Chessmen and Soldiers in WWII

Despite the lack of international tournaments, chess' popularity grew during World War II. This boom allowed war-weary soldiers to find solace in cardboard chess sets.

The USO, formed to increase morale and provide recreation for American soldiers, distributed sets manufactured by the Victory Kits Workroom to hospitalized and deploying GIs:

(8 x 8 inch board. Photo by the World Chess Hall of Fame.)

The Red Cross sent the same sets in aid parcels to POW camps:

(8 x 8 inch board. Photo by the World Chess Hall of Fame.)

The Feldpost, the German military postal service, mailed similar sets to German soldiers:

(9 x 9 inch board. Photo by the World Chess Hall of Fame.)

And the British agency MI9 also sent sets to POWs, but since it was tasked with helping captured servicemen escape, some of the sets, inconspicuously marked, contained a miniature compass inside a piece and a silk map hidden in the tube:

(12 x 12 inch board, when affixed to a backing. Photo by the Imperial War Museum.)