The Book of Chess
I tend to be more interested in Chess sets themselves than actually playing, which is fortunate for this blog. I recently acquired a rather fascinating Chess set known as The Book of Chess, pictured below.
What I find so fascinating about this set is the enormous amount of information packed into the individual pieces, and the numerous codes in which they operate.
To begin with, each piece clearly represents a standard Chess piece. But they do so through two codes: the English language, and the code governing how Chess pieces are traditionally shaped. The first is fairly obvious, but the second only becomes apparent when we consider the visual design of the pieces. Note that the top of each incorporates the standard top from a traditional Chess set:
- The pawn’s sphere has become a circle.
- The K in “rook” has been flattened to resemble a castle tower.
- The T in “knight” has been adjusted to look like the horse that typically represents the knight.
- The P in “bishop” resembles the bishop’s pointed hat.
- The dots after the N in “queen” mimic the queen’s traditional crown.
- The G in “king” is shaped like a cross, which is traditionally on the king’s crown.
Of course, this is in addition to the standard sizes of the pieces relative to each other.
Digging deeper, these pieces represent more than a Chess set. As I noted above, they also operate with the English language code: we can tell which piece is which through the word they form as well as the visual design. But to push further, they also represent sequences of sounds, which we recognize as representing a word, which in turn represents a variety of things. The visual design then specifies which meaning of the word “king” or “pawn” is represented: if these were just words we would probably not recognize them as coming from a Chess set, unless they were grouped together.
As signs, these Chess pieces are thus fairly complex. Their constituent parts signify a variety of things, but taken together they craft a fairly clear signified. As instances of visual design they are not only aesthetically appealing but quite brilliant as well.
As fiction-signs these pieces are more symbolic than a standard Chess set, as words themselves are primarily symbolic signs, though the visual design causes them to operate in the iconic mode as well. As rules-signs they are no different from a standard set.
