How Do Chess Pieces Move?

The King

The King moves one square only at a time. Moreover, the King can make this move in any direction: forwards, backwards, laterally, or diagonally. The King can take any unprotected oponent's piece which stands on an adjoining square to that he occupies.

But:

The King is not permitted to move into check.

Check means any square which is guarded by an opponent's piece (Queen, Rook, Knight, Bishop, Pawn). Also, the King can never move to an adjacent square on which the opponent's King is stationed.

The Queen

Of all the chess pieces, the Queen is the most powerful. You can move the Queen in straight lines, forwards, backwards, and sideways. The Queen is allowed to move more than one square at a time, but only if her path isn't blocked by another chess piece.

Example: if you place the Queen alone in the centre of the board, she has the moving range of twenty-seven squares. Her immense range makes the Queen such a powerful chess piece. The Queen captures like all the other chess pieces, by eliminating the opponent's piece from the board and positioning herself on the now empty square.

The Rook

Two Rooks for each player in a chess game. The Rook is the next powerful piece next to the Queen. However, the Rook's playing power is usually saved for endgame, which means that you shouldn't use the Rook too early in a chess game. The Rook moves in a

straight line, forwards, backwards, or sideways. But, the Rook can't take any opponent's pieces diagonally. On an empty board, the Rook has the range of fourteen squares. The rook can moves as many squares as you choose, but only if the path is unobstructed.

The Bishop

Two Bishops for each player in a chess game. Throughout the game, one Bishop moves on a white square, while the other Bishop is played on a black square. The Bishop moves diagonally, either forwards or backwards. The Bishop also captures diagonally as he moves. Move as many squares you want, as long as the path is clear. Important: the Bishop only ever moves on the squares of the same color as the one he occupied when the game started. On an empty board, the Bishop has a range of thirteen squares.

The Knight

Two Knights for each player. For many chess beginners, the Knight is the most difficult to understand chess piece. The Knight, as the only one of all chess pieces, is allowed to leap over other chess pieces. The Knight does not need an unobstructed path.

For instance, at the very beginning of a game, the Knight can leap over the Pawns in front of him. In addition, only a Knight or a Pawn can be played as the first move in a new game.

Move the Knight two squares in a straight line, and then one square in a side (oblique) direction.

The Pawn

For each player, 8 Pawns on the chess board. The Pawn moves only one square at a time straight forward.

Exceptions:

For the Pawn's first move, he can advance two steps, but only if the player decides to do so.

There is a rather peculiar rule, that if your Pawn passes your opponent's Pawn while you move two steps, your opponent has the option of capturing your pawn as if you had only moved one step.

To capture, the Pawn makes one step to the side (diagonally) to the right or left file where the opponent's piece is positioned.

As the only piece in a chess game, the Pawn is never allowed to move backward.

Turn your Pawn into another more powerful Piece

If a Pawn travels all the way across the chessboard, it becomes invaluable. If a Pawn reaches the last square of the file (where the opponent's pieces are), it can be turned into a different piece of your choice (except a King); usually a Pawn is turned into a Queen. However, there a games where the player turned a Pawn into a Knight because the game demanded it, thus ending the game with a checkmate.