If a chess set has pieces which seem to be mini sculptures of faces etc. (like many of the hand-made ones you will find in South Africa), are they considered idols? Did anyone hear of something like this? Sources would be appreciated.
Answer
There is definitely no question of Avodah Zarah if they are not worshiped or made for worshiping.
As to the concern of Lo Ta'asun Iti, the prohibition of making even those statues of man not constructed for the purposes of worship, Shulchan Aruch YD 141:10 says that the statue needs to be of a full man in order to be prohibited. A bust with a head but no body, or a statue of a body with no head is excluded from the prohibition. As such I suspect chess pieces are allowed.
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