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,
History of chess armies, such as the Norman Conquest of England. Previously little known, chess became popular in Northern Europe when figure pieces were introduced. In the 14th century, Timur played an enlarged variation of the game which is commonly referred to as Tamerlane Chess. This complex game involved each pawn having a particular purpose, as well as additional pieces. The sides are conventionally called White and Black. But, in earlier European chess writings, the sides were often called Red and Black because those were the commonly available colors of ink when handwriting drawing a chess game layout. In such layouts, each piece