Chess is one of the oldest known board games, believed to have originated in India around the 6th century, having evolved from a game called Chaturanga.
Just like chess, draughts has an equally intriguing history, with variations of the game found in ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations. Draughts is believed to date back to 3000 B.C., where a similar game called Alquerque was played. Over the centuries, draughts spread across Europe and the rest of the world, leading to the development of many versions, including:
Chess and draughts often go hand-in-hand for several reasons; both games are played on an 8x8 grid, typically using the same checkered board, making it easy to transition from one game to the other. Draughts is generally considered a simpler game with fewer types of pieces and a more straightforward set of rules, making it more accessible, whereas chess is much more complex with a greater variety of pieces and intricate strategies. Together, they offer a spectrum of difficulty, catering to a wide range of players from beginners to experts.
Draughts Pieces
Chess Pieces
In the modern age, both games are available to play online with sites such as chess.com and cardgames.io, which offer a great way for people to learn the games. We find that whilst these are very useful, physical versions offer something these cannot, such as with the tactile experience, social interaction, and game atmosphere.
Here's a couple of interesting facts about computers in chess and draughts:
Alabaster
Alabaster is a material that lends itself well to be crafted into both chess and draughts pieces. It's naturally heavy, durable and highly attractive, especially when polished, with unique natural marbling effect present in each piece. We only source our alabaster sets and pieces from Italy to ensure the very best quality.
Metal
There are fundamentally two production methods for making metal pieces – lathe turning or casting. Lathe turning is the most expensive method but offers fantastic results, whereas casting can be used for pieces with more surface detail. Typically, with chess pieces, a mixture of the two is used, whereas with draughts pieces casting is the best option.
Our metal pieces are sourced from both Italfama in Italy and Manopoulos in Greece, from the finest quality workshops, and come felted on the bottom to both protect the playing surface and offer a smooth experience.
Wood
Wood is undoubtedly the most popular material for chess and draughts pieces, and our wooden sets account for the majority of our sales. Various wood types are available, with species like ebony and boxwood being particularly well-suited for crafting pieces. The production process typically involves turning the pieces on a lathe in the traditional manner, with hand carving reserved for more intricate designs, especially the knights.
Chess involves a variety of pieces with different movements, with the aim to checkmate your opponent's king. Draughts, on the other hand, uses uniform pieces and focuses on capturing or blocking all the opponent's pieces.
Most versions of draughts use a board size of 8x8, such as English or American versions of the game. This means that you can use one of our many chess boards to play checkers on, too, and we even sell sets that include both games bundled together like the Traditional Chess and Draughts Set.
We have a helpful guide, outlining the rules and setup to the game.
If you already have an existing board, you can simply measure the individual square size on the board and find the appropriate diameter of checkers to use with it. In chess, we would recommend that the base of the king occupies 75% of the width of the square it sits on, but for checkers it's about 50-65% instead. This ensures that the pieces are stable on the board without overwhelming the space.
First, measure the diameter (distance across) of the base of the piece - whether it's a chess piece or checkers piece, it's the widest part of the piece that touches the board. In chess, only the king is measured.
Second, measure the width of one individual square on the board. Your unit of measurement doesn't matter, as long as you use the same unit for both the piece and the square.
Finally, to work out the percentage occupied, you need to divide the diameter of the base by the width of the square, then times 100 to get your percentage. For example, if a piece had a base diameter of 1.5 inches, and the square had a width of 2 inches, it would be: (1.5 ÷ 2) x 100 = 75%.
Yes, we cover them with a two year warranty and offer a free piece replacement service in cases where a piece gets lost or damaged.
You can find reviews for our chess and draughts sets along with our other products on our Google Reviews page. We also have a TrustPilot listing.
