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Articles on Chess Sets, Chess Pieces and Chess Boards

Chess Sets and Chess Pieces
Learn the history of chess and chess game pieces. Bill Wall takes you on a journey through time and space, from the origins chess itself to the modern chess pieces you can use in your own home. Fascinating stuff!

Chess Sets, Pieces, Boards - The Wood
Are black pieces preferable to Rosewood? Not really, it is a matter of personal choice. Both are used in tournament play. Black wood chess sets are more common than Rosewood sets, but they are generally less expensive (except, of course, for Ebony pieces). Rosewood is an excellent wood for chessmen; it is very resilient and does not chip easily.

Chess Set Quick Facts

Caring for Your Wood Chess Set

In addition, your wood chessboard should be lightly waxed and buffed once or twice a year, using a good quality furniture polish (such as Minwax) and a good cotton cloth or cheesecloth. Your chess board should never be dry-wiped and you should avoid all polishes that contain silicone as this can damage the finish on the chess board. Above all else -  use the wax sparingly and allow the wax to dry before buffing. You should NEVER use a liquid polish.

Differences in Ebonized Wood and Ebony Wood Chess Pieces

Ebonization is the process by which Ebonized Chessmen are created. In this process, Boxwood (the wood used to create the White pieces) chess pieces are treated with a special stain to turn them jet black in color. When done properly, brand new Ebonized Chessmen are nearly indistinguishable from genuine Ebony chessmen. Ebonized chess pieces are often referred to as faux Ebony, because it has the look and feel of real Ebony wood at a fraction of the cost. Over time, the Ebonizing can wear off on the sharp corners and details of the chessmen, but that is easily restored using a black marker.

Determining the Chess Board Size to Match your Chess Pieces

The minimum square size for a set of properly proportioned Staunton pattern chessmen is such that the width of the base of the King should be 78% of the width of a square. In other words, you should  divide the King's base diameter by 0.78 to determine the ideal square size for the chessboard. Let's look at an example, the Reykjavik II chessmen. The Reykjavik II has a King base diameter of 1.75", which is the norm for a 3.75" King. If you enter 1.75 into a calculator and divide by 0.78, the result is 2.243 which is rounded to 2.25". Hence, the minimum chessboard square size for the Reykjavik II chessmen would be 2.25".

If you purchase a chess board that has a smaller square size than is considered the minimum, the pieces will appear crowded together on the chess board. This crowding will significantly increase the likelihood of chess pieces being knocked over during the heat of battle.

You can always purchase a slightly larger size Chess board than what is considered the minimum and it would work just as well. Using the same Reykjavik II chessmen example, either a 2.25" or 2.375" square chessboard would be considered ideal. The chart below details the most common King base diameters opposite its ideal range of square sizes.