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About Staunton Chess Pieces

Staunton chess piecesStaunton is a particular pattern of Chess Pieces in the game of Chess. Staunton pattern pieces are mostly used in Chess tournaments and competitions. It is named after famous chess master Howard Staunton. Howard Staunton was an English chess master and was one of the strongest chess player in the years between 1843 & 1851. It was due to his efforts that England becomes the one of the major chess centre on the 1950 era. He contributed a lot to chess. He was not only a chess player, but also a chess promoter, writer and organizer as well.

 

In 1859 Nathaniel Cook designed the Staunton pattern chess and Jaques of London approved their manufacturing rights. After that it becomes the international standard design of chess. They have been used all over the world since. All Staunton Pieces mainly has wide molded base. Knight basically has head and neck like a horse. King has a stylish crown with cross pattee, Queen is slightly smaller than the king with a small round ball mount on her head, Rooks feature stylized crenellated battlements and bishops a Western-style mitre. Pawns are the smallest pieces in the game with round head.

Check out our Staunton Chess Sets made with High Precision. Be sure that every single piece is proportionate and heavily weighted with splendid craftsmanship.

There’s a variety of types available at our online store. They also come in a different variants. Here’s an Staunton Chess Pieces with having 4.0″ King.

The section below explains more about the types of staunton chess pieces available.

 

Fierce Knight Staunton Series Chess Pieces in Bud Rosewood & Box Wood – 4.0″ King

Fierce Knight Staunton Series

Made up from bud rose wood(dark pieces) and boxwood(light pieces) plus handcarved gave you a truly amazing pleasure when playing chess. Thick green felt on chess pieces provide a smooth movement on the chess board.

Check out this amazing handcrafted chess piece.

 

The Master Staunton Series Chess Pieces in Dyed Box Wood – 4.0″ King

Master Staunton Series

Crafted from bud rose wood and boxwood. Notably, the King stands at an impressive height of 4 inches, with a sturdy base measuring 1.7 inches. The dark pieces, crafted from bud rose wood, while pieces made of boxwood. This set includes additional queens, allowing for effortless pawn promotion during play.

Each chess piece is intricately carved and weighted, ensuring a wonderful hand-feel and a satisfying, resonant impact on the wooden chess board. For smooth movement across the board, the pieces are fitted with thick faux leather pads that precisely envelop the base of each chessman.

The Honour of Staunton (HOS) Series Weighted Chess Pieces in Rose wood & Box Wood – 4.0″ King

Honour of Staunton (HOS) Series

This series is made up of rosewood and boxwood. Chess players are well aware of the amazing feel that the Staunton series chess pieces can offer.

Thick green felt on each chess piece ingeniously provides smooth movement on the chessboard. This Staunton series set possesses an inherent allure, automatically inviting you to play chess on the go!

So, what you are waiting for? Order this today for yourself or one who has die-hard fan of chess.

What Materials are Chess Pieces Made of?

Our chess pieces are made up from high quality woods like bud rose wood, boxwood, Ebony, Sheesham aka Golden rosewood and ebonized wood. Meticulously crafted by skilled hands, each piece is a testament to dedication and precision, resulting in a set that exudes elegance and uniqueness. The attention to detail and the individual touch in every stroke create a set of chess pieces that not only serves as a game but also stands as a work of art. The careful carving and fine finishing elevate these pieces, making them a first preference for any chess enthusiast, collectors, players of all level.

There are numerous of ways by which you can enhance your analytical skill and brainy cleverness by playing chess- the game of the kings!

Understand How It Can Improve Your Analytical Skills

You can learn to play chess at any group. It is beneficial for everybody especially for teenagers as it improves the memory of the player. Chess is regarded as a great exercise for the brain. Creativity also increases as you learn how to make moves by brewing up your own ideas. It lets you build up interest in future planning as it clear that by playing chess you got to be prepared surely in advance. Inner ideas develop repeatedly as your brain is active. Problem-solving expertise is also enhanced as the game of chess is like a big puzzle, where you need step by step sorting.

The biggest benefit of playing a game of chess is it improves concentration level. Mental clarity also develops. Focusing your mind on your aim is most important and vital while lack of concentration like looking away or thinking about something else even for a single moment can result in the loss of a match similarly in real life not aiming for your target may lead to failures. Playing chess has loads of advantages. After every game you seem to learn a lesson or you can say you construct a new vision/outlook to see things. Chess is played between two players and each player is independent to compose the pattern of the game. In other words you are forced to make crucial decisions on your own. It is a very challenging game and one gains a lot of confidence by playing it. All you need is focusing power which builds up with practice. As you all know “practice makes a man perfect”.

Chess is very useful for children. With physical exercise, mental exercise is also needed. So chess is a game to challenge one s brain. It involves lots of calculation work which enhances the quick response ability. The child gains presence of mind. He becomes responsible and disciplined.

To better understand how chess can improve your analytical skill. We would love to include here the various reasons explaining how chess helps train the brain:

Put You on the Path to Getting More Focused

When we are playing a game of chess, our mind is engaged with the chess board. And this ability of concentration especially on the problem solving task automatically allow us to think deeply which is the key components of analytical skill. With a complete focused mind one can easily comes up with a logical and accurate solution. Still not convinced? Indulge yourself in the strategic game, and this will help understanding what we are pointing out here.

CB Grandmaster Staunton Series Chess Pieces
Get Yourself Engaged in a Strategic Game | Photo: chessbazaar

Help Discover New Ideas

Chess helps us realize the importance of the small soldiers’ value and the impact they can have on the chessboard. It’s a problem-solving task where you need to analyze the position to find the best move. Have you ever wondered where the idea of making the best moves comes from? It stems from creative solutions, which, in turn, can help discover new ideas or strategy in a broader context. To name a few, the fishing pole trap in chess can be considered a one of the creative tactic. Do watch out this interesting video, where player checkmating their opponent with chess tactic – fishing pole trap. Watch the dedicated video below:

Stay tuned with us for new arrivals, interesting facts on our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube. We welcome your queries on custom chess sets through our dedicated online form.

Your chess set is lying in the dust of your storeroom because you don’t play chess anymore now?  It’s time to dust off the board and pass on the legacy to your children. A healthy mind and a fit body contribute greatly in shaping the golden future of a child.

Unless the child is made to practice mental exercises in addition to physical exercises as he grows up, he would eventually experience problems such as mental numbness, forgetfulness etc. For long, chess has been considered as a game played only by intellectuals and individuals with critical thinking abilities.

However, the interesting fact is that chess can be played by people of all age groups and mind sets.

Chess is extremely helpful in brain development, particularly when it is played regularly from a very early age. Learning to play chess at a young age helps the children to gain valuable experience and wisdom which can be applied to almost any situation they will encounter in life.

Taking about the design, both chessboards and chess pieces create an amazing aura around them. As the design is so beautifully hand-crafted that they are surely a sight to watch when both are put together.

1950 Reproduced Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Chessmen Version 3.0
Chessbazaar’s 1950 Reproduced Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Chessmen Version 3.0

Chess is one big science experiment; every time you play a game you are testing hypotheses and learning by trial and error. Chess is rooted in history and can open a door to history knowledge.

Related: Benefits of chess

Here are some more reasons for kids to learn chess:

  1. Fosters critical and logical thinking
  2. Generates creativity
  3. Make You Calculative
  4. Makes You Self Dependent
  5. Teaches children how to make difficult decisions without consulting another
  6. Raises intelligence quotient scores (IQ)
  7. Chess makes the child learn how to strategize aspects of the game and life. He can learn the importance of foresight, and planning
  8. Grows Your Dendrites
  9. Pump up the brain power
  10. Improves concentration and memory
Chess Benefits

If you teach an adult to play chess, they quickly comprehend where they should and shouldn’t move pieces to capture or avoid capture. But when a child learns to play chess, he soon says, “If I move my piece here, you could capture it, right? Then I’m not going to move there.”

You can almost see the mental changes taking place. So you can see your child can tremendously benefit from a game of chess while also having a great time. Chess can help develop these valuable skills in any child, regardless of their background or natural talents.

May be one day they can also beat Sergey Karjakin who still holds the record for the youngest grandmaster in chess history at 12 years old and 7 months.

Dreaming that your child will become the youngest grandmaster in chess history and aspiring for them to surpass even Sergey Karjakin. Surprisignly your child also can, only if you can teach them the following skills:

  • Advise Your Child to Focus: Likewise, we have often heard from people or read on the internet that carefully observing a chess game and analyzing it deeply are crucial. Similarly, we advise children to concentrate on what is actually happening around the chessboard, from both sides. If they don’t understand what is happening on the chessboard, they will be unable to respond effectively.

  • Planning in Advance: Recalling the situation mentioned earlier in this blog post, ‘If I move my piece here, you could capture it, right?’ we’ve taught them to ask themselves, ‘If I do this, what might happen next, and how would I respond to it. Bring up this Lessons With A Grandmaster 2 : Boris Gulko & Dr. Joel R. Sneed as a helpful resource to your child.

  • Visualization in Mind: Visualizing the moves allows children to develop strategic ideas. We encourage children to picture the potential future moves; this will help them create a roadmap for their game.

  • Re Assess The Goals: Children are often taught to develop goals and take steps accordingly. They are also taught the need to reassess their plans as new developments can always change the situation. This straightaway encourages your child to become a well-rounded player not only in chess but also in every aspect of life.

Related: How to get the Secret Chess Game on Facebook

chess pieces on a chessboard

Chess has a unique and strong brand attribute, in that it is generally perceived that playing chess and being smart are connected. This can be very positive driver for young children. So, help your kids to become smarter in life and gift them a starter chess game set this birthday.

Let’s play chess to develop our minds and try be better humans.

We at chessbazaar provide world class chess pieces and boards. We ship free around the globe. Visit us to know more.

Related: Perfect medicine for Alzheimer’s disease – Chess

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT HOW YOUR CHILD GET BETTER AT CHESS?

We brings you blogs on specific topics including, How to Get Good at Chess, Tips for effective learning etc. Each blogs contains insightful information that help your child be upfront.

HOW TO GET GOOD AT CHESS BY PLAYING STRATEGICALLY

CHECKMATE THESE 3 MISTAKES WHEN STUDYING CHESS: TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE LEARNING

WHAT’S THE BEST CHESS OPENING A BEGINNER SHOULD PLAY

SKILLS TO MASTER THROUGH CHESS

In the early fifteenth century, boxwood was used as most common substance for making chess pieces. Boxwood is fine close-grained yellow wood obtained from shrub common to Europe and Asia. But in the early eighteenth century, ebony wood was used extensively for making chess sets.

This hard black wood came from trees which grow in areas like Mauritius, Ceylon, America and India.  The hard and black inner part is used which can be turned or carved to any shape and design. Boxwood and ebony were used together as different sides in the same set. Please find the attached picture showcasing our exquisite combo set from the Luxury Chess Set collections. In this set, we have meticulously crafted the chess pieces using a combination of Boxwood and Ebony wood.

Chess Set Made with Boxwood and Ebony Wood
Boxwood and Ebony Used Together

But in the eastern side of the world, soft wood like sandalwood were used which can be turned or carved into complex shapes. It is light brown in color and never been polished. Bamboo was also been made into used but it was hard for craftsmen to carved it into different shapes.

But in Europe, ivory was preferred for making of European chessmen. African ivory taken from the African elephant was used. At that time all the European chess pieces were made of African ivory while Eastern sets are of Indian.

Quartz is a mineral used for making Hard Chess Sets. It is found in many parts of the world. Jade and jadeite are minerals found in China, New Zealand and America and were used for making delightful hard Chess Pieces.  It is hard and durable and not easily scratched.

Curious about the types of woods used in a chess set? Your go-to source is right here! Learn about the different types of woods used in a handmade chess set.

Chess is one of the oldest games known to mankind. Chess players are very passionate about their game and are always curious to know every single trick or rule that can improve their game. Chess rules are few but they can get really complex.

Along with using strategies to play chess, it is also equally important to have the correct positions of the chess pieces at the beginning of the game.

A chessboard is a kind of checkerboard and consists of 64 squares (eight rows and eight columns) and 32 pieces. These squares are arranged in two alternating colors (light and dark). Environment-friendly wooden chess boards that we offer to our customers at chessbazaar use genuine woods.

Material varies widely in making chess boards. Plastic and cardboard chessboards are basically used for low-level games. For high level or for professional games only wooden chess boards are used.

The first and foremost rule in start of game of chess is the placement of the chessboard. Now it’s time to set your beautiful wooden chessboard with meticulously hand-carved wooden chess pieces right. Let’s get started.

Get started with these simple steps:

  • Set the board and make sure that the bottom right square is a white square. If your board has algebraic notations on it make sure that ‘1’ is nearest to white and ‘8’ is nearest to Black. The ‘h’ letter should be on White’s right.
Chess Board with coordinates
  • Place a rook/castle on each of the two corners.
Placement of Rook/Castle on each of the two corners.
  • Place a knight on the inside of the rooks/castles.
Placing a knight on the inside of the rooks/castles.
  • Now set your bishops to the inside of the knights.
Bishops Placement at Chessboard
  • Then place your queens on the matching color square. Queen is a second most important piece in chess after the king. But always remember that the queen always sits in the color of its square. So the light colored square will have white queen and the black Queen has to be placed in a dark square of the board (A lady always wants to wear matching shoes with her dress). Queen Side of the board’ is the left side of the board, where both queens are placed.
Placing different chess pieces on a chess board
  • Now place your King on the last square left. King side of the board’ is the right side of the board, where both kings are placed.
King placement at the chess board
  • Place all the pawns on the front squares, so that they can declare the war.
Pawns placement at chess boards

All chess pieces have different points to indicate how valuable they are and if you want to play for chess tournaments, it is also important to learn the points that each chess piece is worth of and the points of some possible combinations. Let’s have a look –

Chess Pieces with Names and Points by Chessbazaar

The person with the white side pieces always begins the game. The Game is all about saving the King, so the King carries infinite value. The interesting rule of the game is that the King can never be captured and if he is in danger then he must move to a safe place or another chess piece must make him safe. If he cannot reach in the safe zone then the game is over.

Also Read: 6 Tips to Choose the Best Chess Board for Your Need

 

Knowing some very important chess terms is almost inevitable for all the chess players. If you are new to the game of chess, there are certain terms that must be learned before you step on to the chess battlefield. Let us learn about these terms:

  1. Check: The term “Check” simply means or it gives the warning that the King is in danger and that the King requires immediate attention. In this situation, the player must find a way out to save its King from the approaching threat. To save the King, the player is left with three options. These are:

Related: How to Make the Best Chess Opening Moves?

  1. Capture the attacking piece.
  2. Blocking the line of fire, placing a new piece between the attacking piece and the King.
  3. Moving the King from the line of fire.

  1. Checkmate or mate: If it is not possible to save the King from the above-mentioned options, then it is called “checkmate” or “mate“. As King is the most valuable piece in the game of chess and if you are not able to get it out of danger, then it is checkmate and the game is over. Unfortunately, you have lost the game. Giving checkmate is the main goal of the chess player, the one who gives the checkmate is the winner.

  1. Stalemate: The game reaches such a situation when the player’s King is not checked, it’s his turn to move and his not left with any legal move. The chess rules state that this situation would bring the game to draw (i.e having no winner), no matter what advantage one side could have over the other and is called “Stalemate“.

  1. Even some advanced players wonder why it does not count as a win. The reason is that the losing side cannot avoid exposing their King to check, but they are not yet in check!

So be careful next time you play chess! Happy playing Chess!

Related: Birth of the Chess Queen: The most dominant piece on the board

The art of chess strategy knows how to formulate a plan for the chess game and arrange your chess pieces to accomplish this plan. That is why it is important to plan the first moves rightly so that your chess army becomes stronger by every move.  The first moves of a chess game are termed the “opening” or “opening moves”. The possible opening moves of chess have been extensively studied for hundreds of years and have been given names to simplify discussion of a game. But in this blog, we are not going to discuss specific moves but instead, we will discuss the general chess principles in the chess opening.

It’s rightly said – “Well begun is half done!” This crucial time in the game often determines the winner in the middle game or endgame. The first 8-15 moves generally decide the winner of the game. Let us see, how you can take lead in your Chess game –

      1. Tournament Series Staunton Chess Pieces with German Knight Make the first move with the e-pawn or d-pawn advancing two squares.  This move immediately works on controlling the center, and it frees two pieces – The Queen and a Bishop.
      2. Next step is developing your pieces. One of the main aims of the opening is to mobilize the pieces on useful squares where they will have an impact on the game. Try developing by giving threat to your opponent so that his move is wasted while defending.

Related: How to Set Up a Chessboard – Step by Step – chessbazaar’s Guide

      1. Take control over the center of the board.The underlying principle of chess strategy in the opening phase is control of the board’s center squares. In chess geometry, the center is important because each chess piece exercises maximum mobility in the center.
      2. Buy Tournament Series Staunton Chess Pieces with German KnightKeep your King safe.Castle early in open positions that will help you to keep your King safe. Castling is a great way to safeguard your King from sudden chess tactics and even checkmate – it gets the King away from the center and develops one of your Rooks at the same time.

Develop and threaten– while you are developing your pieces, try to threaten the opponent’s pieces. This will limit the opponent’s freedom of choice.
Some more general points to be kept in mind while making first moves –
a) Piece coordination is very important to be kept in mind. As the players mobilize their pieces, they both seek to ensure that they are working harmoniously towards the control of key squares.
b) Don’t move your queen out early, she is subject to attack.
c) Don’t attack before you complete your development.New 1950 Dubrovnik Bobby Fischer Reproduced Chess Set Queen
d) Don’t attack too early because a premature attack will fail.

e) Develop with the gain of time by attacking your opponent’s unguarded pieces and pawns.

Related: Enjoy the holidays without getting bored – Chess, your strategic companion!

Chess books can also help you to learn chess openings to be able to make the best chess moves when you start your game. If you understand and learn the art of making good openings, you will be able to play the first 12 chess moves or more in just about two minutes without much thinking. You don’t switch off your brain completely, but you play so much faster and more efficient than before. This builds a strong chess position right away and increases your chances of winning dramatically.

Happy Chess Playing!

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Related: Birth of the Chess Queen: The most dominant piece on the board

Every chess player knows that the queen is without a second thought the most dominant piece in chess, but surprisingly very few chess players know the fact that the game of chess actually existed for five hundred years without her. Chess is a game which was invented in India. At that time there was no queen, instead, there was Senapati i.e Army General and this was the reason, why this piece holds great power and can move around freely in the war field. King simply sits and plans a strategy and does not fight the battle himself. It was the Army General who does the leading of soldiers. When chess became a popular pastime for European royals during the Middle Ages then the Army General got evolved into a queen to become the king’s fierce warrior and protector.

PEGASUS SERIES Complete Chess Set

The position of Queen – The queen is placed in the middle rank adjacent to the king. According to the white and black columns on the chess board, the white queen is placed on the white square and the black queen chess piece is placed on the black square. This is called “Queen on color”. Queen is the most powerful piece in the game of chess. It is able to move any number of squares vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The most powerful position for a queen is when the enemy king is in an open or undefended position. The queen can then execute a check.

Because of the value of a queen, it is sometimes used as bait to lure an opponent into a trap by a queen sacrifice. Queen is the most crucial chess piece which is needed to protect the king of her side. That is why there is a very famous quote – “Every man needs a woman when his life is in a mess, because just like in a game of chess, the queen protects the king.”

If you really want to succeed in the game of chess and want to save your king, then you really need to learn the strategies and tactics with this power packed chess piece.

Happy playing chess!

Related: Best Designer & Unique Chess Sets for Décor, Study, Home Office or Library

The pleasure and excitement of a chess game increases many fold when you lay the pieces on a beautiful wooden chessboard and that too of perfect size. Like the chess pieces, chessboard  is equally important as the game moves around on the chess board. It is of utmost importance that the size of chess pieces and the size of chessboard should be appropriate and perfectly matching. To make your game much more interesting and professional, chessbazaar brings you a very simple way to calculate chessboard size and piece size –

For calculating the chess board size, you just need to know the base size of your chess piece i.e the diameter of the chess pieces. So, the simple formula is:

Chess board size: 4/3 of king’s base.

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To find out a perfect chessboard size for your chess pieces, multiply the base of the piece with 4/3 and you will get the size of the chess square. For example: For  a set with king’s diameter  2’’ will be perfectly suitable with chessboard of size: 2’’ x 4/3 = 2.66″.

And vice-versa to find out the size of the perfect chess pieces, if you already possess a chess board. For this you need to know the size of the square.

Chess piece size: 3/4 of chess board’s square size.

CBboard

Multiply the size of the chess square with 3/4 and you will get the size of the piece. For example: For a chess board with size 2.66’’, a perfectly suitable King’s size would be: 2.66’’ x 3/4 = 2’’.

Dubrovnik_cropped

So, enjoy your favourite game this winter season on a beautiful wooden chess board with the most beautifully handcarved chess pieces perfectly matching to each other. Take a look of our amazing collection of handmade wooden chess pieces and chess boards.

The game of chess is like a swordfight, you must think first before you act. Chessbazaar.com is great place where you can buy beautiful handmade chess sets and you can learn the rules of chess game too.

Goal of Chess Game

Chess is a two-player game. These two player sits opposite side of the chess board , one player having 16 black or dark pieces while other chess player having white or light pieces. Make sure that the board is placed in such a way that the first white square is always on the right hand side of the both players. The main goal of chess game is checkmate the other king or to capture the opponents king. At that point, the game is over.

General Chess Rules

• White is always first to move and players take turns alternately moving one piece at a time. If a player’s turn is to move, he is not in check but has no legal moves, this situation is called “Stalemate” and it ends the game in a draw.
• Each type of piece has its own method of movement. A piece may be moved to another position or may capture an opponent’s piece, replacing on its square (en passant being the only exception). With the exception of the knight, a piece may not move over or through any of the other pieces.
• When a king is threatened with capture (but can protect himself or escape), it is called check. If a king is in check, then the player must make a move that eliminates the threat of capture and cannot leave the king in check.
• Checkmate happens when a king is placed in check and there is no legal move to escape. Checkmate ends the game and the side whose king was checkmated looses. Chess for kids would be a great option to help the kid enhance his thinking capability with the chess strategies involved.

Chess Board and Chess Pieces Set Up

The chessboard made up of 64 square (8 x 8 grid), these 64 squares further divided into 32 dark squares and 32 light squares. The colors of the sixty-four squares alternate between light and dark, and are referred to as “light squares” and “dark squares”. The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner square to the right of the player is white. Lets start with the chess pieces. The 16 chess pieces are made up of 1 King, 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, and 8 pawns. 2nd row is filled by Pawns. In 1st row rook go in the corner, then knights, followed by bishops and finally the queen. Note that the queen is always on her own color while the king is always on the opposite color.

Beginning of Chess Game

The player with white pieces always moves first. Therefore, players generally decide who will get to be white by chance or luck such as flipping a coin or having one player guess the color of the hidden pawn in the other player’s hand. White then makes a move, followed by black, then white again, then black and so on until the end of the game.

Movement of Pieces

The 6 different kinds of pieces move differently. Pieces cannot move through other pieces (though the knight can jump over other pieces), and can never move onto a square with one of their own pieces. However, they can be moved to take the place of an opponent’s piece which is then captured. Pieces are generally moved into positions where they can capture other pieces (by landing on their square and then replacing them), defend their own pieces in case of capture, or control important squares in the game. The following diagrams will explain the movement of the pieces that must keep in mind when playing chess.

• The King

The King play an important role in chess game, whole game is playing to save king. The King is tallest pieces on the chessboard and King has cross finials at top. By the rules of chess, his moves are pretty limited, he can only move one square at a time but he can move forward, backward, left, right and diagonally. Click on the ‘>’ button in the diagram below to see how the king can move around the board.

• The Queen

The Queen is the most powerful chess pieces on the chessboard. The Queen has a beautiful crown on its top. According to the rules of playing chess, she can move vertically, horizontally and diagonally just as many squares she wants (without jumping other chess pieces).

• Bishop

Most bishops also have a cut near the top resembling that of a mouth. The bishop may move as far as it wants, but only diagonally. Each bishop starts on one color (light or dark) and must always stay on that color. Bishops work well together because they cover up each other’s weaknesses.

• Knight

Knight is a unique chess piece. Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces – going two squares in one direction (forward, backward, left, or right) and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an “L”. Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces.

• Rook

The rook is also called the castle by some and it actually looks like a castle or at least a castle tower . The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides. The rooks are particularly powerful pieces when they are protecting each other and working together.

• Pawn

Pawn is smallest pieces on the chessboard. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares. Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in front of them. They can never move or capture backwards. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture that piece.

Special Moves

• Castling

This move allows you to do two important things all in one move: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a player’s turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook from that side’s corner to right next to the king on the opposite side. (See the example below.) However, in order to castle, the following conditions must be met:

• It must be that king’s very first move.
• It must be that rook’s very first move.
• There cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move.
• The king may not be in check or pass through check.

Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called castling kingside. Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling queenside. Regardless of which side, the king always moves only two squares when castling.

• En Passant

There is a unique chess rule which involves a special move in chess that many casual players are not aware of, the rule is called “en passant”. If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent’s pawn (effectively jumping past the other pawn’s ability to capture it), that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as it passes by. This special move must be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available.

Related Post: Chess Pieces Moves – An illustrated guide

• Promotion

Pawns have another special ability and that is that if a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can become any other chess piece (called promotion). A pawn may be promoted to any piece either a queen, a rook, a bishop, or a knight, of the same colour as the pawn. A pawn is usually promoted to a queen.

End of the Game

• Winning

The game is won by the player
• who has checkmated his opponent’s king.
• whose opponent declares he resigns.

• Draw

The game is drawn when the king of the player who has the move is not in check, and this player cannot make any legal move. The player’s king is then said to be “stalemated”. This immediately ends the game.
The game is drawn upon agreement between the two players.
The game is drawn when one of the following endings arises:
• king against king;
• king against king with only bishop or knight;
• king and bishop against king and bishop, with both bishops on diagonals of the same colour.

• Losing

The game is lost by a player who has not completed the prescribed number of moves in the allotted time, unless his opponent has only the king remaining, in which case the game is drawn.

Source : Chess.com

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