Chess piece

Chess pieces
King
Queen
Rook
Bishop
Knight
Pawn

Chess pieces or chessmen are the pieces deployed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. The pieces vary in capabilities, giving them different values in the game. For a standard chess game each player starts with:

Any pawn that reaches the last row during the game must be promoted to become any other piece (except a king) of the same color.

One side is referred to as "White" and the other as "Black" (see White and Black in chess). To distinguish between the two, the black pieces are darker than the white pieces, and the colors need not be pure black or white. The Staunton chess set is the standard style for tournament or casual play. Besides these standard pieces, there exist many chess variants or certain kinds of chess problems that call for non-standard fairy pieces.

Contents

Terminology

In chess, the word "piece" has three meanings, depending on the context.

  1. It may mean any of the physical pieces of the set, including the pawns. This is the same as "chessman" (Hooper & Whyld 1992:307).
  2. In play, the term is usually used to exclude pawns, referring only to a queen, rook, bishop, knight, or king. (In this case, the general term for piece or pawn is "man" or "chessman".) In this context, the pieces can be broken down into three groups: major pieces (queen and rook), minor pieces (bishop and knight), and kings (Brace 1977:220).
  3. It may refer only to a minor piece (a bishop or knight) (Just & Burg 2003:5).

The context should make the intended meaning clear (Burgess 2009:523) (Hooper & Whyld 1992:307).

Movement of the pieces

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
Starting position (squares are designated according to algebraic notation)

Each piece moves in a different way.

Pieces other than the pawn capture in the same way that they move. A capturing piece replaces the opposing piece on its square, except for an en passant capture. A captured piece is removed from the board. Only one piece may occupy a given square. Except for castling and the knight's move, a piece may not jump over another piece (Just & Burg 2003:13–16).

Chess sets

Table sets

The variation of designs available is broad, from small cosmetic changes to highly abstract representations to themed designs such as those that 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 (Hooper & Whyld 1992:76). Some works of art are designs of chess sets, such as the modernist chess set by chess enthusiast and dadaist Man Ray, which is on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[1]

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 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 19th century English chess player), and 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) (Just & Burg 2003:225).

Wooden chess pieces 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 pieces are made of black or red plastic. Sometimes other materials are used, such as bone, ivory, or a composite material (Just & Burg 2003:224,226).

For actual play, pieces of the Staunton chess set design are the standard. The height of the king should be between 85 mm and 105 mm (3.35 to 4.13 inches). USCF rules call for a king height between 3⅜ and 4½ inches tall (86 to 114 mm). 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 to 50 percent of its height. The size of the other pieces should be in proportion to the king. The pieces should be well balanced. The length of the sides 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 (2 to 2½ inches). 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 (Just & Burg 2003:224–27).

The Grandmaster Larry Evans offered this advice on buying a set (Evans 1973:18):

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.

Pocket and travel sets

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 printed on it to identify the piece type.

Computer images

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.

Unicode contains symbols for chess pieces in both white and black.

Relative value

The value assigned to a piece attempts to represent the strength this piece potentially has in a game. With game circumstances constantly changing, so do the values assigned to the pieces. A bishop positioned to control a long, open diagonal appears more valuable than a knight stuck in a corner. Similar ideas apply to placing rooks on open files and knights on active, central squares. The standard valuation is 1 point for a pawn, 3 points for a knight or bishop, 5 points for a rook, and 9 points for a queen (Hooper & Whyld 1992:438–39). These values are general, throughout a game; in specific circumstances the values may be quite different—a knight can be more valuable than a queen in a particular decisive attack.

Piece names

Language King Queen Rook Bishop Knight Pawn Chess Check Checkmate
figurine ♔ ♚ ♕ ♛ ♖ ♜ ♗ ♝ ♘ ♞ ♙ ♟ ... + #
Afrikaans K Koning D Dame (lady) T Toring (tower) L Loper (runner) R Ruiter (rider) (P) Pion Skaak Skaak Skaakmat
Arabic م مَلِك و وزير ر رخ/طابية ف فيل ح حصان ب بيدق/عسكري شطرنج كِش مَلِك كِش مات
Bānglā R Rājā
রাজা
M Montri
মন্ত্রী
N Noukā
নৌকা
G Gôjo
গজ
Gh ghodā
ঘোড়া
(B) Bore
বড়ে

দাবা(Dābā)
Kisti
কিস্তি
Kistimāt
কিস্তিমাত
Belarusian К кароль Вз візыр Лд ладзьдзя А афіцэр В вершнік (Л) латнік Шахматы Шах Мат
Bulgarian Ц цар Д дама Т топ О офицер К кон (П) пешка Шахмат/Шах Шах (Шах и) мат
Catalan R rei D dama/reina (lady/queen) T torre (tower) A alfil C cavall (horse) (P) peó Escacs Escac/Xec Escac i mat
Chinese K
(Wáng, king)
Q
(Hòu, queen)
R
(Chē, chariot)
B
(Xiàng, elephant)
N
(, horse)
(P)
(Bīng, soldier)
國際象棋
(Guójì Xiàngqí)
將軍
(Jiāngjūn, general)
將死
(Jiàng sǐ, checkmate)
Croatian K kralj D dama/kraljica T top/kula L lovac/laufer S skakač/konj (P) pješak Šah Šah Šah mat
Czech K král D dáma V věž S střelec J jezdec (P) pěšec Šachy Šach Mat
Danish K konge (king) D dronning (queen) T tårn (tower) L løber (runner) S springer (jumper) (B) bonde (peasant) Skak Skak Skakmat
Dutch K koning (king) D dame/koningin (lady/queen) T toren/kasteel (tower/castle) L loper/raadsheer (runner/counsellor) P paard (horse) (pi) pion Schaken Schaak Mat/Schaakmat
English K king Q queen R rook B bishop N/Kt knight (P) pawn Chess Check Checkmate
Esperanto R reĝo (king) D damo (lady) T turo (tower) K kuriero (courier) Ĉ ĉevalo (horse) (P) peono Ŝako Ŝak Ŝakmato
Estonian K kuningas (king) L lipp V vanker O oda R ratsu (E) ettur Male Tuli Matt
Finnish K kuningas (king) D daami/kuningatar (lady/queen) T torni (tower) L lähetti (messenger) R ratsu (horse) (S) sotilas Shakki Shakki Matti/Shakkimatti
French R roi (king) D dame (lady) T tour (tower) F fou (jester) C cavalier (rider) (P) pion Échecs Échec Échec et mat
German K König (king) D Dame (lady) T Turm (tower) L Läufer (runner) S Springer (jumper) (B) Bauer (farmer) Schach Schach Schachmatt
Greek Ρ βασιλιάς Β βασίλισσα Π πύργος Α αξιωματικός Ι ίππος (Σ) πιόνι Σκάκι Σαχ Mάτ
Hebrew מ מלך מה מלכה צ צריח ר רץ פ פרש רגלי שחמט שח מט
Hindi R राजा
rājā
V वज़ीर
vajīr
H हाथी
hāthī
O ऊँठ
ūṁṭ
G घोड़ा
ghoṛā
(P) प्यादा
pyādā
शतरंज
Shatranj
शाह
shāh
शाहमात
shāhmāt
Hungarian K király V vezér B bástya F futó H huszár (P) gyalog/paraszt Sakk Sakk Matt
Icelandic K kóngur (king) D drottning (queen) H hrókur B biskup (bishop) R riddari (knight) (P) peð Skák Skák Skák og mát
Indonesian R raja (king) M menteri (minister/vizier) B benteng (castle/fortress) G gajah (elephant) K kuda (horse) (P) pion Catur Skak Skak mati
Irish R rí (king) B banríon (womanking?) C caiseal (bulwark) E easpag (lock) D ridire (knight) (F) fichillín/ceithearnach Ficheall Sáinn Marbhsháinn
Italian R re (king) D regina (queen) T torre (tower) A alfiere C cavallo (horse) (P) pedone Scacchi Scacco Scacco matto
Japanese K キング (kingu) Q クイーン (kuīn) R ルーク (rūku) B ビショップ (bishoppu) N ナイト (naito) (P) ポーン (pōn) チェス (chesu) 王手/
チェック (chekku)
詰み/
チェックメイト (chekkumeito)
Korean K Q R B 비숍 N 나이트 (P) 체스 체크 체크메이트
Latin R rex G regina T turris E episcopus Q eques (P) pedes Scacci Scaccus Mattus
Latvian K karalis D dāma T tornis L laidnis Z zirgs (B) bandinieks Šahs Šahs Šahs un mats
Lithuanian K karalius V valdovė B bokštas R rikis Ž žirgas (P) pėstininkas Šachmatai Šach Matas
Luxembourgish K kinnek D damm T tuerm (tower) L leefer (runner) P päerd (horse) (B) bauer (farmer) Schach Schach Schachmatt
Mongolian Н ноён (lord) Б бэрс (ferz) т тэрэг (chariot) Т тэмээ (camel) М морь (rider) (Х) хүү (paige) Шатар шаг, дуг, цод мад
Norwegian K konge D dronning T tårn L løper S springer (B) bonde Sjakk Sjakk Sjakkmatt
Persian ش شاه و وزیر ق/ر قلعه/رخ ف فیل ا اسب س سرباز شطرنج کیش کیش‌مات
Polish K król H hetman W wieża G goniec S skoczek (P) pion szachy szach mat (szach-mat / szach i mat)
Portuguese R rei (king) D dama/rainha (lady/queen) T torre (tower) B bispo (bishop) C cavalo (horse) (P) peão Xadrez Xeque Xeque-mate
Romanian R rege D regină T turn N nebun C cal (P) pion Şah Şah Mat
Russian Кр король Ф ферзь Л ладья С слон К конь (П) пешка Шахматы Шах Мат
Serbian К краљ / kralj Д дама / dama Т топ / top Л ловац / lovac С скакач / skakač (П) пешак / pešak Шах / Šah Шах / Šah Мат / Mat
Sicilian R re D riggina T turru A alferu S scecchu (P) pidinu Scacchi
Slovak K kráľ D dáma V veža S strelec J jazdec (P) pešiak Šach Šach Mat/Šachmat
Slovene K kralj D dama T trdnjava L lovec S skakač (P) kmet Šah Šah Mat/Šahmat
Spanish R rey (king) D dama/reina (lady/queen) T torre (tower) A alfil (elephant, in Arabic) C caballo (horse) (P) peón Ajedrez Jaque Jaque mate
Swedish K kung D dam/drottning (lady/queen) T torn (tower) L löpare (runner) S springare/häst (horse) (B) bonde (peasant) Schack Schack Schack matt
Tamil K Raja Q Rani R yanai / kOttai B Mandhiri / thEr N/Kt Kudhirai (P) Sepoi Sadhurangam Check Checkmate
Telugu రాజు
rāju
మంత్రి
maṃtri
ఏనుగు
ēnugu
శకటు
śakaţu
గుర్రం
gurraṃ
బంటు
baṃţu
చదరంగం
cadaraṃgaṃ
దాడి
dāḍi
కట్టు
kaţţu
Turkish Ş/K şah/kral V vezir K kale F fil A at (P) er/piyon Satranç Şah Mat
Ukrainian король Ф ферзь T тура C слон K кінь (П) пішак Шахи Шах Мат
Urdu Badshah Wazir Qila Haathi Ghora Piada Shatranj Sheh Shehmaat
Vietnamese V Vua H Hậu X Xe T Tượng M _ Tốt Cờ vua Chiếu Chiếu bí
Welsh T teyrn/brenin B brenhines C castell E esgob M marchog (G) gwerinwr Gwyddbwyll Siach Siachmat

(Luiro 2009)

See also

Notes

References

External links