Anyone who subscribes to the view that good things come in small packages would no doubt be impressed by S. Chinnayachari’s 1.2 millimetre miniature wooden chessboard. The artist, who hails from Etikoppaka village of Visakhapatnam district, is preparing to send his creation to the Limca Book of Records for the country’s smallest chessboard. The previous record was for an 8 mm chessboard.
Bringing the tiny marvel of wood all the way from the village, his brother P.R.V. Satya Narayana has displayed several other Etikoppaka toys at the exhibition organised by Khadi and Village Industries Commission at Vemana Mandir here.
Fixed to a wooden stand, the chessboard can be seen through a magnifying glass attached to the unit. The chessboard black coins are made of palm tree thorns while the white coins are delicately carved from the thorns of Opuntia plant (a type of cactus).
“It took me more than a month to make this chessboard,” says the artist. There were times when his fingers gave up and his eyes would hurt looking through the magnifying glass for hours at a stretch, making the perfect carvings. But his indomitable spirit and a passion for designing miniature models kept him going. This microscopic chess set is equivalent to 0.5 pin tip with the board measuring 1.2 mm by 1.2 mm.
Born in an artisan’s family, both the brothers did not clear their 10th standard exams because of family financial problems and joined their family profession of making wooden toys. Since then, their passion has led to the creation of several miniature toys.
Records are not new for Chinnayachari. In the year 2010, he made it to the Limca Book of Records for making the most number of wooden eggs (numbering 50) designed to fit one inside the other and finally was fitted inside a natural egg. “The best moment of my life was when I received the national award from the then president of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,” says the artist with a sense of pride.