U.S. patent number 3,608,904 [Application Number 04/738,011] was granted by the patent office on 1971-09-28 for set of chess pieces.
Invention is credited to Desmond W. Margetson.
United States Patent |
3,608,904 |
Margetson |
September 28, 1971 |
SET OF CHESS PIECES
Abstract
A chess set comprising reversible pieces which are squares of
about the same size as the squares on the playing board, the said
pieces having on one side the name and symbol of the piece and on
the opposite side the name and move of the piece, and on each
lateral side two relatively inverted indicia thereon facing in
opposite directions, the thickness of the piece being substantially
less than its width, and said indicia consisting of the first
letter of the name of the piece, one indicia being upright no
matter which face is up.
Inventors: |
Margetson; Desmond W. (New
York, NY) |
Family
ID: |
24966199 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/738,011 |
Filed: |
June 18, 1968 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
273/288; 273/260;
273/291 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F
3/00697 (20130101); A63F 2003/025 (20130101); A63F
2003/00858 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63F
3/02 (20060101); A63f 003/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;273/131,136,137 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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|
|
|
|
|
|
376 |
|
1908 |
|
GB |
|
1,034,030 |
|
Jun 1966 |
|
GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Lowe; Delbert B.
Claims
I claim:
1. A chess set comprising reversible chess pieces in the form of
uniform squares about the size of the squares on the board to be
used and whose height is substantially less than the width of the
square, the said reversible pieces having on one face an indicia
showing a standard picture symbol of the individual piece and on
the opposite face an indicia showing the name and move of the piece
and on each lateral side two relatively inverted indicia
identifying the piece and facing in opposite directions so one
indicia is right side up no matter which face is up.
Description
PRIOR ART
Chess has until now been played with sculptured pieces of varying
complexity or beauty and on an 8 square .times. 8 square checkered
board in which the alternate squares are of different colors. The
said sculptured pieces have a way of distracting a player,
particularly beginners, due to their size and design, and they are
fragile and require weighting. The use of the standard checker
board for chess tends to strain the player's eyes and to obscure
the relationship between the pieces and their moves, while the eye
should be led by the pieces and not the board.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel chess set which
simplifies the learning of the game of chess for beginners.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel chess set
which can be economically produced and from the use of which even
advanced players can benefit.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become
obvious from the following detailed description.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The chess set of the invention is comprised of chess pieces in the
form of squares of approximately the size of the squares on a
playing board, the said pieces having an indicia of the piece on
one side and the move of the piece on the other side. The indicia
may be the symbol and the name of the piece. In a preferred
embodiment, the pieces may be marked on the sides or edges with the
name and/or an identifying mark such as the first letter of the
name of the piece, e.g., p for pawn. The pieces are therefore
completely identified by name, move, symbol and abbreviation for
the name.
The pieces of the invention have many advantages. Due to their
shape, they have a low center of gravity and do not have to be
weighted, take up much less storage space and are less susceptible
to breakage during handling. The pieces may be made of any suitable
material such as plastic, aluminum, steel, stone, ceramic material,
etc.
A further advantage of the pieces is that the lack of varying forms
for the different pieces prevents the player from being distracted
by the esthetic appeal of the pieces and reveals the precision of
the mental concepts which make chess the great game it is. The
player is able to better see the interrelationships of the pieces
and will be able to improve his thinking and strategy based on what
he actually sees. This system does not replace the conventional
system but does provide a gradual assimilation of the concepts
rather than the present ungraduated one.
The indicia on the piece may be the standard symbol for the piece
and the printed name of the piece is on both sides to aid the
reversible feature of the set. Preferably, the piece has the
standard symbol and name on one side and on the other side the
moves of the piece, and the name of the piece also. These latter
pieces are extremely useful for beginners since they can see at a
glance what the various pieces are and how they move and this aids
in planning the strategy and other fine points of the game without
constantly having to remember the type of moves for each piece. Of
course, the name of the piece may be written in the language
normally used in the country where the sets are sold, making the
system universally practical. Moreover, the edges of the pieces may
be interlocking, as with poker chips, for ease of stacking and
storage. Also, the indicia on the pieces may be raised for the
blind player.
The major improvement in the playing board is the use of one color
for the squares on the board which prevents eyestrain and reveals
more of the relationships between the pieces. The standard chess
board used up to now has used alternating colors on the squares. To
aid people who have difficulty adjusting to the new board, a "W"
for white and "B" for black or some equivalent may be put in
alternate squares. The board may also have the standard checkered
board on the reverse side so that the individual not wishing to
change his system may use the said board. This permits use of the
reversible pieces and the reversible board in various combinations
to aid mastery of concepts.
An optional feature resides in marking the squares on the board
with numbers from 1 to 64 so that each square has a fixed number to
make replaying of games easier than the cumbersome methods now in
use. Preferably, the square in the lower left-hand corner is marked
1 and the squares are numbered columnwise up the board. Optionally,
the numbering may proceed from left to right across the board or
the coordinate system may be used where end rows and columns of
squares are numbered 1 to 8 from left to right and from bottom to
top and each square is then designated by a set of coordinates,
such as 1,1.
Referring now to the drawings:
FIGS. 1 and 1a are plan views of both sides of a pawn piece of the
invention.
FIGS. 2 and 2a are plan views of both sides of a knight piece of
the invention.
FIGS. 3 and 3a, 4 and 4a, 5 and 5a, and 6 and 6a are plan views of
both sides of a king, queen, bishop and rook, respectively, of the
invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates a board with numbered squares.
In FIG. 1, the pawn piece is in the shape of a square and could
have a thickness from 1/8 to 1/2 inch, or, more preferably, about
1/4 inch, so that it is heavy enough to remain in position and easy
enough to grasp for moving the piece. In the top 1 of the piece,
the name 2 of the piece is printed and the move 3 of the piece is
indicated with the dotted line indicating the optional 2 square
first move of the pawn. Although the piece illustrated has shown
thereon the number of squares for the movement of the piece, this
may be omitted. The X in the squares indicates capture of a piece
by the pawn and the arrow indicates the direction of the move. On
each side of the piece there are letters 4 to indicate the
particular piece. For a pawn, the letter p is used although any
other symbol may be used.
In FIGS. 2 and 2a, the piece illustrated is the knight which has a
rather complex move which is difficult for beginners to grasp. In
FIG. 2a, the symbol 5 for the knight is placed in the center
thereof and this is the face that would be up if experienced
players were using the set, as this is the more decorative side.
FIG. 2 shows the face that would be up if an inexperienced player
were using the set. At any time, the pieces may be flipped over for
position analysis. On this side, the name 6 of the piece appears
near the edge and the move 7 of the knight is placed in the center.
In FIG. 2 the move of the knight is indicated as being two squares
in one direction and one square in a 90.degree. direction.
FIGS. 3 and 3a, 4 and 4 a, 5 and 5a and 6 and 6a illustrate
preferred embodiments of other pieces with the symbol and name of
the piece on one side and the name and move on the other side of
the piece.
In FIG. 7, a preferred embodiment of the board is illustrated where
the board is divided into 8 rows of 8 squares each and the board is
of a uniform color to avoid the diverting diagonals of the usual
board. The left column is numbered from 1 to 8 bottom to top and
the rest of the board is numbered in ascending order in the same
fashion.
Various modifications of the invention may be made without
departing from the spirit or scope thereof and it is to be
understood that the invention is to be limited only as defined in
the appended claims.
* * * * *