Step 1
Go set up a real (3D) chess board. Don't read Step 2 until you have completed Step 1.
If you don't have a set near you, you may skip to Step 2.
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Step 2
How did you set up the knights?
I am always curious about this, myself.
Do they
A.) both face left
B.) both face right
C.) both face toward the king (Queen's Knight left/King's Knight right)
D.) both face away from the king (Queen's Knight right/King's Knight left)
E.) both face forward
F.) both face backward / or some mixture of the above
???
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I'm just curious to see what people do/think is correct.
An online chess board will have all four knights facing left, for instance. I think that is just because it is the simplest way to set it up though.
I personally set up my board two different ways.
For a non-flashy set, my knights usually face forward.
When I have a nice fine detailed set though, it seems like a waste of the beauty, so I turned the knights sideways (each facing the king) to get a good look at the craftsmanship.
I'm not sure if there is a 100% correct way of setting up the board, by by making both knights face the king, you can always distinguish the queen's knight from the king's knight. That is actually useful information with descriptive notation.
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Your thoughts?
I always face them towards my opponents King. So mine face many different ways depending on where my Knight lands and where my opponents King is.
This reminds me of a simul I was at and the GM placed his Knights facing to the sides and in all the other games he had his Knights facing his opponents. I asked the guy next to me if it was a signal that the GM didn't like me. The guy next to me said it was strange that my game had the only one where the GM's Knights were different, but he doubted it had any meaning. I still think it was a signal. Some strange chess code.
Chess Praxis is right.
OTB dirty trick No.73.
When playing and you have Knights near their King place the Knight
so it is facing you.
The defending player when calculating misses the shape, it does not register
in their minds eye. Especially if you have a backward attacking Knight
move up your sleeve. (it looks like a Bishop rear on).
This works. The look on their face when the 'Bishop' suddenly hops like
a Knight and forks their King and Queen is a sight to treasure.
OTB dirty tricks No's 1-72 I'll save for another day.
I think knights look best in profile, so I always have them sideways on and facing towards each other, ie towards my king. Having both knights face the same way just feels wrong to me.
If my QN and KN happen to cross each other during the course of the game I don't turn them around, so they can wind up facing outwards rather than inwards.
I have a fairly standard Staunton-type chess set - people with fancier chess sets may have other opinions about which way the knights should face.
Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsSimple. One unspoken chess courtesy mandates the knights to plainly show their profile (facing left or right but never forward),
Step 1
Go set up a real (3D) chess board. Don't read Step 2 until you have completed Step 1.
If you don't have a set near you, you may skip to Step 2.
......................................................
Step 2
How did you set up the knights?
I am always curious about this, myself.
Do they
A.) both face left
B. ...[text shortened]... th descriptive notation.
......................................
Your thoughts?
so as not to run the risk of confusing any less than 20/20 eyesight opponent into mistaking one or both of them for a bishop.
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Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsMerely my personal opinion, but I've always set them up facing forward, because that has always been the way they are set up when I see sets on display at finer distributors, or from pictures in tournaments.
Step 1
Go set up a real (3D) chess board. Don't read Step 2 until you have completed Step 1.
If you don't have a set near you, you may skip to Step 2.
......................................................
Step 2
How did you set up the knights?
I am always curious about this, myself.
Do they
A.) both face left
B. th descriptive notation.
......................................
Your thoughts?
I've always viewed knights placed in any other way as affectations on the part of the other player-vaguely humorous or silly, but ultimately harmless, and if it makes them happy, more power to them!
Tangently related: I once had a guy in a tournament ask to use his vinyl rollup board instead of my mousepad board because he likes the way pieces slide easier on vinyl. It made me laugh a bit, as I had never considered the coefficient of friction as a part of my gameplan, but we switched. His vinyl didn't help.
Paul
Originally posted by Paul LeggettYou surprise me, Paul, in your failure to have grasped a time honored courtesy.
Merely my personal opinion, but I've always set them up facing forward, because that has always been the way they are set up when I see sets on display at finer distributors, or from pictures in tournaments.
I've always viewed knights placed in any other way as affectations on the part of the other player-vaguely humorous or silly, but ultimately ...[text shortened]... icient of friction as a part of my gameplan, but we switched. His vinyl didn't help.
Paul
Hmm, nobody's mentioned my reason yet.
Both facing sideways in the same direction.
Simply for ergonomic reasons. I move both knights with the same hand. Sideways, they're easier to grasp without having to twist the wrist, especially if it's on the part of the board across the body.
Originally posted by greenpawn34On the first leg of vacation, decades ago, played an elderly soft spoken Jewish man at a concrete table in Washington Square Park in NYC. Speak of subterfuge, toward late middle game he kept leaning forward concealing a dreadful rook with his ceremonial beard... and taking advantage of my innocence and trust. Lost that game but believe he may have lost more.
Chess Praxis is right.
[b]OTB dirty trick No.73.
When playing and you have Knights near their King place the Knight
so it is facing you.
The defending player when calculating misses the shape, it does not register
in their minds eye. Especially if you have a backward attacking Knight
move up your sleeve. (it looks like a Bishop rear on). ...[text shortened]... g and Queen is a sight to treasure.
OTB dirty tricks No's 1-72 I'll save for another day.[/b]
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I just remembered that a friend of mine has both knights facing "inward" at the start of the game, because he still used descriptive notation, and that makes it easier for him to tell which knight is going to a square both could occupy (for instance, "KN-K4" versus "QN-K4". Lots of knight moves can be problematic to descriptive note-takers, and it apparently helps him.
His using descriptive notation is definitely an affectation, but his logic for his knight placement certainly consistent with what he does!