Chess Set Pieces: The Role Of The Pawn

The game of chess, and the chess set pieces, can be back 1500 years or more and the earlier form of chess was effectively a game of war. The chess set pieces all represented warriors and their commanders - none more so than the pawn.

 

The pawn of course is the most numerous of the chess set pieces. It represents the foot soldier, the cannon fodder if you like. In any game of chess the pawns have to be moved first. In any battle, the foot soldiers have to be used if you want to capture the opponent's King or ruler.

 

When you are playing a game with your best chess set, you must also move the pawns in order to move the more valuable pieces behind. To not move the pawns would hold the other chess set pieces in position. Pawns always move forward, not back, at one square at a time unless it is the first move when the pawn can move two squares.

 

A pawn only stays in the 'file' (the line of squares leading away from the player) it starts in unless it takes one of the opposing chess pieces when it moves diagonally.

 

Each pawn is given a name depending on the chess piece behind. For example, the pawn starting in front of the King is called the 'King Pawn.'

 

Of course it is easy for a pawn to get into a stalemate simply by moving up until it faces the opposing pawn. As neither can move forward they have to wait until one of them is taken by another piece.

 

The goal of any pawn is to reach the far side of the board when this piece can be upgraded to any other piece on the board. Most people of course change it into a Queen as this is the most powerful and versatile piece on the board.

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Buy Chess Sets: The Chess Board

So you have found a good chess store online and have bought your chess set pieces - perhaps a good quality carved chess set. Now you come to play a game of chess and are faced with the chessboard.

 

At first sight the chessboard is simply a type of chequer board (or checker board) identical to that used by the game of Draughts (or Checkers). There are 64 squares set up in eight rows horizontally and eight vertically.

 

As with the chess set pieces, there is more to the board than you initially see. The lines of squares running away from you (front to back) are know as the 'files' and those that run right to left are the 'ranks.'

 

Already we have found the historical background to the game of chess as the terms  'rank' and 'file' are military terms used to describe the lines of troops matching. The term 'rank and file' is also used to denote members of political or trade union organisations, as an extension of the military usage.

 

Not only are the up and down rows of squares labeled but the diagonal rows of squares across the board are also know - as, er, 'diagonals.'

 

Generally a chessboard uses squares of contrasting light and dark colours. These can vary considerably, depending on the materials used to construct the board but a best chess set would be made from wood or leather and these generally use darker and lighter sheds of brown.

 

Each square tends to be between 2 to 2.5 inches (50 to 65 millimetres) in width and length: that is to say, 1.25 to 1.3 times the size of the base of the King.

 

Before starting to set up your chess set pieces, always ensure the board is orientated so each player has a white square in the right-hand corner.

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