, mostly because you can hide it. The game becomes a bigger game. Do you play aggressive with your secret king, or do you hold back, keeping it defended? Obviously this only works if it looks close enough to another piece though.
@kopskey1that's just literally cheating you can't hide your king pawn -_-
@Dark_wolf45hidden identity chess is a variant designed exclusively over that essentially
@kopskey1that's just Game of the Generals.
Thats stratego
I can’t believe that not only did you design and engineer four different functioning and beautiful pawns, but you also filmed beautiful montage sequences, and then ANIMATED A FAKE CAD PROGRAM WITH A CUTE LITTLE GUY????? This is seriously amazing work, and this video is five pieces of art in one.
A small consideration for determining the middle. Since you are using magnets for the release mechanism, you could use polarity to make sure each piece promotes on the fifth rank. Have every black piece have their magnets point north side down and every white piece have their magnets point north side up, and then place a row of magnets across the two middle rows, one pointing north side up and one pointing north side down.
It'd be an hillarious game if all of the pieces were transforming pawns(except king) but the original pieces in the back get demoted to pawns if they land/capture on the promotion tiles lol.
They could call it "Revolucion!"
Dammit, this is why you read the comments before commenting T-T
Just commented the same thing, would definitely make for some good decision weighing.
7:52 underrated joke
Maybe it wasn’t a joke…
It would’ve worked if he said diagonally
@KennyBoy-m5twhat?
Definitely 😂
@KennyBoy-m5t😂
HE TURNED HIS PAWNS INTO BAKUGAN
Bakupawn
BAKUGAN STAND!! HAOS TURRET!!!
"are you interested in pawnership?" - they missed such a good pawn. I'll see myself out.
13:34 : Honestly, that little guy appearing... Dang. Can we get more episodes with cardbordy? He's too cute.
he HAS to stay!I love how he was playing games and almost got caught lol. love that hes living his best life
Cardboardy is him!
Production quality is insane. Amazing video!
One of the only ad segments I do not regret watching all the way through.
Whatever PCBWay is paying you for that ad... It's not enough, considering it's probably the first time I did not skipped one of their ads! Also subscribed, I am beyond blown away in every single aspect, even if, I'm a bit irked about changing the game rules!
Idk why but I'm crying about a lil cardboard guy
00:28 u forgot interdimentional chess with time travel, and also multy level chess
4d chess?
And chess battle advanced
like 3 chess bords under/other each other and you only have one move on one bord each move. (winner is who won the most, not the first match(es)
@Sinner_number_one Yoooooo! CBA!
The cardboard animations gave serious little big planet vibes, that game was my childhood. Awesome work on this!
how does this guy not have a million subs bro, kudos on making chess better
What an exceptional use of free will
4:23 I totally thought I was about to get Rick Rolled for a second there
Omg same lmao
same
i was looking fro this comment
im so glad other people heard it those notes literally triggered a fear response in me
I was looking for this I got scared af 😭
5:45 okay but you have to admit, that delay was pretty cool
2:20 bro the music is so peak
Mate just engineered Chess 2, I can't believe it!
i love how he cleverly used the name "Carboad Aided Design" as a spin on the term"Cad Software"
You're right, it's a divisive design... I'm not sure I like it, but on the other hand I'm not sure how much closer you could have gotten to a knight form given your constraints. It's recognizable, which is what you were after. Engineering is mostly problem-solving, and I think you've solved this particular problem in the most reasonable way you're likely to find. Far better than I could do in any case. :)
I wonder if a slight assymetry in the lever pivot points could push out the front more than the back to get a bit closer to the curved body shape. A similar idea could apply to the head to push the bit with the eyes out further.
Understandable... We knew that the Knight Piece was going to be a serious challenge and a pain to design.
👌🏻♟🔄♞🌟
But I appreciate his efforts, persistence and the need for more improvement...👌🏻♙🔄♘🌟
I wonder if working some depth variation into the knight head would help at all. Like, having either the eyes or the nostrils flair out of the otherwise straight lever design, but nest into pockets in the head design to still present a clean pawn look when closed. Maybe there are some durability trade offs there... The mechanism is there but the design needs just a little tweak.
I think it would immediately work much better to me if the head was only a tad bigger
@data_5674yup, i think the head would work better if it was bigger. But i appreciate a lot the work it went into the design anyway, cause critiquing is easy but desinging a mechanism? that is hecking hard.
“Chess 2” out now
It's crazy how well-produced this video is
Bro this cardboard guy had been cleaning so much 8:10 respect
I'm being so real when I say after 15:05 I started crying... Idk why but the idea of a little cardboard unseen-helper hidden inside the program putting your work back together when you can't see him is the cutest thing ever.
Honestly same dude I'm tearing up I don't know why- I love the little guy 🩵
I'm not tearing up, but I do agree on it being cute and even wholesome.
This video is a prime example of how to do a sponsored segment the right way!
That knight looks really cool, I'm glad he powered through to make it a real thing
5:08 I was fully expecting that sound effect from when you finish building something in the lego games
Yed agreed man I love lego too
Same
4:24 who else thought they’re about to get Rick rolled
Bruh
Yes!!
Omg yeesssss😂
I thought that and jumped of my couch almost broke my back
Knowing this guy he probably designed the fake Rick Roll in.
well this is dope, dude I dont know whats more impressive the engineering or the VFX, are you doing the animations your self? this is highly entertaining.
Probably the most chaotic and fun way to deal with the promotion tiles is to have the referee (or a friend) shuffle them.
Transforming each game in an even more unique set of choices. RNGs and seeds could be used for replaying the same setup allowing for post-game analysis or replays with different moves on the same battlefield.
In a sense, that would yield a real life almost roguelike chess game
Feels like chess x catan. And I'm all for it!
the issue with having pseudo RNG like that for a game like chess is that chess is a no-hidden information game, and from the sounds of it you're adding in hidden information. unless you mean to imply that everyone knows the pawn promotion squares once the game starts, but not before. then it could work.
One of the most appealing things about chess for me and for many serious players is that it is a fair game (or very close to it despite the micro white edge), there is no lucky, you lose, its only your fault.
I don't like the idea of adding lucky (or RNG although it sounds weird to use this term here) to it, sure, maybe its fun for a casual night or something but nothing more than that.
There are 2 scenarios:
1- There are no rules when choosing the promoting squares, and the consequence is that one side can be heavily favoured by it making it very lucky based.
2-There are rules for chosing the promoting squares based on previous computer analysis where no player can get a real advantage. But then we split this in 2 more scenarios:
2.1:Players don't know the squares: Again it becomes very RNG.
2.2: Player know the squares: than its just the same proposal of the video with a few extra steps and tile variants. Sounds kind of like Chess 960, its chess but 960 variants of where the pieces starts.
My first thought was basically "...so bakugan chess?" then like 10 seconds later he's rolling a bakugan. I love it!
1:33 the music intro after _“How are you gonna tackle the Knight?”_ is the truly a moment of understanding whats to come.
I'd like to know what the song is. It's not in the description.
@darkstorm5280me too!!
Same. Soundtrack plez
1:26 love that anime 👌🏼 in Crunchyroll
3:54 is he ok??? :(
He said he’s fine, and said to thank you for checking on him
This video in itself is a masterpiece, not only the pieces you have made. I like how much room there is for creativity that can emerge from these pieces and that it came from the limitations of fitting with physical designs rather than a chess variant thought up in pure concept alone.
I particularly like those little cardboard OC animations, I admit that thought it was a real program in the beginning but I see that it was a more whimsical illustration of the 3D design process instead of just showing CAD software. It was a nice touch that added a lot of charm even if you didn't have to make those animations, but I'm glad you did.
6:00 I was just thinking how the opening worked like bakugan, then you show an actual bakugan! very nice
I know man but why did he just call a bakugan old
@VexenVR It is old
@SuperZeveNO ITS NOT
@VexenVR yes it sadly is
@SirDoodlezPlayzWHYYYYYYY
Knew Ron Weasley was good at chess but never expected him to revolutionize the game like this.
07:44 you didn't move sideways, you moved diagonally
He did not go the extra mile. He went an extra lightyear...
Hey so fun fact regarding different forms of chess: There is a version of chess wherein each piece has its own respective pawn that can turn into its parent piece, just like this. The version is known as "Tamerlane Chess" (named after its creator, Timur) and was very popular in Iran, the Middle East and India around the 13th to 15th centuries. It has mostly died out as of today, but it's amazing to see you basically coming up with one of the main game mechanics all over again!
Idea: each promotion square is randomized, and the players don't know where each one is.
special respect for the "cardboard aided design" program part 🔥🔥🔥
That metal pawn is awesome. Imagine an entire set of metal pieces. That would be so awesome.
This is the only guy who can make building transformable chess pieces feel so dramatic 😭😭
Bro teasing chess 2
Make a pawn that turns into a king. Call it the prince. The knight pawn will be called the squire, bishop pawn is the priest, queen pawn the princess, and the rook pawn the turret.
i think that closing this saga by making an Omni-Transformative Pawn will be fitting and an incredible fit of engineering as well as a Joy to witness!
Not probable. Unless you're using massively oversized pawns, there's just not enough volume for the pawn to be able to configure itself into that many shapes without outright replacing parts on the fly. And that's without worrying about the mechanism that'd let you choose which piece you'd want the pawn to promote to. At that point, you're better off just swapping pieces on the board the normal way.
@robertbernard7844yeah, unless you make those massive chess pieces (where a field is big enough for you to stand in yourself) it would probably work, but the mechanism would so hard to do that you use them maybe a couple times before they break
17:33 The chess community loves it!
Another benefit would be that all pieces are universal, so you'd count just the amount not type.
For the first time in a while, I watched a full video without skipping a single part and enjoyed every second of it-the project itself, the final product, the animations, the music choice, the cinematics, the narratives-everything kept me entirely engaged. And probably the most effective way I’ve seen to mention and utilize a sponsor without annoying the audience. I instantly hit the subscribe button within the first 5 minutes into the video. This is called quality content. 🔥
this is the highest production value for a youtube video I have ever seen
11:00 for a moment I was wondering "why not instead have it be so that the pawn promotes once it *crosses* the centerline? but then I remembered that the magnets cant tell which side of the board they are on
might be poissible with some pieces being north and others being south polarity, but you'd have to make sure the pieces are heavy enough to counteract the repulsion when on the opposing tiles.
I don't know why he solved that problem anyway, pawns promote on the last rank, they start on the 2nd rank, there's no conflict.
@DreadKyller Could be possible by having a small TINY magnet in the center of the washer, which controls a locking piece with a magnet such as if the locking piece is repelled, it will lock the two locking bars and disable promotion, while if the locking piece is attracted, it will allow promotion to happen. Thus by flipping the magnet in board, you could control if white pieces or black pieces get promoted.
When he was printing the individual square, I though it was going to be randomised promotion spots.
@o.o7 pawn promotions are SUPER rare which kinda defeats the point of the design so he made them more common
This is a actually a really interesting idea. The thought of certain pawns being worth more points so to speak due to what they can become adds an extra layer of strategy to the game. Where as before you would always choose a queen or a knight since they were the only ones worth their points.
Holy, man, those cardboard animations were so damn realistic they were almost uncanny.
Honestly, I actually like the "a pawn can only promote into whatever mechanism it is" idea, it adds a new layer of strategy to both sides. Does your opponent capture your real queen, or the Pawn-Queen that's one row from promoting and will promptly gank your king? Do you sacrifice your Pawn-Knight to save your rook? ...Also it'll get Triple S Games to make yet another chess variant video 👀
The video felt like an artpiece in itself, I love it (especially Bambu printing hah) And the guy at 20:17 is totally right - it would be really cool to see Magnus/Hikaru or eg Gothamchess/Anna Cramling play your variant
im really interested to see some world class chess players play this version
man i wish the cardboard designer thing was real
4:40 "Does't"
just funny how impressive everything is, from the actual project to the editing of the video, and thats the mistake
12:38 now you're just trolling with that apostrophe placement
Do est
"Ston'ed"
@louie2 comment bait
Honestly when compared next to an actual chess piece the knight didn't really look that good to me, but when positioned next to the other transformer pawns it looks great!
That one unemployed friend on a random Wednesday
This is like the best produced youtube video ive ever seen, the CG interludes are LEAGUES beyond anyone else in the field. Amazing work!
The cardboard aided design is something I desperately wish was real
15:27 that metallic opening is so satisfying! 💙
I think a mid-line promotion would be more interesting. So rather than alternating tiles on which side gets the advantage, I'd say each player promoting a pawn once they pass the halfway line instead of when landing on a tile, it would be more fair.
As a novice 3D printer and partial animator the amount of effort is astronomical and the whole of you video is bursting with care. Seriously, you're an inspiration dude, and showing that "Works by Design" is directly from trial and error makes your whole process even more realistic and impressive. Thanks for sharing your journey with us, it certainly made my day!
How is this only now just showing up in my feed? What a great content creator making pure gold for RUclips with zero AI slop. THANK YOU!!
10:20 you could do "pass the centre" to promote. So for each side you have to land closer to the opposing side's home to promote
4:25 not me thinking that I was about to get Rick rolled
11:46 i love the detail in this shot so much
This might as well be an animation channel. Phenomenal visuals.
I remember watching your video of the transforming pawn an year or so ago, I'm really impressed how far you've come along in the design of this new chessboard and the pieces. You've got me interested in getting back to chess, thank you for that. Please continue making such fun videos!
Bro youre seriously gifted