King Chess Piece Sizes: All You Need To Know
The king chess piece is the most critical piece in any chess game. And it's important for visualization and aesthetics to have a king that stands out. Plus, chess tournaments have specific requirements for the king chess piece to set a standard in play.
Here is everything you need to know about the size of king chess pieces.
King Chess Piece Sizing according to FIDE
In tournament chess games, you must adhere to very specific standards for chessboards and chess pieces.
According to FIDE, you must follow these sizes for chess pieces:
- The king must be 9.5 cm (3.75 in).
- The queen must be 8.5 cm (3.4 in).
- The bishop must be 7 cm (2.7 in).
- The knight must be 6 cm (2.3 in).
- The rook must be 5.5 cm (2.1 in).
- The pawn must be 5 cm (1.9 in).
FIDE allows for the dimensions of pieces to differ by up to 10%. Still, chess pieces must remain in descending order of height.
In other words, the king, the monarch piece, must be taller than everyone else. And the queen, second in command in the royal court, must be the second tallest. And of course, pawns must be the smallest.
The diameter of a piece's base should be somewhere between 40 to 50% of its height.
The pieces should be clearly distinguishable from one another. In particular, the top of the king should be different from that of the queen.
Chess pieces must be in the Staunton style and made of wood, plastic, or a similar material. So, glass chess sets would be unsuitable for chess tournaments. We will cover the characteristics of Staunton in the next section.
Staunton Style: the Classic Chess Piece Design
You hear the term 'Staunton' being described as the standard for chess sets, but what does that mean?
Aside from the height order mentioned in the previous section, each piece must adhere to specific design requirements that were first established nearly two centuries ago.
The Staunton standard was named after chess player Howard Staunton, who was arguably the greatest chess player at the time. The design was first sold in 1849. The details surrounding its creation are somewhat unclear.
John Jaques, a London businessman who was already producing chess sets for retailers in this city, wanted to sell a standard set. Then, a man named Nathanial Cook, who was also Jaques' brother-in-law, registered a design for a new set of chessmen in Staunton style, though it's disputed whether he actually came up with the design. Jacques would go on to secure the rights to the design and distribute it through his company, Jaques & Son of London.
What is clear is that Howard Staunton did not even claim to have created the Staunton pattern, despite it being named after him. Ultimately, that was just good marketing.
Characteristics of the Staunton Chess Set
The Staunton design itself turned out to be a huge success (obviously). It was relatively low-cost to produce and yielded durable pieces that were easy to distinguish.
Previously, players had to use various styles of chess pieces. Some were structurally less sound and more likely to fall over during chess games. More importantly, because of the variety of styles, it was harder to distinguish the pieces in different sets.
Related: Everything You Want To Know About Chess Pieces Names
Now we associate classic chess sets with Staunton style without even realizing it.
Design requirements are as follows:
- The king must have a cross on top of his head.
- The queen wears a crown.
- The knight is a horse's head.
- The rook must look like a towering castle.
- The bishop's head must resemble a bishop's mitre. This is the traditional hat associated with bishops.
- A pawn must be a simple cone with a round knob on top.
Final Thoughts: King Chess Piece Sizes
Ultimately, it's crucial to have a standard for all chess pieces. They help chess players distinguish between pieces. In high-stakes chess tournaments, it's even more critical to quickly distinguish pieces, which is why you are only allowed to use Staunton-style sets.
And of course, the king is the most royal chess piece and deserves to stand out in all its beauty.
FAQ: The King Chess Piece
The king is the most important piece in chess because without it, you lose. The most beautiful checkmates often involve offering up a sacrifice. A player might get greedy and ignore their opponent's checkmate threat.
Your king's safety is the most critical factor in a chess game.
The king is capable of one square move at a time. It can capture a piece only if it is one square away.
Because a king cannot move into an attack, it can never attack or capture another king, and vice versa.
Getting opposition with your king against your opponent's king is an important concept in endgames. It involves aligning your king to face your opponent's, so it must cede territory.
Castling is one of the most unique but important moves for your king's safety. You can only castle if you haven't moved the king or rook with which you will castle. Your king cannot be in check, and you cannot castle into a position that puts your king in check. The rook you are castling with, however, can be under attack.
When you castle kingside, you move your king to the g file and the rook to the f file. On the queenside, you move our king to the c file and your rook to the d file. Notation for kingside castling is marked as 0-0, while notation for queenside castling is 0-0-0.
You will castle in most of your chess games.
When you pivot to a chess endgame, king safety remains critical, but it is no longer an immediate threat. There is less material to produce a checkmate. The king is still a checkmate target, but king activity becomes crucial.
In king and pawn endgames, your king can protect a pawn against the enemy king to reach promotion.