Former SpaceX engineer Brian Ignaut has created a lot of origami-inspired furniture and “kinetic home products” that are whoa-inducing. But his folding chess set? It may be one of his masterpieces.

Chess is a game of skill, patience, and tact. So it’s no surprise that when it comes to the production of some of the world’s most exclusive and luxurious chess tables, those same principles apply.

Computers have been beating humans at chess for decades, and they’re now so predictably good at it that chess grandmasters won’t even bother to compete against them. But in what feels like a gesture ...