Chess is a game played by two people, each having a set of chessmen consisting of a king, queen, two bishops, two knights, two rooks and eight pawns. Chess is played on a chess board with 64 squares, usually with black and white alternating squares. The history of chess dates back to 600 A.D. in the countries of Persia and India. The current form of chess emerged in southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century.
Chess sets come in a variety of different styles and forms. There are many different novelty chess sets with chessmen of different types available. Novelty chess sets include Army and Navy chess sets, Cowboy and Indian chess sets and Civil War Chess sets which have Abraham Lincoln as the king and the Union soldiers in blue. Jefferson Davis is the king of the Confederates and the soldiers in gray. It is interesting to play with Civil War chess sets to find out who won the battles. Other novelty chess sets are the Camelot chess sets, which have King Arthur, Lady Guinevere, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Sir Gawain and the other Knights of the Roundtable.