Size Matters!!

At the September Swiss last night Johnny Owens pulled out the rule book and it turned out that my king was 3/8th's of an inch too short! Consequently we abandoned my House of Stauton set and played with Johnny's India import.

I didn't let "King Envy" affect my game as I held off the London's advances to secure a draw.

The amusing anecdote above takes me back to a recurring theme of mine; the first book every tournament player should buy and become familiar with is "U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess". While a 6th edition is long overdue, updates can be downloaded from the USCF web site.

If your opponent shows up with pink, green, red, ornate, star wars, Aztec, or other non-standard pieces you can refuse to use his/her set in a tournament game even if they have "black" (black gets to choose the equipment - if legal).

Hopefully I have peaked your curiosity and everyone is turning to Chapter 4 in their rule books or planning on at least reading one soon. How big can the kings cross be, when is a queens base too big for a square?? All is revealed in the "rule book"!