Decorative chess piece. 356 polys. Interestingly, the word 'knight' comes from the Old English word cniht, meaning simply: Boy. Uninterestingly, the Knight piece has evolved VERY little over the centuries since chess was first played in India. Whether horse or equestrian horseman, the Knight piece was always connected with horses, a staple on most battlefieds of yore.

Decorative chess piece. 584 polys. Historically, the word 'pawn' is derived from Old French 'paon', which in turn comes from Late Latin 'pedo', forr foot. Hence, Pawns were to represent the everyday lowly footsoldier on the battlefield. Believe it or not, each Pawn on the board has its own name. The 1st Pawn, in front of the Rook (or castle), is the Farmer (who would work on the castle grounds). The 2nd (before the Knight) is the Farrier (a servant who would fix horseshoes; or Blacksmith). The 3rd (before the Bishop) is the Weaver/Notary, a clerical sort of profession responisible mostly for sew the Bishop's robes and keeping his documents in order. Before the King is the Merchant/Banker who governs the kingdom's money, and in front of the Queen is the fifth Pawn, the doctor. The 6th Pawn in front of the second Bishop is the Inkeeper, the 7th Pawn before the second Knight is the City Guard or Policeman, and the last Pawn before the second Rook is the Gambler, because it is all the way to the left, and in medieval times the left was considered sinister, good for no one but ne'er-do-wells.

Decorative chess piece. 566 polys. Always the king who could only move one space per turn ever since the beginning of chess, the King's only real change on the battlefield during the centuries has been the relatively newfound ability to Castle, swapping places with its nearby Rook.

Decorative chess piece. 506 polys. The word 'rook' ultimately comes from old Sanskrit 'rath', meaning Chariot to the Indians. This was the tower-like construction mounted on the backs of war elephants, from which warriors would fire arrows and hurl spears. Sweet. Nowadays the elephant is unimportant, and the tower became just a medieval turreted castle.

Decorative chess piece. 532 polys. The Queen has undergone a bit of the old gender bender throughout the centuries. Originally the Grand Vizier or farzin, the royal advisor closest to the king, the piece was rather weak in that it could only move diagonally one square per turn. Once introduced to Europe as the firz/ferz or fierge, confusion started as the piece gradually became associated with the French vierge, or Virgin. It absorbed the powers of both the Bishiop and the Rook, making the Queen the most valuable piece on the board! And THAT is our definition for the term 'social climber'. ^-^

Decorative chess piece. 444 polys. The Bishop has probably suffered more change throughout history than the other pieces. Originally an elephant, the groove in the head usedf to depict the two ivory trunks, but when medieval Europeans who had never before seen an elephant encountered the chess piece they thought it resembled the mitre atop a bishop or pope's head. And tra la: The Bishop. Other people interepreted the piece other ways, leading some to call the piece the Fool (if the grove resembles to them a jester's cap), while others refer to it as the runner, courier or messenger boy.