The Star Trek: The Next Generation Chess Game was a foreign (non-US) release chess game which was first produced in 1999 and has been published by several companies including Wood Expressions, Inc., United Labels AG, Character Games Ltd., Crown & Andrews, and The Really Useful Games Company Ltd..
Unlike the much more elaborate and considerably more costly Star Trek: The Next Generation Commemorative Chess Set by the Franklin Mint, this set utilized PVC chess pieces played on a standard cardboard chessboard.
Both sides' chess pieces consisted of crew members from the USS Enterprise-D as follows:
- King: Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
- Queen: Dr. Beverly Crusher
- Bishops: Lt. Cmdr. Data
- Knights: Cmdr. William T. Riker
- Rooks: Lt. Worf
Each side's pieces have either black or gold bases, unique pawns, and one of two uniform styles.
The "black side" (with black bases in the shape of the TNG combadge) had characters who wore the standard TNG Starfleet uniform and had USS Enterprise-D pawns. The "gold side's" characters (with gold bases also in the shape of the TNG Combadge) wore the DS9 Starfleet uniform, as seen in Star Trek Generations. Its pawns appeared as the USS Enterprise-B which was also seen in the film.
Depending on where the set was released and which company released it, the artwork on the game box varied:
- Chess Set by Wood Expressions – the Enterprise-D in front of an empty chess board
- Chess Set by The Really Useful Games – full TNG cast photo in front of a chess board (with pieces), the Enterprise-D on top
- Chess Set by Crown & Andrews – Two Picard portrait (pink and blue) at each side of an empty chess board, the Enterprise-D on top
- Chess - Schach by Character Games & United Labels – images of the actual pieces and game board with Enterprise-B and Enterprise-D at each side (multiple languages added on United Labels' version)
Rarity variances between the boxes seem to be negligible, although the latter style (pictured above) appears to be more common.
