The best chess pieces 2023, the definitive guide to find the pieces you need.

In this article you will find the chess pieces in a wide variety of models, from inexpensive models to the most professional or exclusive ones. But before that, we are going to introduce you to the different types of chess pieces and how to find the right pieces to buy.

How to buy chess pieces?

Buying chess pieces is really an easy task, although if you are not completely sure, these tips can always come in handy to know which ones may suit you best.

In case you are looking for chess pieces for beginners, for children, or even schools, some plastic chess pieces can always be an excellent economic option since the role will fulfill the same. Also, at this level of play it is not necessary to have the best chess pieces .

In the case of looking for something more serious in case you are a fan, or you play chess tournaments. You can think about buying statuton wooden chess pieces . For just a little more money, you will enjoy some fabulous professional chess pieces .

This page contains information about the pieces in general, as well as tips on how to buy chess pieces that meet your particular needs.

Since pieces vary so much in appearance, size, feel, and function, many players own more than one set.

• A cheap plastic set of pieces is all that a beginning player needs for the club.
• The wooden pieces are durable, visually interesting, and good for both new and seasoned players.
• A luxurious set of wooden pieces can be the elegance sought after for weekly games in the living room.
• Stone, marble or alabaster look great for occasional slow games.
• Themed chess pieces bring an imaginative twist to the game of chess.
• Silicone pieces are fun, colorful, and safe.

About the chess pieces

The classic game of chess is played on 64 squares and each player starts with 32 chess pieces on the board.

How many pieces are in a chess?

Each player has 16 pieces.

• 1 king
• 1 queen (sometimes an extra to add if you crown a pawn)
• 2 towers
• 2 bishops
• 2 knights
• 8 pawns

What value are chess pieces?

The value of the pieces is something relative, you can have an idea of ​​the value of the pieces, however there are different concepts in a game that can increase or decrease the value. For example, the space that the piece has on the board (a piece in the center is not the same as an undeveloped piece), the situation of the game, the coordination it has, etc.

In the books section of the page we will show you many books to learn to value your pieces depending on the situation, however the approximate value of the pieces is as follows.

• The king if they checkmate him loses the game, so infinite
• The queen is worth 9 points
• The tower is worth 5 points
• The bishop is worth 3 points
• The knight is worth 3 points
• The pawn is worth 1 point

If you have different pieces you can see the total value, for example: if you have a bishop and a knight in a final vs a rook the sum is 6 vs 5. So normally the first option is better than a rook.

How do pieces move in chess?

• The queen can move in any direction (rows, columns or diagonals), at any distance.
• The rook starts at the corners of the board and moves vertically or horizontally in columns and rows.
• The knights move in an "L" and are the only piece that can "jump" over other pieces.
• The pawns only move forward, but they have special skills, like catching other pieces diagonally, the capture step and, above all, his greatest achievement: reaching across the board to promote any other piece.
• The kings move in any direction but only 1 square away.

How big are chess pieces usually?

As you surely know, the classic pieces are those of Staunton design, which are used in official competitions.

The size of the Staunton chess pieces is numbered from 3 to 8 according to the height of the king.

• Staunton 8: King Height> 150mm
• Staunton 7: King height between 130 - 150 mm
• Staunton 6: King height between 110 - 130 mm
• Staunton 5: King height between 90 - 110 mm
• Staunton 4: King height between 70 - 90 mm
• Staunton 3: King Height <70mm

Leaded or unleaded parts?

Another question that you should decide is whether you buy the board with plumb pieces or not. The difference is that the leaded pieces carry a small weight inside and are more stable than the others. But also the feeling of moving them is a bit more artificial. Personally I prefer them without plumbing, although any other player may think otherwise, it is a bit of a matter of taste.

How to adapt chess pieces to a chessboard?

The general rule of thumb for fitting chess pieces to a board is that the diameter of the base of the pieces fits 75% of the square. This is just a general guideline that applies mostly to competitive style pieces. A theme or other decorative ensemble can take up 80% or more of the square and still look good.

In the chess piece description we posted the diameter of the base so you can estimate the fit on a chess board you own or plan to buy.

We will also show you some boards that are accompanied by the pieces so as not to fail in the choice, if you want to see boards we leave you a link to the section we have about them.

Types of chess pieces

We have already briefly shown you the types of pieces, below we are going to show the different models of chess pieces, recommending some products for each of them.

The best cheap quality price chess pieces

To begin, we are going to see which are the best-selling products, which are cheap and with a remarkable price quality. To begin we show a folding magnetic board, ideal for trips that in Amazon is a Best Seller, their opinions speak for themselves, we show you the product.

If we are looking for some wooden pieces to be able to play on a board with any friend, these pieces have a great price, they are made by hand and stand out for the touch they have when moving on the board.

Finally, for all Harry Potter fans, a gift that never fails with about 10,000 ratings is the official replica of the board used in the Harry Potter movie, it has a good quality, for all chess fans and Harry Potter is a magnificent option.

The best plastic chess pieces

The plastic pieces are perfect for durability and portability and are great starter chess pieces for a child who can handle them roughly.

They are usually quite inexpensive and the pieces shown here are the ones most often seen in the club or casual game of chess.

As we said a few lines above, they are ideal for schools and chess clubs since they usually need many packs.

The best silicone chess pieces

Other pieces that are a good option for the little ones in the house are the silicone chess pieces. They are soft, washable and durable. They allow the smallest of the house to play with great resistance to breakage. These pieces are not usually seen in official competitions (the plastic ones if they are usually used in tournaments with a large amount of participation). But to practice at home they are a good option.

Parts to transport traveling

Chess players move a lot to play different tournaments, they are many hours of travel either by car or public transport. Normally the trips are usually made accompanied by the different friends who will come to the tournament and there are many dead hours that are spent traveling. Having a board with pieces that allow it to be easily carried for travel is a plus that many of us have. For this, it is essential to have a board and suitable pieces.

For travel, we need stability since we are in frequent movement and we do not want our pieces to go off. For this reason, it is usual to bet on different magnetic boards. Another important issue is the ease of storing the pieces and that is why many boards are foldable. These folding boards contain an all-in-one storage compartment.

Here we leave you two models, a folding model of magnetic wood pieces and a plastic one, both are super sales on Amazon and recommended by many players who have it. It meets the basic requirements: price-quality perfect, foldable, magnetic, small, aesthetically beautiful and light.

The best wooden chess pieces

Without a doubt, if you choose between plastic pieces and wooden pieces, a chess player has the clear decision. The touch, weight and design are very different when playing with plastic and wood pieces. In fact, it even affects psychologically, playing wood is more enjoyable. There are several well-respected styles of chess pieces that are considered traditional. The Staunton pattern we talked about before is the most popular and is what usually comes to mind when you think of a game of chess. In addition, it is the one used at the competition level and in design the most recognizable.

Wooden chess pieces abound in variety, style, shape, and type of wood. The production of wooden chess pieces has grown enormously in the last half century, which makes it possible to look for a set of chess pieces that is perfectly adapted to everyone's taste.

Below I show you a somewhat inexpensive model (wooden pieces are always more expensive than plastic ones) that will surely suit you on a budget.

The main producer of wooden chess pieces today is India, the cradle of chess. Craftsmanship ranges from low-cost, functional wooden chess pieces to ultra-fine masterpieces.

Most wooden chess pieces are made up of a light wood of the boxwood variety paired with a darker wood such as ebony, stained (ebonized) boxwood, rosewood, shishamwood, acacia, and others.

In case you want some pieces that are transportable to play on trips, we show you one of the best sellers on Amazon that just allows this. Also, price quality is unmatched.

The best stone chess pieces

Not all the pieces are for playing chess, there are pieces that are for decoration or for a few games. If you are looking to decorate your home at a good price with a board that leaves everyone interested in knowing more about it, this is your section. If you have a large budget, in the following sections we will see pieces of different qualities, metal, handcrafted, exclusive, etc.

I show you here a stone board, this board is available in two sizes 10x10 and 12x12, it is not a very wide board and the pieces are made of stone. The price for such an exclusive board is magnificent, enter to discover it.

The best metal chess pieces

If we want to upgrade the level of your pieces and you are looking for other materials, metal pieces are what you are looking for. These pieces are made by hand and with great care, making them shiny most of the time to stand out. Being made of metal causes the weight of the pieces to be higher, however the feeling when moving the pieces across a board is very similar to those of wood. The metal pieces must be taken care of, we do not want the pieces to be scratched with a blow and in this section we show you 3 metal products that are among our favorites.

Sold in Spain, with gold and bronze metal made of durable high quality material (zinc alloy) with a bronze and gold galvanized finish. They are padded with felt at the bottom and the price for being made of metal is very competitive.

Finally, for slightly higher budgets we bring these pieces made in Italy with nickel, brass and zinc.

The best premium chess pieces

Premium chess is not for all audiences, for this exclusive audience that can afford it we have created a complete section with all kinds of material. If you want to see this section and discover the prices of the most exclusive boards in the world, we leave you the link to the section here .

The prices are very high for premium products but everything has an explanation, a piece of plastic is not the same as a piece made by hand, with the best woods and by the best craftsmen. In fact, not many are capable of carving a Stauton model piece, they can be counted on the fingers of the hand. For a piece of a knight it can actually take hours, that's why it is the high price. These types of pieces are used in world championship tournaments and elite tournaments. Where the pieces are unique for each one of them, making them even more special.

As I said before, we have an entire section dedicated to talking about pieces, boards, or other exclusive elements. However, we leave you here two models of premium pieces so that you can see how they look, imagine how they feel when playing with them.

Exclusive chess pieces

At this point, and unlike the previous section, we have come to show you some of those chess pieces that many people have seen and are able to recognize. In this case we have the replica of the chessboard used in the Harry Potter movie. This set is the official set, with about 10000 ratings, a collector who plays chess and likes Harry Potter, must have this board. If we have children at home, who are recently watching the movie, in fact the new one about fantastic animals will be out soon, it is an ideal gift for them.

Themed chess pieces

Many interesting characters and themes have been included in the chess strategy. What time in history is your favorite? The first crusaders, the knights of the Middle Ages, or the revolutions that shaped Europe and America? How about the eastern dynasties whose stories are finally being told as archaeologists painstakingly dust off the secrets of the past?

From the cats and dogs and wildlife of the world to the Mario brothers, there are themed chess pieces for every member of the family.

In this section we show you some of the classics of human history, however surely if you are looking for something different such as cartoons or movies, you can find it on Amazon without many problems.

Electronic chess pieces

The electronic chess pieces are made of wood, and are designed to be used in electronic boards, since underneath, they carry a chip which will detect all the movements made, in this way you can see the game online.

The wood used is usually plumb with a soft touch, if we are looking for similar pieces that are not for broadcasting, there are other premium quality pieces that are cheaper that leave the same feeling. To replace electronic board parts, it is important that you can only use certain parts, not just any of them are useful due to the chips.

Chess pieces for giant board

There are many schools, municipalities, clubs, or families that buy giant chess pieces. Not only to be able to play a game in your magnificent garden with your children or friends, but in a decorative way. That is why we show you here individual pieces, which can be used both to play and to decorate. These pieces come hollow, in this way they can be filled with a material such as sand to generate more stability.

If you are interested and want to know more about this type of pieces, we have an entire section dedicated to giant pieces and boards .

Where to keep the pieces to travel? Boxes, bags?

This is a very important issue, and if we have some pieces, we have to know how to transport or store them so that they do not deteriorate (imagine some exclusive wooden pieces that due to poor care wear out quickly). That is why we have created another complete section with an article to see how to transport the pieces, I leave the direct link here .

Some boxes that we show here are for display due to the quality they have. However, we are going to show two boxes, a box whose price quality is the one recommended by us (the first) and another box to expose our exclusive pieces.

Most of the time when we buy the pieces they come with a box to be able to transport them directly, but if it breaks here you have the two options that we have prepared for you.

Is it a good option to buy online on Amazon?

If you have read reviews, opinions and have spent enough time researching before buy online, you are likely to make a good decision.

Amazon is the largest online store in the world and there are many advantages to buying there. If you are looking to buy something to have it quickly (be it a gift, to improve your chess, or to have a treat), with security and the possibility of returning it is the best option.

On the other hand, you will be able to see hundreds of comments from people who have bought chess clocks and draw your own conclusions.

YottaChess participates in the Amazon Affiliate program.

Nevertheless, also there are several chess stores online that provides the same and more chess material. Yottachess participates with several shops like Duochess, Tienda Ajedrez Escac i mat, The ChessStore and House Of Staunton.