Some people claim that pawns are not pieces, and that each player has sixteen chessmen, eight of which are pieces and the other eight are pawns. Others claim that this used to be the case but all sixteen (or thirty–two) are now considered to be pieces.
Wikipedia muddies the water still further, saying that "The word 'piece' has three meanings, depending on the context." In general, it explains, the words 'piece' and 'chessman' are synonymous; but "In play, the term is usually used to exclude pawns, referring only to a queen, rook, bishop, knight, or king. In this context, the pieces can be broken down into three groups: major pieces (queen and rook), minor pieces (bishop and knight), and the king." And thirdly, "In phrases such as 'winning a piece', 'losing a piece' or 'sacrificing a piece' and other related contexts, it refers only to minor pieces (bishops or knights). The queen, rook, and pawn are specified by name in these cases – for example, 'winning a queen', 'losing a rook', or 'sacrificing a pawn'."
As if to illustrate the first context (and negate the claim that opened this note), Paragraph 2.2 of the FIDE Laws of Chess states that "At the beginning of the game one player has 16 light–coloured pieces (the 'white' pieces); the other has 16 dark–coloured pieces (the 'black' pieces)."
In quizzes, to avoid any ambiguity, it may be better to ask how many vacant squares there are at the start of a game!
© Haydn Thompson 2020