How many pieces are on the board at the start of a game of chess?

A chess piece, or chessman, is any of the 32 movable objects deployed on a chessboard used to play the game of chess. In a standard game of chess, each of the two players begins a game with the following 16 pieces:

1 king

1 queen

2 rooks

2 bishops

2 knights

8 pawns

In playing chess, the players take turns moving one of their own chess pieces. The rules of chess prescribe the types of move a player can make with each type of chess piece.

The pieces that belong to each player are distinguished by color. The lighter colored pieces, and the player that plays them, are referred to as white. The darker colored pieces and their player are referred to as black.