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Civil wars since the closing of World War II have gone on average just over four years, a astonishing rise from the one plus a half year average of the 1900 thru 1944 period. The American Civil War from 1861 to 1865, a.k.a. the War Between the States and several other epithets, was a civil war in the USA. Normally, a civil war is a war between a state and domestic governmental actors that are in command of some portion of the territory laid claim by the state.

Civil War Chess Sets creates a really thoughtful gift for collectors and game enthusiasts alike.

In a Civil War Chess Set, every playing piece of this unreal sculpted chess set boasts genuine costuming and its own period props to bring the game alive for any Civil War lover. This civil war chess set includes detailed figurines of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as kings. These unique civil war chess sets are ideal for collectors.

This war, the most toxic in American history, induced 620,000 soldier deaths and an undetermined number of civilian casualties (thankfully there are no deaths using civil war chess sets), stopped slavery in the United States, reconstructed the Union, and reinforced the use of the national government. In September 1862, Lincoln’s Emancipation Declaration made terminating slavery in the South a war goal, and dissuaded the British from stepping in. Lacking the technology to build competent war vessels, the Confederacy tried to get war vessels from Britain. Both sides upgraded ground forces as the Union took command of the border states early in the war and generated a naval barricade. He immobilized the Confederate army in the Siege of Petersburg, where the two ground forces participated in entrench war for over 9 months.

Civil War Chess Sets

Confederate military units seized virtually all of the federal forts within their boundaries. Using the civil war chess sets play the part ashe Confederate incursions into Arizona and New Mexico territories were repulsed in 1862 and a Union campaign to secure Indian Territory succeeded in 1863. Confederate officials had arrived to the conclusion that their best hope for support lay in Napoléon and France rather than in Palmerston and Britain. Lincoln refused any talks with Confederate agents on the reasons that the Confederacy was not a recognized government, and that establishing any accord with it would be equivalent to acknowledgement of it as a sovereign government.

While the majority of the conflicts took position in the South, but one highly crucial episode, the Battle of Gettysburg, was contended in the North. A Confederate encroachment of Pennsylvania terminated at Gettysburg by George Mead where Lee lost 20,000 men, the biggest battle of the war. The Union triumphs at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July 1863, marked a distinct landmark in the war.

Civil War Chess Sets

The American Civil War was the banner war in American history. Constitutional history of the Civil War period of time emphasizes the principal features of the Supreme Court as a ordinate branch of government in the setting of nineteenth century governmental culture. This event stood for the emersion of racial equivalence as a major constitutional issue in the legal story of the Reconstruction period that would soon occupy the Court’s attention.

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We’ve added a new Top Chess Searches section to the site. In here you find some information on our current popular searches on the site, with links to more in-depth sub category areas

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A chess set consists of 32 pieces: 16 white and 16 black, representing two sides of a chess battle. To understand how to play chess and develop strategy, it’s important to know how each piece moves. This very basic knowledge is necessary to truly grasp the power of each chess piece and in the course of a match, make the most of that individual piece’s power.

The Pivotal 16

Each player begins the game with 16 chess pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, and 8 pawns. To properly position the pieces on a chess board, begin with the rooks and move inward. The two rooks are placed on the lower corner squares. Next to them go the knights, followed by the bishops.

The queen is next. As a rule of thumb, this piece always matches its color. Thus, the black queen will be on the remaining black square. The white queen, the white square. Lastly, the king assumes the final square of the row. The pawns are placed on the second row in front of the king’s “court.”

The pieces of a chess set collectively reflect a player’s power. What he/she does with this potential power is what ultimately determines who wins the game. The overall objective is to keep the king safe. To do so, a player must utilize each chess piece to its maximum strength. In short, chess pieces are capable of the following moves:

• King: Moves only one square at a time, but in any direction. It’s the most important piece on a chess board. If/when captured, the game is over. The king’s special move is called castling; it is the only time two pieces can move at once (king and rook).

• Queen: Moves in any direction for any number of squares. It is the most powerful piece on the board, capable of capturing and positioning from most any vantage point.

• Bishop: Moves diagonally for any number of squares, yet is limited to one color. It is sensitive to pawn movement.

• Knight: Moves two squares vertically or horizontally, then one square to the side. Its unique movement often factors into strategy.

• Rook: Moves by rank or file for any number of squares. Starting in the corners, the rook – along with the queen – are major pieces on the chess board, capable of altering space and an opponent’s plan of attack.

• Pawn: Moves only one square at a time and only forward. However, on the opening move, it can choose between two squares or one. A seemingly weak piece, a pawn can also be promoted if it safely reaches the end of the board. If it succeeds, a pawn can be exchanged for any other chess piece, except the king. Most often, a pawn gets promoted to queen.

What’s My Move?

It may seem overwhelming to learn all this at once, but in order to truly grasp the potential of your chess pieces, it’s imperative you first understand what each individual piece is capable of. For instance, feeling despaired that you’re left with only pawns? Don’t forget about pawn promotion. Feeling like your king is being threatened? Consider castling him. By understanding your pieces’ potential, a chess board can truly open up with possibilities. You just need to recognize them first.

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In addition to the basic rules each chess piece has, there are also special moves that can factor into game development and outcome. Though they may seem complicated at first, once a player becomes more familiar with overall play, when to use these special moves will become clearer as well.

Indeed, by simply looking at a chess board and its current state, an experienced player should be able to determine whether or not a special move is needed or not. Held in reserve, these special moves are only used when the game demands it. However, at some point in a match, one (or more) is likely to be called upon.

And just what are these moves found within a chess set? In short, they’re: castling, en passant, and pawn promotion.

Castling

During the course of play, it may become necessary for a king to move quickly. Since the piece can only move one square at a time though, this is easier said than done. Thankfully, there’s “castling,” wherein the king can receive shelter by working with a rook.

Basically, castling permits the king to move two squares on the chess board, to either the right or left. The rook (still in its corner) in which the king moves toward is then permitted to slide around the king, to its other side. Visually, the rook protects the king on the weak side, pushing the king to safety behind a wall.

There are a few conditions: 1) the rook and king cannot have moved yet on the board and then returned to their respective positions. If one of the participating chess pieces moves, castling is disallowed; and 2) the path between the king and rook must be cleared. The special move is the only one in which two pieces can move, but only two pieces can move. No other piece can be involved.

En Passant

Referred to by some as the “soul of chess,” pawns are far more important than their lowly status within a chess set might suggest. In fact, these puny (yet powerful) pawns have two special moves all to themselves, both of which can factor greatly into defense, strategy, and board-space control.

The first of these special moves is “en passant,” which is a capture move available to a pawn only on its fifth rank. As a general rule, pawns may move one or two squares forward upon first move. Afterwards, only one. If a pawn tries to avoid capture by an opposing pawn by moving two squares forward (instead of one), then the rival pawn has the option to use “en passant” on the very next move: meaning, it can move diagonally one square and take the defending pawn anyway, as if the pawn had only moved one square to start.

This move can be used multiple times during a game, but only from the fifth rank and it must be made immediately after one pawn attempts to avoid capture. If the opposing player moves another chess piece, “en passant” (for this particular pawn) is no longer in play.

Pawn Promotion

And finally, pawns are the only pieces of a chess set up for a promotion. If a pawn manages to move to the eight rank, then it can be promoted to any other piece. Often exchanged for a queen, this transformative power can turn the chess board’s weakest piece into its most powerful. The only piece the pawn cannot be promoted to is king.

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Let this be the first stop in your journey to understand the chess world. Setting up the chess board is obviously the most important step to beginning your chess knowledge.

How to Play Chess

‘Chess : a game for two played on a board of 64 squares of alternate colors with each player having 16 pieces.’ - The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Chess is a board game played by two opponents called White and Black. The goal of each player is to attack the opponent’s King so that it has no escape. Players take turns moving one piece at a time to strengthen their own position and to weaken their opponent’s.

The chess pieces are symbolic of a medieval army. Each player starts with a King and a Queen (the monarchy), two Rooks (the castle), two Knights (the horsemen), two Bishops (the church), and eight Pawns (the foot soldiers).

How to Set Up a Chess Board

The chess board is placed between the two players as shown in the diagram, White sitting on one side (the bottom of the diagram) and Black on the other side (the top of the diagram). Both players should see a white square in the right corner (’White on right’).

If the board has numbers printed on it, they should be placed so that ‘1′ is nearest to White and ‘8′ is nearest to Black, as shown. If the board has the letters ‘a’ through ‘h’ printed on it, the ‘a’ should be on White’s left. If it isn’t, there’s something wrong with the board!

On chess sets made of wood, the King is usually the tallest piece and has a cross on its crown. The Queen is the second tallest and has a crown with several points. The Bishop is next in size and has a miter. The Knight looks like a horse and the Rook looks like a tower. The Pawn is the smallest piece.

The eight Pawns are placed on each player’s second row. The remaining pieces are placed on the first row.

The Rooks are placed in the corner, the Knights are placed next to the Rooks, and the Bishops are placed next to the Knights. This leaves two squares for the King and the Queen.

Of the two remaining squares for the White player, the Queen is placed on the white square; for the Black player, the Queen is placed on the black square (’Queen on her color’). The King is placed on the remaining square. The diagram shows all the pieces in their initial position. The piece in each column faces an opponent’s piece of the same type.

White always moves first. The players alternate moves : White moves, then Black, then White, and so on. Each player must move in turn; it is not allowed to pass or to skip a move.

Thanks to Mark Weeks of About.com for this article

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