Chess Set = 16 pieces per team: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks/castle, 2 bishops, 2 knights/horses, and 8 pawns per player.
(32 pieces in total)

All pieces have been worked in continuous rounds (unless otherwise stated) using US crochet terms.
This is not an exact pattern, but should be a good enough guide to get you there - you may need to make changes depending on your choice of yarn and corks.

Knights
I’m using the little knights as the ‘pawns’ (pattern link above) - make 8 per team, using wine corks.

I used a smaller hook than the one recommended in the pattern (a 3.0mm hook) and worked 4 rounds of colour to make them the correct length for the corks that I have.

Basic Champagne Cork Cover
The basic champagne cork is used for all other pieces in various ways.
Rnd 1: Work 6 sc in a magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc 3 times (15 sts).
Rnd 4: 1sc in each sc around – (15 sts).
Rnd 5: Working in back loops only …..2sc in next st, 1sc in ea of next 4sts 3 times. (18sts)
Rnd 6: Working in both loops again, 1sc in ea st around. (18sts).
Rnds 7-9: 1sc in ea st around. (18sts).
From here on, I slip the cover onto the champagne cork and continue to crochet around the cork….it’s a little fiddly, but I wanted the cork covered quite snugly so that it won’t come off.
Rnd 10: (1dec, 4sc) 3times. (15sts).
Rnds 11 – 15: 1sc in ea st around. (15sts).
Slip stitch into next st, then work 1ch and 1round of reverse sc (or crab stitch) to finish off.

Castle/Rook
Cover champagne cork with basic cover.
Attach yarn to one of stitches from the front loops that remain from Rnd 5, ch1 then work 1sc in each stitch around, sl st to join. (15)
Rnds 2&3: Ch1, 1sc in ea st around, sl st to join. (15)
Rnd 4: (Ch2, 1hdc in same st, 1hdc in next st, 2ch, sl st into next 3sts) x 3, ch2, 1hdc in same st, 1hdc in next st, ch2, sl st in same space, sl st in next 2sts, finish off.

Work 1 row of surface crochet around the outside of the cork, just under the Rnd 5 row, finish off. If you wish to make your castle taller, sew it to another covered champagne cork.

King, Queen and Bishop – Head/Body
Make one King and one Queen head/body pieces per team and two Bishops per team - you will also need 8 basic champagne corks covered to use for their legs - you’ll need to make 4 corks in each team’s colours.
Rnd 1: Work 6 sc in a magic ring (6 sts).
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sts).
Rnd 3: 2 sc in next sc, sc in next 3 sc 3 times (15 sts).
Rnd 4: 1sc in each sc around – (15 sts).
Rnd 5: Working in back loops only…..2sc in next st, 1sc in ea of next 4sts 3 times. (18sts)
Rnd 6: Working in both loops again, 1sc in ea st around. (18sts). If you wish to use ‘team colours’ for the top half of your Queen, change colour here.
Ch1, turn, then work 1sc in ea of the next 12sts, ch1, turn.
Work 12sc, 6ch, place crocheted piece onto cork, work1sc into the first sc of the round, 1sc in next 11sts, 6sc over the chain.
2sctog, 1sc in ea of next 8sts, 2sctog. From this point, continue working 1sc in ea st around until you reach the base of the cork, then work one more round of sc, finish off here for the Kings and Bishops - leave yarn attached and see below for the continuation of the Queen’s dress.
Stitch the base row of this piece to row 5 of a cork with the basic cork cover to form the body of the King and Bishop – the bottom cork will be the legs.

Back of Queens Dress
End your sc rounds (if looking at the face of your Queen…) in line with the left hand side of the face……
Ch1, turn, working in the back loops only 1sc in next 12sts, ch1, turn,
Working in both loops again, 1sc in ea of next 5sts, 2sc in next st, 1sc in next 6sts, turn.
At this stage, I sewed the top half of the Queen to the bottom – using the front loops of the 12sc of the dress – you can wait until you’ve finished the dress and then sew them together.
Row 1 of shells: (Skip 1 stitch, 5dc in next st, sk next st, sl st into the next) x 3, 3ch, turn.
Row 2 of shells: 2dc in same st, sl st into top of shell from previous row, (5dc into the valley between shells, sl st into top of shell from previous row) x 2, 3dc into last st, turn.
Row 3 of shells: (5dc into the valley between shells, sl st into top of shell from previous row) x 3, ch3, turn.
Repeat rows 2 and 3 until your dress reaches the bottom of the cork, finish off.
I used the metallic yarn to work a row of single crochet around the outside edge of the dress and stitched both front corners of the dress to the body of the cork. I stitched a row of metallic yarn across the waist.

Kings and Queens - Crown;
For these I used a 2.0mm hook and some metallic thread.
Fdsc15, (20fdsc for the Queens) sl st to join being careful not to twist your foundation chain, ch1, 1sc in ea st around, sl st to join.
(Skip next st, 3dc in next st, to form a picot - 3ch, sl st into 1st chain, 3dc in same st, skip next st, sl st into next st) x 4 for King’s crown ( x 5 for Queen’s crown). My King’s crown has 4 points and the Queens have 5 points…..you can do all of them the same – it’s entirely up to you!

King’s Sash;
Ch 30, 1hdc in 3rd ch from hook, 1hdc in ea st to end, finish off.
Sc around the outer edge of the sash with the metallic yarn – working (1sc, 1ch, 1sc) in each corner, , finish off and stitch to your King.

Bishop Hat
Join yarn at center back of head on Rnd 5 sts, work 1sc in ea st around, sl st to join. (15)
Ch6, 1sc st into same st, 7sc, ch6, 1sc st into same st, 7sc, sl st to join, turn, sl st 2, turn.
Work (7dc, 2ch, 7dc) into chain space, skip 2sts, 3sc, (7dc, 2ch, 7dc) into chain space, skip 2sts, 3sc, (1sc in each of 7dc, 1sc, 1ch, 1sc in 2ch space, 1sc in ea of 7dc) x 2, finish off – leave a tail for some stitching.
To make your Bishop’s hat stand up, stitch together the first 3sc’s on each side of the hat.

Bishop’s Cloak;
Fdsc 12, ch2, turn.
2hdc in same st, 1hdc in ea of next 2sts, (2hdc in next st, 2hdc) to end, 2ch, turn.
1hdc in ea st to end, ch1, turn.
1sc in ea st to end, ch1, work a row of rev sc (crab stitch), finish off.

The Bishop’s belt is a length of chain long enough to sit around the waist. The sash is a row of hdc sewn to the waistband. The chain and cross is stitched with a chain st and a couple of long stitches for the cross using metallic thread.

Horse (Knight)
The ‘Knight’ is a Knight riding on a horse, using a combination of 2 wine corks and 1 champagne cork per ‘horse/knight’. You will need to make 2 per team.
See pics for a rough idea of construction of the horses.

Horse Head;
5sc in a magic ring (5)
Rnd 1: (inc) around.
Rnd 2: (1sc,inc) around.
Rnd 3: (2sc,inc) around.
Rnds 4 & 5: 1sc in ea st around.
Rnd 6: 5sc, dec, 1sc, dec, dec, 1sc, dec, 5sc
Rnd 7: (1sc, dec) around, 1sc.
Rnd 8: 4sc, inc, 1sc, inc, 4sc
Rnd 9: dec, 9sc, dec.
Rnd 10: 1sc in ea st around.
Begin to stuff at this point - add just enough stuffing to keep the shape, try not to over-fill as the head will be too heavy.
Rnd 11: inc, dec, 1sc, inc, 1sc, inc, 1sc, dec, inc.
Rnd 12: dec around, finish off.
Add more filling if it’s needed and finish off.
The finishing/last round of the head is the nose end of your horses head.

Horses Neck;
13 chain
1: 1sc in ea st around.
2: 1sc in ea st around.
3: 1sc in ea st around.
4: (sc, inc) around, 1sc.
5: 1sc in ea st around.
Finish off and sew the smaller end of the neck to the horses head. A wine cork will go into the neck - it will need to be cut on an angle to get the correct position on the champagne cork. I attached the wine cork to the larger champagne cork with a wooden skewer but you could also glue it.

Horses Ears;
4ch, 1hdc in 2nd ch from hook, 2hdc, ch1, turn.
Sk 1st hdc, hdc the last 2sts together, ch1, finish off leaving a small tail to sew ear to head.
The top point of the ear is where your finishing yarn comes out - use a needle to thread the yarn down to the bottom of your starting row and stitch ear to the head along the bottom of your starting row.

Modified Knight on Horse
Work knight pattern up and including to Rnd 9, continue to work the round until you are in line with the st at the edge of the face (approx. a ½ round). Change back to grey - 1ch, turn, 10sc, 1ch, turn.
2sc in 1st st, 4sc, 2sc in next st, 3sc, 2sc in last st, finish off.