How To Choose The Best Chess Pieces

Chess is probably the most popular strategy game played worldwide. It has got an universal appeal. Chess is made up of 1 king, 1 queen, 2 bishop, 2 rooks, 2 knights and 8 pawns. One side of the chess is played by black while the other is played by white. The movements of each element out of the given six are different. The king can move one square in any given direction. The queen can move in any given direction all through till she finds an obstacles. The bishop can move diagonally along the color of the square it stands on in the start of the game. For example a bishop of Black Square can move along the diagonal black squares and a bishop of white squares can move diagonally across the white squares. Rook can move either vertically or horizontally across the board irrespective of the color of square it lives in. Knights have a very different and special move. It can jump 2 and a half squares front or side or back. By half it is meant sideways one square. Finally the pawn can move one square ahead and can dismiss the opponent’s element in diagonal fashion.



The variations in design|differences of design is rather broad yet cosmetic change and all the theme designs such as Star Trek, The Simpsons and Scooby Doo are all for the difference in the display and not in the actual playingof the game.



Chess pieces are made of figures that are longer in height than they are in width. The standard chess figures used are those derived after a 19th century English chess player Howard Staunton. Also called a s Staunton design. It was designed by Nathaniel Cook and was first crafted in 1849 by John Jacques of London.



The pieces of chess can be made of plastic, ivory or wood. In case of plastic the colors are black and white. Same is for the ivory while for wood the white pieces are made of light wood such as maple while the black pieces are made from rosewood, walnut or red sandalwood. The actual tournament play Staunton chess boards and pieces are a standard. All international and national tournaments feature the standard Staunton chess pieces and board. For standard chess boards the king is ideally between 85mm and 105 mm in height.



The diameter of the king should be 40 to 50 percent of itsheight. The size of other elements should be proportionate to the king. The length or the sides of the squares of the chess board should be actually 50mm to 65 mm long. These criterias are for the United States Chess Federation or USCF’s Official Rules Of Chess. Some small magnetic chess boards mainly used for playing while travelling have small round dice with the specific symbol engraved on it for identification. On the computer the chess is a 2D program with the looks of the match statistics board looks. It has 2D icons representing the different pieces of chess. On the other hand new 3D programs of chess are released these days with fancy 3D figures of chess pieces.