Nigel Tranter’s Bannockburn Chess Set was the predecessor to today’s magnificent 700th Anniversary edition and was launched to the trade in 1994 at the International Spring Fair in Birmingham.

The first visitors to our stand were the buying team for Walt DisneyWorld, Florida. They were fascinated by the set and spent almost half an hour poring over the figures and the detail in the pieces, wanting to know the story behind the battle and each of the 32 different chess pieces.

And so it was, that Walt DisneyWorld took the first Bannockburn Chess set to America, for display in the British Pavilion in DisneyWorld’s Showcase Epcot Centre.

Sadly, we haven’t been to Florida for many years and had no idea if the set was still on show or whether Mickey & Minnie now had adopted it for their own private pad!

And then the miracle of the internet! - in reply to this original post, Herb Wreschner of Naples, Florida, posted that it was he who bought that very first American-landing Bannockburn Chess Set over 25 years ago! And we are now delighted to publish his story in our Customer Reviews.

As they say, “It’s a small (Disney) World”!

The world is waiting

Whether it’s to play, as a gift or simply to admire, the 700th Anniversary limited edition Battle of Bannockburn Chess set will grace any home, as a focus for today and an heirloom for future generations.

The first Bannockburn Chess Set was sold in 1994 to Walt DisneyWorld, for the British Pavilion in the EpcotCentre, Florida. Since then we have sent Bruce, Edward and their armies off to every continent - except Antarctica! Battle of Bannockburn Chess sets are gracing homes in USA, Canada, Australia, Africa, China, Japan, Singapore,Germany, Denmark, England, Wales and Ireland– and, of course, Scotland.

Sadly, it’s too big and heavy to entertain today’s astronauts on their long journeys into the unknown! But these magnificent sets will be here for generations so, who can say where the battle between Bruce and the Plantagenet will eventually be played out?