In olden times mistaken by relics of San Genadio (hence the name), they are probably the oldest European chess pieces. The pieces, made of Deer antler, were found in Peñalba de Santiago, in Astorga (Spain). The San Genadio chess pieces, a 9th-century set of two rooks, a knight and a bishop, in abstract form.

Notable archaeological chess sets include the following: 12th century abstract pieces (Nishapur, Iran) In the abstract designs, both the king and the queen resemble a throne, with the queen being smaller the bishop displays two small protuberances, representing elephant tusks the knight presents a single protuberance, representing the head of a horse the rook has a V-shaped cut on the top and the pawn usually has a simple shape. These pieces evolved with time, as more details were added, to a figurative design. The oldest chess sets adopted abstract shapes following the Muslim traditional sets of the shatranj game. Blindfold chess may be played without any set at all. For tournament play, the Staunton chess set is preferred and, in some cases, required. Chess sets are made in a wide variety of styles, sometimes for ornamental rather than practical purposes. Chess boxes, chess clocks, and chess tables are common pieces of chess equipment used alongside chess sets. Extra pieces may be provided for use in promotion, most commonly one extra queen per color. There are sixteen pieces of each color: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. Board and pieces for playing the game of chess A chess setĪ chess set consists of a chessboard and white and black chess pieces for playing chess.

Chess pieces and name