Chess Squares Recipe | Simple Southern Dessert Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are chess squares made of? ›

This straightforward recipe uses basic ingredients, most of which you probably have in your pantry, like eggs, softened butter, cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar. These ingredients combine to create a custard-like filling reminiscent of chess pie, yielding a delightfully uncomplicated, soft, gooey-baked treat.

Compared to other custard-based pastries, the chess pie holds up relatively well at room temperature. Often, it was stored in something called a "pie chest." The word "chest," some say, eventually became "chess." Southern gentlemen liked to enjoy the dessert after dinner while they played chess.

The files – going up to board – are labeled a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h. The ranks – going across the board – are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (starting from the White side of the board) (note: the White side is always on the bottom when it's drawn).

But in Europe, ivory was preferred for making of European chessmen. African ivory taken from the African elephant was used. At that time all the European chess pieces were made of African ivory while Eastern sets are of Indian. Quartz is a mineral used for making Hard Chess Sets.

The United States Chess Federation (USCF) states that square size should be anywhere from 2 inches to 2.5 inches, while the king's height should be 3.375 inches to 4.5 inches. The standard USCF tournament set has 2.25 inch squares and a king's height of 3.75 inches.

Both pies are very similar but have a few distinct differences. Like a chess pie, buttermilk pie starts with the same main components of butter, sugar, and eggs. But instead of milk and lemon juice (or vinegar), it uses straight buttermilk to give it a tart lusciousness.

Chess pie may look unassuming, but it is extremely rich and intensely sweet—you might be surprised if you've never tasted it before. The gooey filling is made from traditional pantry staples: sugar, butter, eggs, and cornmeal.

Jefferson Davis pie is similar to chess pie, but Jefferson Davis pie may also contain spices, nuts, or dried fruits and is usually topped with meringue.

There are stories that use wheat instead of rice, but in either case, 1 doubled 64 times yields the number 18 followed by 18 zeros.

The strongest squares or the best squares are the ones defended by pawns. These squares are also very good for knights and bishops. Pieces that are defended by pawns on these squares are also difficult to attack.

What is magic square in chess? ›

The expression magic square is commonly used for any arrangement of squares, like the squares on a board for playing chess or draughts, in which the individual square cells contain numbers such that the sum of the numbers along any row, column or diagonal produces the same result.

Chess pieces begin life as shapeless blocks of hardwood. It's important that a high grade of solid hardwood is used, any voids or knots will render the chess piece a reject (or at least it should do). Typical woods for chess piece production include boxwood, ebony, rosewood, and sandalwood.

Baize is the Authentic Fabric

The original base pads would have been baize, and that's the correct choice for the replacements.

Ebonised Boxwood is a stained version of Boxwood. Because Boxwood is cheaper than Ebony it is used as an alternative to real Ebony. It is commonly used to make chess pieces, the black side obviously; a very convincing attempt at producing an Ebony effect.

Types of material used in Chess

Plastic Chess sets now outnumber wooden ones by a huge order of magnitude. However, for serious players, connoisseurs, aficionados and collectors alike, wood remains the substrate of choice.