One More Claim to Fame: We're Now Home to the World's Largest Chess Piece

We're all for anything related to getting St. Louis in the Guiness Book. The Michael Jordan of the Chess world leans nimbly about the huge piece, complete with cocktail in hand… the king & king.

It's 14.5 feet high, weighs 2,280 pounds and is yet another example of the seemingly unlimited financial resources to make St. Louis the country's chess capital. Now you can add the “World's Largest Chess Piece” to the list of St. Louis monuments. The king piece sits on a platform, a permanent fixture in the Central West End. It's the latest effort of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis to promote chess in the city, and was unveiled just after 9 a.m. on Monday. “This piece serves as a monument to the chess culture we are creating in St. Louis,” said Mike Wilmering, spokesman for the club.

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