Buy A Chess Set: An Introduction To The Game Of Chess

Chess is universally recognized as the King of Games. This noble pastime has at all times been accorded a special niche in the realm of Games and no one, therefore, should be ignorant of the rules of this intellectual sport.

 

There is to day a widespread assumption that Chess is too scientific a game to afford relaxation after the occupations and preoccupations of the day. This amounts to denying oneself an addition to the beauties of life.

 

The game of Chess, invented, it is believed, in India and rendered more artistic in Europe, is an intellectual contest between two adversaries, who each has at his disposal sixteen units, eight pieces and eight pawns, which move on a chess board.

 

The chess board is divided into 6 squares of equal size, which, for the sake of clearness, are alternately black and white (or dark and light).

 

In order to make the conditions of the contest uniform, it has been made a rule that the board shall be so placed that each player has a white square at his bottom right-hand corner.

 

The chess set pieces on either side are equal in number and in value but of course of opposite colors (usually light and dark), to distinguish the two clans, the White and the Black.

 

Each set comprises one King, one Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights and, of course, eight pawns.

 

It will be seen that each one of these eight pawns corresponds to one of the pieces. These eight chess set pieces represent only five different types of units. Yet that is sufficient to render our game as imaginative and varied as can well be conceived.

 

We must remember that other board games (such as Draughts, the Japanese 'Go' and others) rely on pieces of one type only. No wonder then that Chess, with its 32 varied pieces, produces a contest more vital than, for instance, Draughts or Checkers with its 24 uniform men.

 

(Adapted from 'A Breviary Of Chess by S. Tartakower 1937)

 

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Chess Set Pieces: Tips For Playing Good Chess

Taking out your best chess set and playing a good, enthralling game with your chess set pieces brings great rewards. But there are several tips that can help you get the best out of the game.

Make a sustained effort to become perfect in that wise and captivating game which is chess. ("There are people who play chess, and others who play at chess," said the great Franco-Polish master Janowski). Avoid - especially if you are young - wasting time and energy on the game, even if you have hopes of reaching the top of the ladder. Play chess as a relaxation; it the most beautiful of all games, but it is - a game. Its laurels are deceptive, its ambitions shallow.

Whatever your temperament - vivacious, superficial, timorous, ingenious, matter-of-fact or intuitive - know how to control it. You will thus be better able to bring your qualities to the fore, and your opponent will find it more difficult to exploit your weakness.

Never consider your cause lost from the first (that would be defeatism!), but, on the other hand, do not underestimate your opponent's powers. Know that there are two degrees of strength, the one you imagine you possess and the one that is actually yours: only too often is the last-named the lesser.

(These tips on how to get the most out of your chess game come from 'A Breviary Of Chess' by S. Tartakower)

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Chess Sets Online: All About Sherlock Holmes

Who hasn’t heard of Sherlock Homes? Do you realise you could buy a chess set based on the famous exploits of this well-known fictional detective?  You could hold in your hand chess set pieces depicting characters based on the original drawings that appeared in Strand Magazine to accompany the Sherlock Holmes stories.

 

What is it about Sherlock Homes that still thrills us after all these years?  After all, the detective first appeared in 1887.  Yet, the film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows has lately been on our film screens.  And, thousands of people in the UK were gripped recently by the three episodes of Sherlock aired on television.  

 

There were certainly plenty of stories involving the character created by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In all, Conan Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories.  Of these, all but four were narrated by Holmes’s friend Dr John Watson. 

 

I can remember having the books on my Christmas list.  However, I think what inspired me to ask for the books was having seen, on television, the actor Basil Rathbone playing the role in the films made between 1939 and 1946. 

 

It is when you look at the many and varied interpretations of the character on stage and screen that you start to realise why Sherlock Holmes has always been of interest to us, despite the numerous other fictional detectives who have followed him.

 

What most fascinates us then?  I suspect an answer commonly given would be his methods of detection.  We are all intrigued when Sherlock Holmes looks at someone he has never met before and is able to provide significant facts about their life.

 

We are now very accustomed to the use of forensic science in crime drama - drinking it in and always noticing if someone contaminates a crime scene.  In Sherlock Holmes we see this science in its infancy and a detective who understands the importance of maintaining the integrity of the crime scene.     

 

Sherlock Holmes is the master of disguise, using it to great effect in solving crimes. He even took in his closest friend Dr Watson with the cleverness of his skill in this area.

 

The latest Sherlock Holmes film certainly highlights another strength of the detective, namely his physical strength and fitness.  A less healthy characteristic in the stories is his use of addictive drugs, in particular Cocaine. 

 

Such is the interest in Sherlock Holmes that many societies of dedicated followers have been established across the World.  The Sherlock Holmes Society of London arranges visits to the scenes of the detective’s adventures, such as the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland.

 

Followers can also visit a number of exhibitions, including the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Baker Street in London.  221B Baker Street must be one of the World’s most famous addresses.

 

If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, this could be your best chess set.

 

A carved chess set with Sherlock Holmes characters could be yours.  Just go to ChessSetHeaven.com to find out more and to see other chess sets for sale.

Themed Chess Sets: The Art Deco Style

If you asked me to choose from the themed chess sets available, I would have no hesitation in deciding which carved chess set I would love to own.  For me, the best chess set would be Art Deco themed.

 

Why Art Deco? Well, I spent a year working in Brussels. There I was able to feast on some amazing examples of the style. I didn’t have a car and spent a lot of time walking around this lovely compact city with amazing examples of two styles of architecture, namely Art Nouveau and Art Deco. 

 

Brussels is known particularly for its stunning examples of Art Nouveau.  However, the First World War changed people’s approach to their buildings.  A new and eclectic style began in Paris in the 1920s and spread widely.  Art Deco was born. This new style drew on a variety of influences. Very mathematical in its style, it included zigzags and geometric shapes and the result was a cleaner and more angular style of building.  However, Art Deco also drew on art and design from many ancient civilisations such as those in Egypt, Mexico and Africa.  The reason for this is ascribed to the great interest in archeology in the 1920s, for example the tomb of Tutankhamun and Pompeii.

 

Wandering around the area of Brussels that I lived in – Ixelles – it is possible to see some of wonderful examples of twentieth century architecture, from Art Nouveau, to Art Deco and then onto Modernism.  This is true in particular of the area around the Ixelles Ponds.

 

For me, my stay in this city was a very happy time. Being able to admire an Art Deco carved chess set in my home would bring back the best of memories.

 

I visited New York a few years ago and was excited to see the Art Deco spire of the Chrysler building and, of course, the Empire State Building. Also, in New York, the Rockefeller Centre has 14 original Art Deco buildings amongst its total of 19 buildings. It is not just in New York, but also in others of its large cities that the United States boasts excellent specimens of the style.

 

Closer to home, there are some splendid examples of Art Deco architecture in the UK.  In the seaside town of Bexhill-on-Sea, the mayor, Earl De La Warr held a competition for the design of a new leisure complex for the town.  The winning design was built between 1934 and 1935. Named after the mayor, the De La Warr Pavilion is a stunning example of Art Deco architecture. 

 

My focus on architecture could be misleading. The Art Deco style influenced all areas of design, including interior design.  In South East London, you can visit Eltham Palace. Originally a medieval palace, the site provides a treasure in the form of an important private house built by Stephen and Virginia Courtauld in the 1930s. The interior design is a feast of Art Deco. Even if you have never visited Eltham Palace, you may well have seen the interior as many films and television programmes have been filmed there.   

 

You will also see the influence of Art Deco style in the jewellery and fashion of the period.  It also affected the arts and industrial design.

 

If I have tempted you, why not look at the chess sets for sale at  ChessSetHeaven.com and get yourself an Art Deco carved chess set.

Themed Chess Sets: Canterbury Cathedral

You may not know about the range of themed chess sets that are available.  If you are looking for chess sets online, have a look at the chess sets for sale at ChessSetHeaven.com.  If the carved chess set that inspires your interest is the one based on the theme of Canterbury Cathedral, you might like to know something about the history and life of that amazing building set in South East England, in the lovely county of Kent.

 

Canterbury Cathedral has a very long and enthralling history.  We have to go all the way back to 596 AD to find the origins of the cathedral.  They date back to the time of St. Augustine.  Augustine was sent as a missionary to England by Pope Gregory the Great. The Pope made Augustine an Archbishop and he established his seat in the in the Roman city of Canterbury on the river Stour.  The word cathedral comes from the Latin word for seat, which is ‘cathedra’.

 

The Saxon and Viking eras saw many changes on the site at Canterbury.  These included the building of a baptistry, the lengthening of the nave and the addition of a Benedictine abbey.

 

Unfortunately, the Danish raids of 1011 badly damaged the cathedral.  However, it was rebuilt by the Norman Archbishop Lanfranc and was dedicated in 1077.

  

If you knew anything about Canterbury Cathedral before looking at themed chess sets it was probably the brutal murder of one of its archbishops within the building itself.   In December 1170, the knights of King Henry II killed Thomas Beckett in the northwest transept of the cathedral. 

 

Then, only four years later, disaster struck again – this time in the form of a devastating fire, which destroyed a large part of the building. The rebuilding of the cathedral was, for the most part, paid for by the income from pilgrims who visited Becket’s shrine.  Even if you didn’t read any of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales at school, you will surely have heard of his stories of some of pilgrims to Canterbury.

 

A visitor to Canterbury in the 12^th century would have seen separate groups of buildings. It would have been possible to distinguish the church, the menial buildings and those devoted to monastic life.  The work of the cathedral as a monastery ended in 1540.   This followed further disaster and rebuilding when an earthquake in 1382 caused great damage and the nave was rebuilt.

 

The cathedral experienced further damage from the Puritans during the English Civil War in the 17^th century. Much of the old stained glass was destroyed and horses were stabled in the nave.  It took several years to repair the damage.

 

In the 19^th century, Lanfranc’s North West tower was found to be dangerous.  It was demolished and replaced with a copy of the South West tower.

 

During the Second World War, the diligence of a team of firewatchers ensured that, although the Precincts were badly affected, the cathedral itself was not seriously damaged.        

 

Visitors from all over the world still flock to Canterbury Cathedral every day.  They marvel at its architecture and its history.  Many appreciate the time they can spend in this place of prayer that has been a focus for pilgrimages for so many years.

 

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Chess Sets Online: Chessboard Mathematics

On ChessSetHeaven.com we have talked about the history of chess quite a lot. We have talked about chess set pieces came about and how the game developed. But even the humble chessboard from your best chess set has a history and it revolves largely around its mathematical significance.

 

The story goes that an inventor or the creator of chess in ancient India (it depends which story you listen to) presented his idea to the king. The king was delighted and asked what reward the inventor wanted.

 

The man was very clever and, after a little thought, he asked that the king take his best chess set and board and place one grain of wheat on the first square, two on the second, four on the third and so on, doubling the quantity on each successive square.

 

The king thought this was a feeble request and asked his ministers to go away and sort this out for him. After a week the ministers came back and said it could not be done as the reward was far too high. The king was a little miffed that he had been outsmarted and cut off the inventor's head.

 

The answer is of course, on the last square of the chessboard there would need to be 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains of wheat - or so I am told.

 

There are many versions of this story but whatever the original setting, this is the first, and perhaps most famous, connection of the chessboard with mathematics.

The nature of the chessboard design has meant it has been used as a calculating tool for centuries.

 

If you look up at the top of a column in the north transept of Winchester cathedral in the United Kingdom, you might be lucky to glimpse a small carving of a man holding a chess board, looking as if he wants to play with his chess set pieces.

 

In reality this carving shows a man using the chessboard as a calculating tool. This was quite common in Medieval Europe and the board represented a sort of flat abacus.

 

The use of a chess or chequer board in this way is still reflected in the name of the highest financial official in the land - the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Centuries ago the nation's finances were calculated on a chequer board and so this important calculator became forever connected to the post.

 

So next time you pull out you best chess set for a game, you may reflect on the significance of even the board you play upon.

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Chess Sets Online: Origins Of Chess In India

Have you ever handled chess set pieces and wondered where the game of chess originated?

Hopefully you were not thinking about this when you were in the middle of a game but nonetheless the story of the game is fascinating and extends over many centuries - and will continue for a long time, especially as it is easy to get chess sets online now.

Many traditions started in India. It is believed martial arts began in that great country before moving into China and Japan so it should not be a big surprise that such a significant game as chess began there too.

It is difficult to establish just when the game began but the first references to chess set pieces are recorded by Ratnakara around the year 850. It would be fascinating to examine a carved chess set from that period but sadly the earliest example of an Indian chess set dates from the 16th century - actually newer than the Isle of Lewis set found in Scotland - although a carving of a bowman in the Museum of Indian Art in Berlin (dating from around the twelfth or fourteenth centuries) may well be a chess pawn.

The names of the pieces reflect their origins. The earliest king was called 'Raja' which, indeed, means 'king' but the queen was a 'Mantri, ' which actually means 'minister.' Interestingly the bishop was originally known as 'Hasty' or 'elephant,' an animal that features much in the early history of the game. Indeed, early chess kings and queens would appear in palanquins strapped to the back of an elephant.

The knight was an 'Ashwa' or 'horse' and the rook a 'Ratha' or 'chariot,' thus showing just how far the fascinating history has developed over the years. Perhaps not surprisingly however, the lowly pawn was always a 'Padah' or 'soldier': the piece has always been seen as the infantry of the set.

So when you pick up a piece from your best chess set, you might reflect on how many people though the ages have done the same thing.

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