Chess piece Chess piece A chess piece, or chessman, is any of the six different movable objects used on a chessboard to play the game of chess. Each player begins with a total of sixteen pieces. 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, "White". The darker colored pieces are referred to as "black", and the player that owns them, "Black". The word "piece" has three meanings, depending on the context. The context should make the intended meaning clear . In the first context,
Marseillais chess Marseillais chess Marseillais chess (also called Double-Move chess) is a chess variant in which each player moves twice per turn. The rules of the game were first published in Marseillais local newspaper "Le Soleil" in 1925. The variant became quite popular in the late 1930s with such chess grandmasters as Alexander Alekhine, Richard Réti, Eugene Znosko-Borovsky, and André Chéron playing it. A player can either move one piece twice or move two different pieces on his turn. Castling is considered a single move. When a player gives check on the first move, he loses the second move of his turn.