Psychology and the Look of the Pieces
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I like the condal style, with red squares. The color is bright, but not so bright that it's distracting. And the condal pieces are unique and interesting but still easily recognizable.
I have mine set to use Alpha but the Classic pieces are just as nice. I can't stand any of the other choices.
"and one of the thing I've noticed is how difficult it is to create a new piece. I.e., let's say you wanted a "Squire" to go along with your Knights. What does a Squire look like, and how can you represent it abstractly and simply? "
To help keep it complex, traditional Staunton sets are turned on a lathe. So your new piece should be turnable, too. Yasser Sierwan has created a chess variant where each side has 2 (or 4?) pieces that are named after birds. Their design doesn't mesh with the Staunton design at all.
"To help keep it complex, traditional Staunton sets are turned on a lathe."
How do you turn asymetrical pieces (knights) on a lathe? 
My guess is the only way to be sure every knight looks and is balanced just like every other knight in a production run is to laser cut them. Hand carving each one would be too inaccurate and cost too much for labor.
I use the classic pieces with the green background, but I like the book pieces as well - makes the Knights look like they're smiling. (obviously not a hardcore chess player here 
). However, a big THANK YOU to the different board color/piece choice /background variety that chess.com offers - not all internet chess sites are nearly as flexible, and if you are talking psychology, I want a place where I feel comfortable losing - um - playing chess.
). However, a big THANK YOU to the different board color/piece choice /background variety that chess.com offers - not all internet chess sites are nearly as flexible, and if you are talking psychology, I want a place where I feel comfortable losing - um - playing chess.
I have had it set to Book/ Blue/ Large for a while, but after reading this post I have looked at the pieces again and like the look of the Alpha pieces so have now set it to those. It is funny how it does give the board a new feel after a change!
It would be great if we could have the "grain" effect with the wood board and a wider choice of wood effect colours though.
May 1, 2008
0
#28
Large - because it seems to 'fit' the best with the other elements
Green - because it matches my theme
Alpha - because I've always thought this design looks the best and probably also because I've grown used to it in the UIs of Fritz & Shredder
I think the 'Lines' set option is really creative; I'd like to use it but it destroys my confidence. I have some difficulty immediately telling pawns from Bishops (and black from white for that matter).
I'm interested in Rael's theory about the impact of novelty though, so maybe I'll try the 'Modern' set for awhile to see how it feels. :-)
"Hand carving each one would be too inaccurate and cost too much for labor. "
That's why almost all wooden sets are made in the 3rd world now. A skilled craftsman can probably make a knight in about 10 minutes. I bet you won't find too many "laser cut" knights. All wooden knights on common sets are hand made. This doesn't mean that some guy is making them with a gouge and a mallet. You can do some nice work with a Dremel tool. Or perhaps a CNC mill of some sort, at least to rough out the shape.
While you can't make a Staunton knight, you can indeed turn asymetric shapes on a common lathe. I've seen a "modern knight" made that way and it's... blah... Truthfully, I never thought the knight looked like it belonged in a Staunton set. But I would miss it if it were replaced.
I have posted this in the wishlist thread as well, but here is a related suggestion I wanted to give and see what y'all thought: is there any way to show a little "preview" of the pieces (or maybe just one piece) when you are selecting from the different styles of chess pieces? It would be great to see what they look like first instead of choosing, saving, going into one of your games, and THEN seeing what they look like. Or, even easier, have a graphic with all the pieces lined up of each type, so you can see what the choices are before you even click the drop down.
I've tried many different combinations of piece style, board style. Right now I'm using the Club pieces on a Large Red board. It seems to work out for me just fine and I am quite pleased with it. I played around with different combinations before I found the one I liked best. Rael, I actually think it helped me paly better, at least for awhile.
I use default board and pieces . . .but . . .if and when there are pieces with simpson theme i would use them . . .
I use the club and purple board. When I first came to this site, I couldn't tell the difference between the queen and the king. It's because the style of the king's crown is the style for a queen crown , and the queen's crown looks more like a kings' (at least to me). In fact, I did horribly against my best friend 'cause I kept trying to use the king as the queen, and I was protecting my queen. The club style is the only style I can't get confused on. As for purple, it's my favorite color.
I agree with knightnothorse. I was frustrated by having to save then go see what it looked like, excpecially since my computer is slow at times. I was lucky I had the time to sit there and look through all the pieces.
Pulling back from an earlier conversation- our school library and teacher's lounge is pink 'cause of the "calming" thing.....
If you go into live chess and change the settings there you can see the pieces change on the board straight away, so you can experiment with the pieces in there, then go back to the other settings when you know what you want to use. Hope this was helpful.
thankyou. I haven't tried live chess yet (joined not to long ago), so that thought wouldn't have occured to me.
SWFCfan wrote: If you go into live chess and change the settings there you can see the pieces change on the board straight away, so you can experiment with the pieces in there, then go back to the other settings when you know what you want to use. Hope this was helpful.
Hey -- great suggestion! Thanks. 
An interesting fact that I found on wikipedia:
Chess remained largely unpopular among the North European people — who could not relate to the abstract shapes — but started gaining popularity as soon as figurative pieces were introduced.
Pieces affect the psycology of the game indeed!
it would seem fun
you know what would be fun? designing chess pieces.... okay, I know it may seem weird to y'all, but I like drawing things....
AnthonyCG wrote: I like using the classic, green tournament look
Me too!!! It's the best