But the Staunton quickly would surpass them all. To say nothing of the regional and cultural variations. Prior to its invention, there were a wide variety of popular styles in England, such as The St George, The English Barleycorn, and the Northern Upright.

The Staunton chess pieces are the ones we know and love today, the ones we simply think of as chess pieces. In 1849, that challenge would be met by the “Staunton” Chess Set. By the 19th century, chess clubs and competitions began to appear all around the world, it became necessary to use a standardized set that would enable players from different cultures to compete without getting confused. Thus, the original chessmen, known as counselor, infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots, became the queen, pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. Originally conceived of as a field of battle, the symbolic meaning of the game changed as it gained popularity in Europe, and the pieces became stand-ins for a royal court instead of an army. As the game proliferated throughout southern Europe in the early 11th century, the rules began to evolve, the movement of the pieces were formalized, and the pieces themselves were drastically transformed from their origins in 6th century India. Over the centuries that chess had been played, innumerable varieties of sets of pieces were created, with regional differences in designation and appearance. If this happens, only on your very next turn you can move your pawn diagonally into the space they skipped and take that pawn anyway.Prior to 1849, there was no such thing as a “normal chess set.” At least not like we think of it today. En passant, or 'capture in passing', can occur when the opponent moves their pawn two spaces ahead to avoid moving into your pawn's capture position (forward-diagonally adjacent).It cannot capture an otherwise adjacent piece. A pawn can capture a piece that is diagonally one square in front of it.In its very first move, a pawn may (but does not have to) move two spaces forward instead of one.Players typically promote to a queen but may promote to another piece to avoid stalemate or use the knight's move (promoting to a piece other than the queen is called 'underpromotion'). That means that a pawn that has advanced very far along its file becomes quite powerful. If your pawn gets all the way to the first rank (for White) or eighth rank (for Black), you can ''promote'' the pawn to any piece other than the king or pawn.However, in certain circumstances, they become quite effective: That is usually all they can do, so they're not very useful. The knight is the only exception to this, as it takes a piece only when it ends a move by landing on that piece's square. If your piece 'hits' another piece during its movement, it stops, captures the piece, and stays on that square. You cannot move over a piece to capture another one.For example, rooks can capture only with vertical or horizontal moves. With the exception of the pawn, you can capture pieces only with a 'normal' move.They may move over any other piece (but may not end a move on a square already occupied by one of your pieces). In other words, you cannot move a piece through or to a square already occupied by one of your pieces-with the exception of your knights. You cannot capture your own pieces or occupy any square with more than one piece. Your piece then takes the captured piece's place on that square.

If one of your pieces makes a move that ends on a square already occupied by an opponent's piece, you 'capture' that piece and remove it from the game. Capture the opponent's pieces to remove them from the game.

Chess pieces drawing names