Through reasons not worth getting into, my co-worker and I are creating a chess set using only birds. Here’s what we ended up with:
King: Emperor Penguin
Queen: Swan
Bishops: Peregrine Falcon
Knight: A Kiwi riding an Ostrich
Rooks: Bald Eagle
Pawns: Chickens
The thing we argued most about was what to do with the knight. I said “Just leave it as the Ostrich” but he countered with “What makes a knight? The horse? Or the man?” It was a good point. So we decided to make it another flightless bird (otherwise it would just fly away and attack). Another small argument was using the Eagle as a rook instead of, you know, a rook.
Penguins a) don’t fly & b) are black & white - clergy colors; therefore they should be the bishops & a raptor should be king. I vote for the Bald Eagle.
You can find something better than chickens for pawns; I recommend a songbird. I’d say flamingos but they’re better than just a pawn.
I would have recommended the Northern or Dark-eyed Junco to play that part. I realize that juncos aren’t as famous as chickens or flamingos. However, they’re fairly unassuming.
The answer to both of these questions, to me, comes down to toughness. A rook (bird) is just too small and unassuming to be something as powerful as the rook (chess piece). And it makes sense to make the eagle the king, because of the stature of the bird and all, but the king chess piece isn’t moved very much (or at all) and isn’t an offensive weapon. I feel it’s a waste of a good, tough bird to place the eagle as the piece that constantly runs away.
Same with using a songbird as pawns. Sure the pawn isn’t supposed to be imposing, but it’s still a piece of offense. Chickens are some crazy mofos and are expendable, much better use of the piece as, say, a robin or cardinal
King - Bald Eagle
Queen - Golden Eagle
Bishop - Penquin (see Spiderman’s post).
Knight - Ostrich - long powerful legs - can step over other birds - deadly beak
Rook - Cassowary - large strong bird - distinctive head casque
Pawn - Turkey (domesticated variety) - only good for fodder anyway
I bet you’ve never been up close to a rook (aka raven). You would never say they are small, or unassuming either. They are some of the most assuming birds you are likely to ever meet. And damn big. They are also one of the most intelligent bird species in existence.
I think that there are two ways to go about this. One is, with knowledge of actual bird species. The other is with nothing but pictures in your mind from vague hearsay.The two sets will be entirely different.
I’ve been up close to plenty of ravens, and it was my fault for using the word “unassuming” to describe them because, you’re right, they aren’t unassuming at all. But their intelligence notwithstanding (The conversation with my coworker actually started as a “war of birds” instead of chess and I said the raven would obviously be the strategist because of their smarts) I just saw bald eagle as the better pick here. They’re still bigger and tougher than the raven and, in light of me using the penguin as the king, a good place for them
No real objection to the bishops being falcons…at least they can swoop in on a long strike from an angle. But penguins are shaped vaguely like traditional bishops.
Kind of surprised you reject making the king a raptor because it’s not an offensive piece, and then decide to make the queen a swan. Make the queen an eagle if it’s power you’re honoring.
I humbly suggest the pawns be pigeons. Common and familiar, found in flocks, and for the rare circumstance when one crosses the board and becomes another piece, you can say that was a homing pigeon who got an important message through summoning reinforcements.
Since you want a flightless bird for the knights, you could add an element of humor and make them roadrunners. When one proves difficult to pin down and maneuvers to safety, you can say “meep meep!”
King: Crowned Eagle. (Bald Eagles are fish-eaters and scavengers, and wimps compared to most other eagles.)
Queen: Harpy Eagle. Female is the largest and most powerful bird of prey in the world.
Bishops: Peregrine Falcon.
Knight: Cassowary. The most dangerous flightless bird, and it wears a helmet.
Rook. A rook would be good, but a Raven would be more appropriate as a predator.
Pawns: Red Jungle Fowl roosters. Relatively small and slow, but very aggressive and dangerous at close quarters.
