First Prize: The Phantom Queen (Matt Pritchard)
First place in this year’s Best Illusion of the Year Contest went to Matt Pritchard of the UK who used a mirror and a seemingly normal chessboard to create the illusion of a phantom white queen chess piece on the board that’s only visible in a neighboring mirror universe. The secret to the queen’s invisibility cloak is a specially shaped anamorphic shield that sits on the chessboard and masks the piece when viewed from the front but manages to hide its own presence when seen in the mirror as well.
