The move-based abstract chess pieces design:
The Showcase chessboards come with a complementary abstract chess piece design. The pieces’ shapes reflect the moves they may make, while maintaining continuity with historical precedent. The current embodiment is in gorgeous hard maple and dark American walnut – and together with the deep knowledge imbedded in the chessboards, will contribute to an heirloom-quality conversation piece that will keep you and your friends captivated and engaged in fascinating dialogue. We take a look at each in turn.
The following pictures show the move-based abstract pieces designs (all in hard maple and dark American walnut):
(1) The Abstract Move-Based Rook
The Rook or Tower retains some of its historical design elements, as a defense structure. The rounded vertical edges indicate that the piece’s range of motion is not a-priori limited – that is, it can move along rows and columns (ranks and files in chess parlance) as long as its travel is not impeded by another piece (and provided it remains on the board of course!). The Rook is worth five points; an intermediate status between the Knight or Bishop, each worth three points, and the royal pieces (the Queen is worth nine points). Its size reflects its ranking.
(2) The Abstract Move-Based Knight
The Knight cross-section shape derives directly from the its move structure: two steps along a rank or file; and one step in the direction orthogonal to its first line of motion. Its vertical edges are straight, as the spatial motion is precisely limited by design. The Knight, worth three points, is intermediate in size between the pawn (worth one point) and the Rook.
(3) The Abstract Move-Based Bishop
The Bishop (or Jester) cross-section shape comes directly from its allowed motion along diagonals. Similarly to the Rook, since the piece’s range of motion is not a-priori limited, it’s vertical edges are rounded. The Bishop, worth three points, is of similar size to the Knight.
(4) Queen and (5) King
Coming now to the Royals! The Queen, combining the abilities of the Rook and Bishop in one, is the most powerful piece on the board. Its motions are not a-priori spatially limited, hence its pedestal has rounded vertical edges. Its egg-shaped head presents eight grooves, one for each direction it may travel. The Queen is worth nine points!
The King is priceless: its demise signifies the game end. The King may travel one step in any of eight directions; therefore, its pedestal has straight vertical edges and its head presents eight grooves as well.
(6) The Abstract Move-Based Pawns
The lowly Pawn is worth one point. It may move only one step at at a time (except when starting from its original position, when it can take two steps); and so its vertical edges are straight. It can capture an adversarial piece by moving one step along one of the two forward-looking diagonals from its current position, and therefore its front aspect presents three facets.
- Prototypes for the move-based abstract chess pieces design have been realized in a number of wood species. The picture below shows a white pieces sample developed in ash:
