Kings and queens and bishops from the Occident, the Orient, and even the South Seas will rule over the Semitic Museum beginning this week, as one of the finest collections of chessmen in the world opens to public display.

Little chessmen, small enough to be packed into a thimble; big chessmen, large enough to serve as bookends; crude chessmen, roughly hewn out of wood; and sparkling chessmen, delicately fashioned in precious metals--all will be included in the exhibit.

They will continue on exhibition throughout the summer, daily, but not Sundays, from 9 to 5 o'clock, as a special Tercentenary feature.

The pieces in the display are 110 selected sets, a loan from Mr. G.A. Pfeiffer, of New York City, and include the famous Hammond collection from London. Together they cover a period of four centuries.

Ancient Chinese craftsmen, working in clear and cloudy amber, produced one of the most spectacular of the sets. The squares are alternately clear and cloudy amber, with mythical Oriental gods, beasts or fishes appearing through the transparent squares. The set is reputed to have belonged to the late Dowager Empress, who kept it in the ill-fated Summer Palace at Peiping.

From Burma came a gem-like set, the board being made of minute marquetry squares alternating with carvings in natural wood. The men are of ivory, introducing such unusual figures as tigers, camels, and water buffalo.

Historical events are represented in a group of figures participating in the defense of Constantinople against the Saracons in 718; and a set in which the white pieces represent Columbus, Ferdinand, Isabella and the Pinta, and the black represent American Indians, birds and beasts.

A small board of solid gold, with gold and silver pieces, is said to have been the property of the Czarina of Russia. Near it stands a larger set with silver and gold squares on a chased silver stand.