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,
Bishop (chess) Bishop (chess) A bishop (♗,♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player begins the game with two bishops. One starts between the and the king, the other between the and the queen. The starting squares are c1 and f1 for White's bishops, and c8 and f8 for Black's bishops. The bishop has no restrictions in distance for each move, but is limited to diagonal movement. Bishops, like all other pieces except the knight, cannot jump over other pieces. A bishop captures by occupying the square on which an enemy piece sits. The bishops may be differentiated