Team Liquid selects Norwald for its chess events

The global esports organisation has chosen Norwald's handmade wooden chess sets for its chess events.

Norwald has supplied 30 complete wooden chess sets and three additional boards to Team Liquid. Each board carries a printed logo. The order was delivered to the team’s training facility in Utrecht.

Founded in 2000, Team Liquid is one of the world’s leading esports organisations, with more than 250 employees and training facilities in Los Angeles, Utrecht and São Paulo. It expanded into chess in 2025, with a roster that includes Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana.

The order was coordinated by Maarten Sonneveld, Senior Marketing Manager at Team Liquid. He was looking for high-quality, tournament-sized wooden chessboards that could carry a logo.

“I loved the design of both the boards and the pieces, and since every set is handmade, I decided to reach out,” he says. “We were working to a tight deadline, but Jonathan was incredibly responsive: within a day we had a clear plan, a full quote and a way to add our logo.”

“They're even better in person”

Each set combines a 55 × 55 cm walnut and maple board with weighted Staunton pieces in boxwood and acacia, featuring a 95 mm king.

“They’re even better in person,” says Maarten. “The wood and finish look beautiful, the pieces have a really nice weight to them and feel great in the hand, and the logo print came out clean and sharp. You can tell a lot of care went into every set.”

Some of the sets will be used at Team Liquid chess events, where players will take them home as a keepsake, and others will be given as gifts.

From Denmark to Utrecht

“Really easy from start to finish,” says Maarten. “Jonathan understood what we needed straight away and kept things moving at every step.”

Norwald’s founder, Jonathan Wichmann, drove the sets from Denmark to Utrecht with his son Wilfred. There, they met the team and were shown around the Alienware Training Facility, with its practice rooms, streaming spaces and production area.

“That kind of personal touch is rare, and it’s a big reason why we’d love to keep working together,” says Maarten.