OUTBACK Chess Set
Popular Australian-made chess sets

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       Outback Chess Set, quantity, and Price.

Perfect for the chess enthusiast, children and collectors!
These beautifully handcrafted, solid playing pieces are definitely a collectors' item. Outback Chess is played like any other game of chess, except the pieces are characters of Australian Wildlife. Complete with tournament size chessboard and rules. Ideal for all ages.

THE PLAYING PIECES

The Emu is the Queen

Sharing the Australian Coat of Arms with the Red Kangaroo, the Emu is the second largest bird in the world. Emus are distributed throughout the Australian continent. They pair off when breeding, but otherwise travel in flocks. A male can weigh up to fifty-five kilograms and may stand six feet tall; the female is slightly smaller. They are flightless, with strong powerful legs and can run at speeds of up to seventy kilometers per hour for short distances. They can also swim well.

Featured on the Australian coat of arms, the Red Kangaroo is without doubt the animal most identified with Australia. The open plains of the interior are the home of this magnificent marsupial (marsupials are mammals with a pouch into which the newborn young climb to continue their development. Warm, safe, and equipped with nipples, the pouch is extremely popular with young marsupials, who often have to be evicted by force when grown). Red kangaroos live in small groups called mobs. These are generally dominated by a large male, ginger-red and perhaps five and a half feet in height, the females being bluish gray and smaller.

 The Platypus is the Bishop

This extraordinary web-footed, duck-billed animal is one of the wonder creatures of Australia. They are monotremes - warmblooded animals that lay eggs, rather than giving birth to live young. The male platypus has a poison spur on the hind legs for defence. The eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a tunnel in the river bank, with the entrance under water. On frosty mornings you can tell where the platypus tunnels are because their body warmth stops the frost forming above them. For all this extraordinary array of qualities, the platypus is shy, inoffensive and much-loved.

 The Frilled Neck Lizard is the Knight

Featured on the now-defunct Australian two cent coin, the Australian frilled neck lizard usually keeps its frill folded flat against its long body, but will suddenly raise this magnificent, colourful ruff during courtship or when threatened. Like most lizards the frill lizard is active during the day, relying on the sun to warm its blood, which enables it to move quickly and feed.

 The Koala is the Rook (Castle)

The Koala lives high in the tops of Eucalyptus trees in eastern Australia. This cuddly-looking marsupial is familiar the world over, but is now fairly uncommon in the wild. It is distantly related to the wombat, despite their vastly different habitats and habits. Its diet is exclusively the leaves of half a dozen species of eucalypt. It obtains moisture from the leaves as well, and rarely descends to the ground to drink water. During the day, koalas normally sleep - which is why the ones you see in zoos appear so peaceable and relaxed. At night they become quite active and will even squabble and fight - in a friendly sort of way.

 The Sulphur Crested Cockatoo is the Pawn

One of the best known Australian birds and sometimes occurring in vast flocks numbering thousands, the sulphur crested cockatoo is also a favourite pet, which can be taught to mimic a few words and can often outlive its owner. Above a feeding flock, a sentinel bird or two may be seen sitting in a tree or on a fence post. The watch birds shriek a warning at the approach of danger and the feeding birds flap off to a safe distance.