Beginning Chess: Learning How Chess Pieces Move

There are six different shapes of chess pieces. Each of them moves in a specific way different from each of the others. Here's a guide to understanding how each piece moves.

Rook ~
The Rook (also referred to as the Castle) can move in a straight line. Across the board to your opponent in a straight line, across the board back towards you, or in a straight line side to side across the board. It can stop on either colored square, but it cannot move diagonally. Also the Rook cannot jump over any other pieces. It can only slide back and forth along a clear path. The Rook is also sometimes referred to as the Castle.

Horse ~
The Horse piece (also referred to as Knight) moves in an 'L' shape. The 'L' can be lying in either direction. For instance, two squares forward, and one square to the right or left will form an 'L' shape. Also, one step forward, and two squares to the left or right will form the 'L' shape. You can also use either of those moves in reverse. In other words, moving the Horse back towards your side of the board or moving it side to side.

When the Horse moves in its 'L' shape, the landing point on the other end of the 'L' needs to be empty for it to land in, but if the other squares along the shape of the 'L' are filled, that's okay. The Horse is the only piece that can routinely jump over other pieces. Pieces aren't captured when the Horse jumps over it, it just jumps over them harmlessly.

Bishop ~
Each player has two Bishops. When the board is set up, one of them will be beginning on a black space and the other on a white space. The Bishops can move diagonally in any direction. This means the one that started on the white space will always land on the white space. The one that started on a black space will always end up on another black space. As they slide diagonally, they cannot jump over any other pieces. They can only slide back and forth in a straight line that is clear of any other pieces.

King ~
Each player has one King. The King can move in any direction he likes; forward, backwards, side to side, or diagonally in any of the four diagonal directions. However, the King can only move one square at a time. The King is a flexible piece because he can move in any direction, but he's very slow because he can only take one step at a time.

Queen ~
Each player has one Queen. The Queen can move in any direction she likes, except for the 'L' shape of the Knight piece. Like the King, the Queen can move forwards, backwards, side to side, or on any diagonal. However, unlike the king, she can move many spaces in any direction that she likes, as long as she doesn't run into another piece. The Queen cannot jump over any other pieces.

Pawns ~
Each player has eight Pawns. They will completely fill the second row in front of each player at the beginning of the game. From those starting positions, each Pawn will move for the first time its choice of either one space or two spaces. After each Pawn has been moved once, all subsequent movements of that Pawn will be of exactly one space. Pawns can only move forward in a straight line in front of them, towards your opponent with one exception.

If a Pawn approaches an opponent's piece in the column next to it, the Pawn can move diagonally forward to take that piece. Thereafter, that pawn will be in a different column as it continues towards your opponent's side of the board. Pawns cannot move backwards. Any Pawn that successfully reaches the backline of squares of your opponent's side of the board can be exchanged for a Queen. Once it has been exchanged, it then has the freedom to move backwards or in any other direction.

These are the basic movements of the six different shapes pieces in a game of chess. A combination of moves with these pieces, keeps the game interesting and challenging.

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