News & Updates
The standard colors for chess pieces are black and white. In fact, they are named black and white during play, so it makes sense that most chess pieces remain black and white. Often in wood sets, the actual colors may vary, based on the types of woods used to craft the pieces. You may see pieces with more brown or even red colors for the “black” pieces, and anywhere from nearly white to a dark boxwood for the “white” pieces.
If you’re looking to shake up your chess game, consider investing in some low-cost, durable basic colored chess pieces! We have a great offering of colored pieces that you can purchase for your own game. All colored chess pieces come in the international standard size of 3 3/4″ king height, though our colored pieces are not weighted.
With our great selection, you can mix and match your own two half-sets and have chess games in any color your choose! We have ten different colors to choose from including red, blue, yellow, green, purple, pink, black, white and now we even feature gold and silver colored chess pieces.
Our colored chess pieces are great for:
- Early Development Chess Clubs
- School Chess Clubs
- Family Chess Sets
- Fun Chess Tournaments
- Chess Pieces For Demonstration and so much more!
You can view our great selection of colored chess pieces here. You can also find more colored chess sets with pieces and boards to match by going to our Kids Fun Chess Sets here.
The summer is winding down, but there is still time to get your own Giant Chess set and play a few more times outside! Wholesale Chess has a great selection of giant chess sets to keep you busy with giant chess. Our sets are some of the most durable giant sets available.
These pieces are on the small side of “giant”, but don’t let that stop you from grabbing your own set. Our 8″ giant chess set features a king height of 8″ with other pieces matching to boot. The set comes with it’s own 3 foot x 3 foot vinyl chess board in black and white. The board and pieces are lighter weights, making them very portable so you can take your set with you anywhere you’d like! The pieces are durable enough to withstand the rigors of outdoor chess as well.
This is our mid-size giant chess offering. Our 12″ pieces are small replicas of their larger cousins, the 25″ giant set. The king piece stands at 12″ high with the rest of the set matching in proportion. This set comes with a 5 foot x 5 foot chess board that uses clip-together hard plastic board pieces. It can take some time to set up, but this board is very durable and great for extended stays outside or inside. If you don’t like the clip-together board, consider investing in our mini giant travel chess board which matches these pieces in size and is made of vinyl that can be rolled or folded up quickly and easily.
The largest set we offer, the 25″ giant chess set is perfect for outdoor chess and giant chess games. This set features a king height of 25″ and matching pieces. The set can be purchased with just the pieces alone, great if you already have your own chess board or a board built into the ground. The Giant Chess Set Combo also comes with a vinyl chess board and bags to carry the chess pieces. These pieces are all hollow with removable bases. This works great if you would like to add weight to your pieces, helping them to withstand stronger winds.
Need taller chess pieces? Our 25″ giant chess set can fit our giant chess set extensions. These extensions can add an additional 12″ to your chess pieces, allowing the king to stand at 36″ in height.
You can view all of our giant chess sets by clicking here.
The last piece to discuss on the chess board is the King piece. This piece is the game winner. Once you lose your King, the game is over, and your opponent wins, regardless of the score. The King chess piece is the piece you must protect the most and you cannot live without. Many experienced players, though may find themselves utilizing their king in an attempt to gain an advantage over an opponent, something weaker chess players are very leery of doing. No matter how you choose to use your King piece, he must stay alive at all costs.
How A King Chess Piece Moves
King chess pieces are somewhat limited in their movement. They cannot go riding across the chess board as quickly as most other pieces and they are easier to contain than most chess pieces from an opponent’s perspective. Here are a few rules to note:
- The king piece can move one single square in any direction.
- The king cannot move onto a square the is currently occupied by a piece from it’s own team.
- The king piece cannot move to any square that puts them into a “check” position.
- The king piece can participate in a move known as “castling”, where the piece can move up to three squares while exchanging places with a rook chess piece.
Basic Tactics
Safety first, is the motto most chess players abide by when moving and using their king piece. Experienced players can use their king piece to help set traps and capture opposing pieces, though the King is rarely the aggressive piece in this situation. Most players try to keep their king piece in one of their two corners where there are fewer directions from which an attack can come. Often, castling with a rook piece early in the game gets the King piece to the corner faster, keeping the piece safer from attacks.
Favorite Chess Sets
Here are some chess sets that feature unique or interesting King piece designs:
Pegasus Ebony Wood Chess Pieces ($559.99)
Premier Chess Pieces ($18.99)
Cavalier Ebony Wood Chess Pieces ($449.99)
St. Petersburg Wood Chess Pieces ($89.99)
Zagreb Rosewood 2.5″ Chess Pieces ($44.99)
When it comes to your chess set, the Knight chess piece is often the defining piece in the set. This piece offers the most chance for variety and uniqueness in a chess set and it is often the piece with the most detail. When it comes to the game of chess, the Knight chess piece is often the favorite piece and most unpredictable piece in the game. Many a game has been ended because of the make-or-break tactics with the Knight.
How A Knight Chess Piece Moves
The Knight chess piece moves in a very mysterious way. Unlike Rooks, Bishops or Queens, the Knight is limited in the number of squares it can move across. In fact, it’s movement is a very specific movement. The piece moves in a shape similar to the uppercase “L”. Here are the specifics:
- The Knight piece can move forward, backward, left or right two squares and must then move one square in either perpendicular direction.
- The Knight piece can only move to one of up to eight positions on the board.
- The Knight piece can move to any position not already inhabited by another piece of the same color.
- The Knight piece can skip over any other pieces to reach it’s destination position.
Basic Tactics
Most experts prefer their Knight pieces to be “close to the action”. Because of their strange movement, the can often cover weaknesses that other pieces leave. Knight pieces are also best employed near the center of the board and they are often one of the first pieces to reach the center area of the board. The Knight also has a unique ability to attack another piece without risking being attacked by the same piece (aside from other Knights, of course).
Favorite Chess Pieces Sets
Here are some of our staff favorite chess sets with beautiful and unique Knight pieces:
Columbian Series Wood Chess Pieces ($349.99)
Alexander Series Wood Chess Pieces ($659.99)
French Rosewood Chess Pieces ($39.99)
Reykjavik Ebonized Chess Pieces ($89.99)
See All Chess Pieces
They’ve been here for a little while now, but we thought we’d take the time to introduce you to our newest color of basic plastic chess pieces. That’s right, we now have Gold & Silver offered as colors for our colored chess pieces.
Our colored plastic chess pieces have been very popular. We offer our basic pieces now in ten different colors, available as half sets. They are standard sized chess pieces without weights, making them perfect for chess clubs and chess players on a tight budget. Our basic pieces also come in black, white, red, blue, yellow, purple, green and pink.
These chess pieces pair great in chess sets with our vinyl chess boards or mousepad chess boards. They are great for chess clubs, schools and homes.
Buy Basic Colored Chess Pieces
Buy All Ten Colored Sets
The rook piece from the Reykjavik Chess Set.
The straight piece.
That’s the easiest way to describe the rook chess piece. In traditional sets, the piece looks kind of like a castle tower and begins each chess game as the outside corner pieces. Each player has two rook pieces to begin.
How A Rook Chess Piece Moves
The rooks are the most simple-moving chess pieces on the board. Their movements are only straight, moving forward, backward or side to side. At any point in the game, the piece can move in any direction that is straight ahead, behind or to the side. Here are a few things to know about how the Rook chess piece moves:
- The rook piece can move forward, backward, left or right at any time.
- The rook piece can move anywhere from 1 to 7 squares in any direction, so long as it is not obstructed by any other piece.
Castling
The rook piece is the only piece on the board that can participating in a “castling” move with the King piece. This is a move where the King piece and the rook piece work together, allowing the player to move two pieces at the same time. We’ll discuss castling later.
Favorite Sets
While many chess sets have very traditional rook chess pieces, some chess sets have some very interesting and beautiful rook chess pieces. Here are a few of our recommendations for chess sets with beautiful rook chess pieces.
Reykjavik 3 3/4″ Sheesham Chess Pieces
St. Petersburg 3 3/4″ Ebonized Chess Pieces
Fianchetto 4″ Ebony Chess Pieces
Soigne 4″ Rosewood Chess Pieces
Moving your chess pieces can be a very confusing concept. There are six different types of chess pieces on a chess board and every piece has it’s own unique way of moving across the board. Some pieces move only diagonally, while other pieces only move forward. Some pieces can only move one square at a time. Keeping track of your chess pieces and knowing how they move is key to understanding how to play chess.
Basic Chess Movements
While every piece is restricted by it’s own set of rules, there are a few rules that all pieces must abide by.
- No chess pieces can move through or past any other chess pieces in it’s path, except the Knight piece, which can jump over pieces during it’s movement.
- All chess pieces must remain on an unoccupied square during the game until captured. This means you cannot move pieces on and off the board.
- Chess pieces can only make movement in one direction, except the Knight chess piece. For example, a Rook cannot move 5 squares forward, and then 3 squares to the side in the same turn.
- Chess pieces can capture opposing chess pieces by moving onto the square they occupy, where they must remain until the next turn.
- Unlike checkers, chess pieces are not required to capture opposing pieces if the opportunity presents itself. Instead, the player can elect to not capture the opponent’s piece, which may put them at risk to have their own piece captured.
Pawn Movement
Pawns are the most restricted pieces on the chess board. The pawn can only move forward one square, with two exceptions. The pawn can move forward two squares (if desired) on it’s first move of the game, but can then only continue forward by moving one square forward per turn. When capturing other pieces, a pawn can only move forward diagonally one square. Pawns cannot capture pieces that are directly in front of them, but must wait for the blocking piece to move or be captured by another piece.
Rook Movement
The rook chess piece is allowed to move in any direction, but is restricted to moving in a straight direction. The rook can move forward, backward, left or right until it reaches the edge of the board or another piece blocks it’s path. The rook can move anywhere from 1 to 7 squares, as long as the path is not blocked by another piece. Rooks can capture any other piece on the board, as long as it is within it’s movement range.
Bishop Movement
The bishop piece behaves the same as the rook chess piece, except it’s movement is restricted to diagonal movement. The piece can move in any diagonal direction, as long as the path is not obstructed. The piece can move anywhere from 1 to 7 squares, as determined by the player.
Knight Movement
The movement of the knight chess piece is a little more complicated to describe. Often, the piece is described as being a “wild card” piece because it moves in such an odd direction. Essentially, the knight piece can move in one direction two squares and then turns to the left or right moving one more square. The movement shape looks similar to the shape of the letter “L”. During this movement, the Knight chess piece can skip over other chess pieces to reach it’s destination. The knight piece cannot move to any square already occupied by the same player’s piece, but it can capture an opponent’s piece when it lands on a square occupied by an opponent’s chess piece.
Queen Movement
The queen is often considered the least-restricted chess piece on the chess board. The queen combines the movement of both the Rook and Bishop pieces, meaning it can move in any direction, diagonally or straight. As with the Rook and Bishop, the Queen can only move forward as long as there are no other pieces in it’s path. The Queen can move 1 to 7 squares in any direction.
King Movement
The king piece is the most simple and straight-forward piece. The King can move in any direction by a single square, as long as it is not restricted by another piece. The King can capture any other piece, but it can only move to a square as long as it does not put the piece into a “Check” position, where an opponent’s piece could capture it on the next move.
These are just the most basic movements of the chess pieces. We will be exploring more in-depth movement and terminology of each piece moving forward.
The official way to set up a chess board.
While there are many different ways you can set up your chess board, there is only one “official” way to set up your board. It can also be difficult to undertand and even remember how to set up your chess board.
White At The Bottom
First, remember that white always starts out at the “bottom” of the chess board. To start, the bottom left square should be a dark-colored square. Rotate your chess board until a dark-colored square is found at the bottom left corner of the board (left for the person playing as white). This square is also known as “a1″ in chess notation.
Set Up Your White Chess Pieces
Now you can begin to set up your white pieces. Place a white Rook on a1. The Rook is the piece that looks like the top to a castle. The next square to the right (from the white player’s position) is “b1″. Place a white Knight (looks like a horse) on b1. Going right, the next square (which should be dark) is c1. Place a white Bishop (the piece that has a strange chip taken out of the top) here. On d1, place your white Queen (the piece with the crown), then on e1, place your white King (the piece with the cross on top of the crown). Next, place a white Bishop, then a white Knight and finally your last white Rook on f1, g1 and h1 respectively.
Once you’ve placed your major pieces, you need to place your 8 white pawns (they should all look the same and are the smallest pieces in the set). They should all be placed on the squares between a2 and h2, just in front of your other white pieces.
Set Up Your Black Chess Pieces
Now you can set up your black chess pieces. It is easiest to set it up from the white side. Start at the top left corner. This square should be a light square and it is known as “a8″. Place a black Rook. Your next square to the right is “b8″. Place a black Knight here. Next on c8, place a black Bishop. At this point, it may seem a little backwards, but you should put your black Queen on d8, the next square to the right. On e8, place your black King, followed by your second black Bishop on f8. Next put your last black Knight on g8 and your last black Rook on h8. The pawns for black are all placed on the row in front of your current pieces, between a7 and h7.
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