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Concept
Chess piece
Summary
A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either white or black, and it can be one of six types: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, or pawn.
Chess sets generally come with sixteen pieces of each color. Additional pieces, usually an extra queen per color, may be provided for use in promotion.
Each player begins with sixteen pieces (but see the subsection below for other usage of the term piece). The pieces that belong to each player are distinguished by color: the lighter colored pieces are referred to as "white" and the player that owns them as "White", whereas the darker colored pieces are referred to as "black" and the player that owns them as "Black".
In a standard game, each of the two players begins with the following sixteen pieces:
1 king
1 queen
2 rooks
2 bishops
2 knights
8 pawns
The word "piece" has three meanings, depending on the context.
It may mean any of the physical pieces of the set, including the pawns. When used this way, "piece" is synonymous with "chessman" or simply "man". Chess sets have been made in a variety of styles, sometimes for decorative or artistic purposes rather than practical play, but the Staunton pattern is standard for competition.
In play, the term is usually used to exclude pawns, referring only to a queen, rook, bishop, knight, or king. In this context, the pieces can be broken down into three groups: major pieces (queen and rooks), minor pieces (bishops and knights), and the king.
In phrases such as "winning a piece", "losing a piece" or "sacrificing a piece" and other related contexts, it refers only to minor pieces (bishops or knights). By convention, the queen, rooks, and pawns are specified by name in these cases – for example, "winning a queen", "losing a rook", or "sacrificing a pawn".
Rules of chess
The rules of chess prescribe the moves each type of chess piece can make. During play, the players take turns moving their own chess pieces.
The rook may move any number of squares vertically or horizontally without jumping.
Official source
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