Atheist Chess Pieces?

I saw recently in the NY Times article about how some cleric is claiming chess is bad/should be banned in Saudi Arabia (and Saudi chess players defended it, even using their own chess pieces showing it doesn't have to be a Christian game)

Anyway, I don't see why the cross should necessarily have to be on every set's kings.  Certainly there has got to be a market for alternative kinged sets.  Any recommendations?  Or perhaps someone should get on this business opp!

There are a great variety of chess sets which were made in the eastern European tradition of having no cross for the King's finnial. 

I recommend having a look around this forum and you will see many examples.  The current favorite among these sets is known as the Dubrovnik pattern. 

Yeah, the commie sets from the old USSR don't have crosses.  The cross  usualy tends to be a Staunton pattern thing. There are of course many varieties of figurine sets with out crosses. So you could get a Star Wars set, or a Civil War Set, or perhaps a Crussades set in which one king has a Christian cross and the other the cressent moon of Islam.  However, figurine sets are not permitted at tournaments. 

There is a set called the Royal Set (sometimes Royale set) in which the king has a Fleur-de-lis instead of a cross,  but it is Staunton, so its tournament legal.

In adition to being the symbol of France, it is also used in the Spanish Coat of Arms, it is the symbol of my home state of Louisana, my favorite American football team the Saints and the Boy Scouts. Though, not a cross it is also a Christisan symbol represitning the Trinity. (a.k.a. the Christian Triune God). One day I hope to get the Royal set, but it may be as eqally repulsive, to you as a cross is.

As a Christian the cross does not offend me, but if it offends you, options are available. Or you could simply saw or break the cross off of your own set, the king would still be recognizable.

I'm not offended if you use a set with out a king cross, please don"t be offended if I do use one.

BTW the old Soviet sets also did not have a miter cut in the Bishops, because it is also offensive to non Christians.

Miter cuts on the Bishops look stupid IMO. I think in Saudi Arabia there is a cleric that wants to ban chess altogether. I guess if he bans eating the whole country will die.

I would think that if someone's really offended by it, they can find or even make their own pieces. In fact, having done a quick Google search on "modern chess pieces," there are plenty of sets whose pieces barely resemble what they are: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/modern-chess-set

For that matter, why not change the names of all the pieces? Since only certain countries even have kings and queens, that's not proper either, is it? It's not accurate! It's not appropriate!...(said sarcastically!) Perhaps the pieces should reflect that country. Let's see...in the U.S.: A President, a First Lady, the Secretary of Defense, a Captain and a Tank. Sound good?

Seriously---it is a game and one in which I highly doubt the players, while playing, are giving ANY thought to the fact that a king with a cross, or a bishop with a hat, are Christian-based. They are strategical pieces with certain powers and moves on the board.

If someone wants to take offense, why not take offense to the entire game as a whole? After all, it is a game of war which, unfortunately, whether Christian or otherwise, pretty much every culture, ethnic group and religious (or non) denomination on this planet has participated in---in reality.

As Ron Weasley said (in the movie, not the book):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXjaDqf6nOQ

If we are going to modify it to avoid the religious aspect... perhaps a few more modifications are needed. Maybe replace the Monarchy with an executive branch. And then separate out the judicial and legistlative branches.

FFS, just ban religion from the face of the earth and give all religious people a lobotomy so they forget about worshipping Zeus or whomever.  Someone is always telling someone that they will roast in hell, get flogged, beheaded or whatever for playing chess, having sex, drinking a beer or anything else THEY see as against Zeus or whomever.  Give me a friggin break.  Just play chess.

It upsets me that some pieces have so much more power than others. The game should be 16 pawns against 16 pawns, and the game finishes when one side has no pawns left.

And if a pawn gets to the 8th rank, it turns into a pawn that goes the other way (we'll have to put little hats on pawns going the other way or something to distinguish them from regular pawns)

Hope you found this post helpful.

Atheist anything is just wrong.

Not all crosses signify Christianity.

Otherwise, the following would be true, and they aren't:

1) The plus sign on a calculator is a Christian Operation because the plus sign is shaped like a cross.

2) The Ku Klux Klan is "baptizing" people into a Christian religion because they put a cross in your front yard, and the fire is to show that you and Christ are one, similar to a unity candle at a wedding!

If you truly believe either of those scenarios are true, you need to get your head examined!

Just because the thing on the top of the King's head is shaped like a cross doesn't mean it's the Christian Cross.  You don't see Jesus H. Christ nailed to your King, do you?

None of them, I guess, deny its existence either;-)

Honestly, if I may, it is pretty hard for me to imagine a sensible person (religious, atheistic whatever) seriously concerned about a little cross (or the lack of it) at the top of a chess piece.

And another thing...

Politically Correct chess would get rid of the whole White versus Black thing, and replace it with a variant of the game where the pieces of both colours co-existed harmoniously on the board.

After all, there's 64 squares which should be enough for 32 pieces

Nah, there's nothing politically incorrect about White and Black with White going first.

If you are going to go down that path, then I can say the Go is racist against White people as Go involves White vs Black and Black goes first!

Actually, Black has an advantage over White.  There's 1 game where White goes first (Chess) and there are 2 games where Black goes first (Checkers and Go).  The other game, Backgammon, is statistically split as to whether White or Black goes first because it depends on who throws the higher number on the first roll, which by the laws of averages, would be 50% of the time White and 50% of the time Black (or some sets use White and Red, but most are White and Black).

So 2 1/2 to 1 1/2 in favor of Black over White.  Therefore, White should be the one complaining about political incorrectness of board games!

I'm wondering if the maker of the Islamic set ever thought to change the bishop to a minaret or some representation of an imam.

Not according to alot of people, just some religious people who can't imagine what it would be like not to have a deity involved in living.  Without a myth, many think they will automatically run off the rails.

Thanks guys and remember, I never said I was offended any more than blondes offend me, I just prefer brunettes.

I wonder if the sets with the Islamic Cresents are available for purchase.  I'm not a fan of Islam (anymore than I am of Christianity) but it'd be cool to have an alternative set. :)  I could've find them anywhere via search.