Chess Tables

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Chess has been called "the Olympics of the mind" and keeping a chess table handy is a great way to ensure that you take up every opportunity to sharpen up your logical reasoning skills. Chess is the oldest game of skill played in the world, but it is much more than that. Chess is also a fascinating history lesson in miniature and it tells us much about how people lived in earlier times. No-one know for sure where chess originated, it is so old, but it is well documented to have been played for centuries in the same basic form played today with variations in naming and design but little else, in the most ancient of times in China, India, and Persia.

The game therefore was already popular and well established when it came to Europe via Spain with the Moors in the tenth or eleventh century (The movie 'El Cid' was set in Spain at this time, 'cid' being a moorish word meaning 'chief' or 'lord') and once the Spanish got the chess playing bug the rest of Europe and the West wasn't far behind. The chess set we see today refelects European 'modernisations' on the basic imported theme and the knights and bishops, kings and queens and castles have a medieval flavor which is a European refinement to that original Middle Eastern import. The Europeans found the piece names hard to pronounce and they represented a social order and culture which was of course entirely different to that to be found in Europe.

Chess tells us a great deal about the social order of the people who originated it. Pawns represent the lowest members of society, serfs and laborers. The castle represents the fortified home. The knight represents the professional soldier of olden times who was important but also frequently sacrificed by his masters when the need arose!

The great authorities in medieval times were the church and the monarchy and these are represented by the central, most critical pieces in chess, the Bishops , kings and queens.

Products on this page:

• Indoor/Outdoor Stainless Steel Table Tops
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• Wood Bar Stools - Carole
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• Black & Oak Finished Pub Table w/ Optional Stools Below
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• Steel Tube Wood Veneer Stacking Chair w Punched Hole Back - Set of 4
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• Contemporia Chrome & Natural Wood Swivel Barstools - Set of Two
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• Mies Lounge Bench (2 or 3 Seater)
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• Stainless Steel 4-Prong Table Base - Table or Bar Height
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• Rum Runner Retro Swivel Stool w Upholstered Seat & Welted Trim
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• Traditional Wrought Iron Pub Set w/ Two Brown Faux Leather Stools
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• Chrome Base Bar Table w Round Top
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• Modern 3 Pc. Pub Table Set w Chrome Bases & 2 Adjustable Air-Lift Stools
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• Chrome Steel Column Base Glass Top Pub Table
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• Wood Bar Table in Black - Add Optional Matching Stools
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• Contemporia Wood and Chrome Swivel Counter Stools - Set of Two
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• White Leather Upholstered Dining Chairs - Four Piece Set
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• Floor Mounted Swivel Bar Stool in Chrome
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• Bar Table - Coffee Finished
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• Metal X-Back Swivel Stools w Seat, Height & Finish Options
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• Indoor/Outdoor Aluminum Stacking Chairs
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• Indoor/Outdoor Stainless Steel Bistro Table w/Base
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• Aluminum Bistro/Pub Table - Indoor Use
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• Coffee Finished Bar Table w/ Four Legs
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• Chrome Bar Stool w Wooden Seat & Contoured Back
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• 4 Prong Stainless Steel Pub Table w/ Stainless Steel Top
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• Aluminum Side Chairs - Set of Two
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• Extra-Tall 33 & 36 Inch Wood Back Stools - Melissa
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• Bulldog Wooden Barstool - Oak+28 finishes, 24" to 30"
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• Rum Runner Retro Bar Stool in Chrome w Two Rings
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• Aluminum Indoor/Outdoor Bar Stool w Arms
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• Modern Air Lift Barstools, Set of Two
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• Cast Iron Table Base w/ 3" Column-4 Prong, Economy
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• Solid Birch Pub Table w/ Brass Foot Rest
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• Galaxy Chrome Diner Stool in Counter & Bar Heights
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• Metal Swivel Bar Stools w Wood Seats in Counter, Standard & Tall Heights
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• Adjustable Counter/Bar Stool w Chrome Steel Frame & Base
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• Retro Polished Chrome Swivel Bar Stools

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