The chess set is a thing of beauty. There is nothing quite like a hand carved Staunton style chess set. The pieces are tactile and need to be held and this I feel is the fascination most people have with chess sets and pieces. Collectors who cannot even play chess are intrigued by the beautiful shapes of individual pieces.

Ebony can be used for the black pieces and the white pieces can be made of a lighter colored wood like ivory. Hardwoods are best to use and are longer wearing but there are many wood types to choose from for the individual piece sets. Each half of the set consists of 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, 2 Rooks and 8 pawns all of one single ‘light’ color and an identical 16 pieces in a different ‘darker’ color complete the set. The full set is 32 pieces.

The 8 pawns are considered to be minor pieces (mere pawns) although they can be promoted to higher ranking pieces upon reaching the opponents first rank on the chessboard. The other 8 pieces are more highly valued, especially the king. White and black are the traditional colors used but many blue, green, red and other color sets exist. The material used apart from wood, are plastics of all types plus silver, gold, marble, soapstone, pewter and numerous other metals. Cardboard chess pieces too can be bought or even homemade.

Great entertainment can be provided by a classic Staunton chess set with young children using the pieces to fight imaginary battles. Many magazines are sold as part-work where a piece is given free with each issue until such time as all 32 pieces are gathered. These are usually cast in lead but sometimes glass or plastic is used. Many themed sets are available such as The Simpsons, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Lego, Disney and so forth.

A chess set will be described in terms of being suitable for a chessboard with certain size squares (usually 2 inch squares are best) and most regular sets fit well with the correct size board. The chess set height is usually given as the King height as the king is the tallest piece on the board. A good size set would have a 4 inch king with a 2 or 2.5 inch base. The remaining pieces will be proportionally smaller. The queens are the only females on the board but they are the most powerful pieces.

Visually impaired players

Chess players who are blind use a beautifully crafted pegged chess set where each piece is uniquely identified by a carved symbol on the uppermost part of the piece. This distinguishes the pieces from one another whilst also identifying the white and black piece differences. The chessboard has a hole in the center of each square and the pegged pieces fit snugly into these holes. The black and white squares are differentiated too by having all the black squares slightly lower that the white ones. The blind chess player then reads the position throughout the game by moving his or her hands over the board and pieces. When they have decided upon their move they will speak and call the move to the opponent and the referee will move the piece on the regular chess board. The sighted opponent, using the regular board, will speak all moves to their visually impaired opponent.

Chess molds are available in hobby shops and sets can even be made from candle wax. The main thing is to enjoy your chess set and be sure to buy one that is ascetically pleasant on the eye. Ideally it should be triple weighted so that the ‘feel’ is right. Wooden pieces are weighted by inserting metal shims into the base of each piece so that each piece has a heavy clunky feel to it (weighted). The U. S. Chess Federation is a good reference site for all things chess and if one wishes to learn how to play chess then I would recommend Fischer’s book called ‘Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess’.

A less attractive chess set is one when checkers are used and the chess symbols are stamped on each checker disc. This two dimensional set is a poor set when compared to the fullness of the three dimensional figures standing brazenly or proudly on the board. A chess set consisting of Staunton pieces is a wonderfully visual experience so look out for them in specialist stores. Buy a set for your home, you dont need to be able to play, just admire the craftsmanship. Chess should be fun so why not try an oversize garden chess set which will be a talking point for visiting friends and family. Children will have hours of fun with this chess set too.