St. Louis, U.S.A. – The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) unveiled a Guinness World Record– a chess piece that stands at 14 feet, 6 inches tall and is 6 feet wide at the base. The king piece is based on the “Championship Staunton” design and made of layers of 3/4 inch exterior grade plywood and is 45 times larger than a standard chess piece. This new record beat the previous record, set in 2003, by one foot, 5 inches.

The Club, in partnership with the World Chess Hall of Fame also located in Saint Louis, set the new record, helping to further cement the city’s reputation for being the hub of Chess in the United States. The piece was unveiled to kick off the 2012 U.S. and Women’s Chess Championships, which take place May 8 through May 20.

This is the fourth year in a row the Club has hosted the tournaments. As part of the unveiling and tournament kickoff, Saint Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay issued an official proclamation, declaring Saint Louis the “Gateway to Chess.”

“The Saint Louis Arch was built to commemorate Saint Louis as the gateway to the west,” said CCSCSL Executive Director Tony Rich. “This record-breaking chess piece is meant to celebrate another distinction for our city. Saint Louis has truly become a center of chess culture, and this larger-than-life chess piece serves as a striking monument to honor our city’s involvement in the game.”

The piece was built by R.G. Ross Construction, located in Saint Louis, and has been officially approved by Guinness as an official world record. Some statistics about the World’s Largest Chess Piece include:

• The piece took 18 days to construct and weighs more than 2,200 pounds
• The piece is taller than a professional basketball hoop (10 ft.), an average size female giraffe (14 ft.) and the Statue of Liberty’s fingernail (13 ft.)
• If the piece were to be used during a chess game, the board would need to be 72 feet x 72 feet, with each square being 9 feet x 9 feet, the board would be big enough to hold 392 bathtubs or nine school buses.

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Fans dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles united in Mall of America to break the Guinness World Records’ largest gathering of ninja turtles and celebrate the grand opening of the newest thrill ride at Nickelodeon Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shell Shock, the first ever ride of its kind in the United States.

Fans from across the nation traveled to Mall of America to shatter the previous record of 786 with 836 fans dressed as ninja turtles. The Mall welcomed guests with commemorative Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirts, face masks and free passes to check out the ride.

“The passion of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans blew this record out of the water with 836 fans dressed as ninja turtles,” said Michael Empric, adjudicator with Guinness World Records.

“We’re astounded by the number of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans that showed up today to celebrate the grand opening of the new ride,” says Jennifer Lauerman, Nickelodeon Universe marketing director. “You can feel the adrenaline and excitement in the air from the guests and fans, it’s a great feeling.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shell Shock takes riders 70 feet in the air in a matter of seconds reaching up to 25 mph. With 12 single bucket seats at the end of a cantilevered arm that rotates around a central tower, this ride is a thrill-seekers dream.

Each guest controls their seat which can rotate wildly like a plane propeller or a gentle teeter-totter like a see-saw making no two ride experiences the same. The attraction is based on the highly-anticipated all-new CG-animated television series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which will premiere on Nickelodeon later this year.

A second new attraction to Nickelodeon Universe, Dutchman’s Deck Anchor drop stainless steel spiral tube slide system also opened this month. These two intertwining tubes offer quite the thrill for guests from 56 and 35 ft. in the air. One leaves from the third level while the other one leaves from the top of the Flying Dutchman Ghostly Gangplank Adventure Ropes Course.

The attraction is based on the Flying Dutchman character from Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants—the number one animated series with kids for the last 12 consecutive years. Admission to the slides will be included in Ropes Course admission or can be purchased for $2 per person with a wristband purchase or $3 per person without a wristband purchase.

For more information on the new ride visit www.mallofamerica.com or www.nickelodeonuniverse.com.

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