Well, that’s not exactly true. However, there is a standard that most sets adhere to known as the Staunton pattern. While other collectible and novelty sets, like a Franklin Mint Civil War set or even a Simpsons set, are popular, they do not adhere to the Staunton standard and are therefore not permitted for use in tournament play.

As you can see above, each of the Knights has their own unique characteristics, but, with the exception of the far left example, they follow the standard of a horse’s head. Even though each main piece in every set has its own distinct design features, I have found that the Knights tend to define a set more so than other pieces.

In the image above, the knights shown are from the following sets (listed left to right): Ganine “Gothic” Tournament Edition set, House of Staunton “Zagreb ’59” series, Kasparov Signature set, DGT Projects “Timeless” set, House of Staunton “Collector” series, generic set, House of Staunton “Classic” series, and House of Staunton “Marshall” series.