Original Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king.

Staunton chess pieces on chess board with chess clock.

In chess, each player has one of two equivalent sets of pieces (chess set) of different colors, denoted "black" and "white". There are six types of pieces (chess piece) of each color: Image File history File links JaquesCookStaunton. ... Image File history File links JaquesCookStaunton. ... This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... A typical chess clock. ... Chess is a recreational and competitive game for two players. ...

• 1 King
• 1 Queen
• 2 Rooks
• 2 Bishops
• 2 Knights
• 8 Pawns

Some chess variants or certain kinds of chess problems call for non-standard fairy pieces. Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... Queen. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... A bishop (♗♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. ... The knight moves in an L shape. ... Initial placement of the pawns. ... A chess variant is a game derived from, related to or similar to chess in at least one respect. ... Godfrey Heathcote Hampstead and Highgate Express, 1905-06 (First Prize) White to move and mate in two. ... A fairy chess piece or unorthodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess, but used in certain chess variants and some chess problems. ...

In discussions about play, a distinction is often drawn between pawns and more valuable "pieces".

See chess piece point value for the relative value of the pieces. In chess, the chess pieces are often assigned certain point values that help determine how valuable a piece is strategically. ...

Movement of the pieces

• Main article: Rules of chess

Each piece moves in a different pattern. This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

• The rook moves any number of squares orthogonally to the players (forward, backward, left or right).
• The bishop moves any number of squares diagonally.
• The queen moves any number of squares orthogonally or diagonally.
• The king moves only one square orthogonally or diagonally.
• The knight moves in an "L"-shape (two spaces in one direction and one space orthogonally to it). The knight can jump over other pieces when moving.
• The pawn can only move forward one space, or optionally two spaces but only from its starting square, in a straight line away from the player. When there is an enemy piece diagonally (either left or right) one space in front of the pawn, then the pawn may capture that piece. Finally, a pawn can perform a special type of capture of an enemy pawn called en passant.

Pieces capture opposing pieces by replacing them on their square, except for an en passant capture. Only one piece may occupy a given square. Except for castling and the movement of the knight, a piece may not move over another piece. Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... In mathematics, orthogonal is synonymous with perpendicular when used as a simple adjective that is not part of any longer phrase with a standard definition. ... A bishop (♗♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. ... A diagonal can refer to a line joining two nonadjacent vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, or in contexts any upward or downward sloping line. ... Queen. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... The knight moves in an L shape. ... Initial placement of the pawns. ... ġĠ ġ Εý ŚÝ ¼Ћ This article is about the chess move en passant. For other uses, see En passant (disambiguation). ... ġĠ ġ Εý ŚÝ ¼Ћ This article is about the chess move en passant. For other uses, see En passant (disambiguation). ...

Chess sets

Lewis chessmen.

The variation of designs available is broad, from small cosmetic changes (such as Rainbow Chess) to highly abstract representations to themed designs such as those which emulate the drawings from the works of Lewis Carroll or modern treatments such as Star Trek or The Simpsons. Themed designs are usually intended for display rather than for actual play. Download high resolution version (344x800, 80 KB)Photographs of real-size resin reproductions of the Lewis chessmen. ... Download high resolution version (344x800, 80 KB)Photographs of real-size resin reproductions of the Lewis chessmen. ... The Lewis chessmen top: king, queen, bishop middle: knight, rook, pawn bottom: closeup of queen The Lewis chessmen belong to one of the few complete medieval chess sets that have survived until today. ... Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) – believed to be a self-portrait Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... The current Star Trek franchise logo Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment series and media franchise. ... Simpsons redirects here. ...

Chess pieces used for play are usually figurines that are taller than they are wide. For example, a set of pieces designed for a chessboard with 2¼ inch (57 mm) squares will typically have a king around 3¾ inches (95 mm) tall. They are available in a variety of designs, with the most well-known Staunton design which is named after Howard Staunton (a 19^th century English chess player), which was designed by Nathaniel Cook. The first Staunton style sets were made in 1849 by Jaques of London (also known as John Jaques of London and Jaques and Son of London). A rare Dresden porcelain figurine Figurine is a diminutive form of the word figure, and generally refers to a small human-made statue that represents a human (or deity or animal). ... Chessboard Chessboard with Staunton chess pieces A chessboard is often painted or engraved on a chess table. ... An inch (plural: inches; symbol or abbreviation: in or, sometimes, ″ - a double prime) is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Original Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king The Staunton chess set is comprised of a particular type of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. ... Howard Staunton Howard Staunton (April 1810–June 22, 1874) was an English chess master and unofficial World Chess Champion. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... Nathaniel Cook was the designer of a set of chess figures, which is now the standard set. ... Jaques of London is a family company that manufactures sports and game equipment since 1795. ...

For actual play, pieces of the Staunton chess set design are the standard. The height of the king should be between 85mm and 105 mm (3.35 to 4.13 inches) tall. A height of approximately 95 to 102 mm (3¾ to 4 inches) is preferred by most players. The diameter of the king should be 40–50% of its height. The size of the other pieces should be in proportion to the king. The pieces should be well balanced. The size of the squares of the chessboard should be approximately 1.25–1.3 times the diameter of the base of the king, or 50 to 65 mm. Squares of size of approximately 57 mm (2¼ inches) normally are well-suited for pieces with the kings in the preferred size range. These criteria are from the United States Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess, which is based on the Fédération Internationale des Échecs rules. Original Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king The Staunton chess set is comprised of a particular type of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. ... A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Chessboard Chessboard with Staunton chess pieces A chessboard is often painted or engraved on a chess table. ... The United States Chess Federation (USCF) is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership doubled to... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

For games played at the top level, pieces made of wood are common but for lower-level games or very large tournaments, plastic sets are more common. Although the physical color of chess pieces may vary, the lighter color is called "white" while the darker color is called "black." Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a solid material derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Wooden white pieces of a chess set are normally made of the light wood boxwood or sometimes maple. Black wooden pieces are either made of a dark wood such as rosewood, ebony, red sandalwood, or walnut; or they are made of boxwood and stained or painted black, brown, or red. Plastic white pieces are made of white or off-white plastic and black plastic are made of black or red plastic. Sometimes other materials are used, such as bone, ivory, or a composite material. Species About 70 species; see text Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. ... Distribution Species See List of Acer species Maples are trees or shrubs in the genus Acer. ... This article is about a variety of timber. ... Binomial name Diospyros ebenum Koenig ex Retz. ... source: Koehler (1887) The famous red sandalwood (sometimes red sanders wood) is yielded by Pterocarpus santalinus. ... “Walnut Tree” redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Grays Anatomy illustration of a human femur. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A cloth of woven carbon fiber filaments, a common element in composite materials Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties and which remain separate and distinct within the finished structure. ...

Some small magnetic sets, designed to be compact and/or for travel, have pieces more like those used in Shogi and Xiangqi — each piece being a similar flat token, with a symbol drawn on it to show which piece it is. Shogi ), or Japanese chess, is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan. ... Xiangqi (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: hsiang4-chi2;  ), is a two-player strategic Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi and janggi. ...

On computers, chess pieces are often 2-D symbols on a 2-D board, although some programs have fancier 3-D graphics engines with more traditional designs of chess pieces. In common usage, the dimensions (from Latin measured out) of an object are the parameters or measurements required to define its shape and size, that is, usually, its height, width, and length. ... 3D computer graphics are different from 2D computer graphics in that a three-dimensional representation of geometric data is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images. ... A Graphics engine may refer to: Game engine: a physics model typically implemented in software for use in computer games; Graphics engine (hardware): a specialized computer hardware device, typically integrated with a framebuffer or other video display circuitry, for performing graphics calculations independently of a computers main processor; or...

Unicode contains symbols for chess pieces in both white and black. Here are the symbols of chess pieces in Unicode. ...

Grandmaster Larry Evans offers this advice on buying a set (Evans 1974:18): The title Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... Larry Melvyn Evans (born March 23, 1932) is an American chess player and journalist. ...

"Make sure the one you buy is easy on the eye, felt-based, and heavy (weighted). The men should be constructed so they don't come apart. ... The regulation board used by the U. S. Chess Federation is green and buff — never red and black. However there are several good inlaid [wood] boards on the market. ... Avoid cheap equipment. Chess offers a lifetime of enjoyment for just a few dollars well spent at the outset." For other uses of the term, see Buff Buff is a pale yellow-brown colour that got its name from the colour of buffalo leather. ...

Names of the pieces

Names of the pieces (and the words for chess, mate, and checkmate) in several languages:

Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... Queen. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... A bishop (♗♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. ... The knight moves in an L shape. ... Initial placement of the pawns. ... Chess is a recreational and competitive game for two players. ... In games such as chess, shogi and xiangqi, a check is an immediate threat to capture the king. ... Checkmate (frequently shortened to mate) is a situation in chess (and in other boardgames of the chaturanga family) in which one players king is under attack and there is no way to meet that threat; it is a check from which there is no escape. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia (in the latter with the name of Valencian), and in the city of LAlguer in the Italian island of... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Chess is a recreational and competitive game for two players. ...   is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Luxembourgish (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuergesch, French: , German: , Walloon: ), also spelled Luxemburgish, is a West Germanic language spoken in Luxembourg. ... Sicilian (, Italian: ) is a Romance language. ... Slovak (slovenčina, slovenský jazyk) is an Indo-European language belonging to the West Slavic languages (together with Czech, Polish and Sorbian). ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ...

See also

• Staunton chess set
• Rules of chess
• Lewis chessmen
• Chess piece point value

Original Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king The Staunton chess set is comprised of a particular type of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... The Lewis chessmen top: king, queen, bishop middle: knight, rook, pawn bottom: closeup of queen The Lewis chessmen belong to one of the few complete medieval chess sets that have survived until today. ... In chess, the chess pieces are often assigned certain point values that help determine how valuable a piece is strategically. ...

References

•  Larry Evans (1974). Evans on Chess. Conerstone Library. ISBN 0877496994. 
•  Tim Just and Daniel B. Burg (editors) (1975, 2003). U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess, fifth edition, McKay. ISBN 0-8129-3559-4. 

External links

• FIDE on chess equipment
• FIDE Laws of Chess
• History of Staunton Chess Pieces
• Chess pieces in different languages