How the Chess Pieces Move

This is the fifth article in my series for the absolute chess beginner. This article (and the video) is about how the pieces move.

Again, I’m assuming no prior chess knowledge. If you don’t know how to set up the board or pieces, look at my previous blog post entitled “How to set up the chessboard.” In this article, we will review how the pieces move and capture. In future posts, we will see how the pawns move and capture, and review the concepts of check, checkmate, castling, and some of the special rules.

In all of these blog posts, I’m using both video and text. This will allow you the choice to learn in whichever way suits you best. Some people learn better from reading, and some from seeing or hearing. Hopefully we’ve got you covered. 🙂

Now on to how the pieces move!

In general

Generally, the pieces move and capture in a straight line. The only exception is the Knight. The pieces never move over or through their own or enemy pieces, again except the Knight, which is allowed to “jump over” both friendly and enemy pieces. The pieces cannot change direction in the middle of the move, again except for the Knight, which makes an “L” shaped move.

In most cases, your piece can not move through your own pieces. Your pieces will block the movement of your own pieces. The enemy pieces block the movement of your pieces as well; though if an enemy piece blocks your movement, you can capture it (with one exception, which I’ll cover in a future article).

How to capture

A word about capturing. You can only capture the enemy pieces, never your own. In every instance (with one exception … the mysterious en passant capture by the pawn), a capture is made by moving your piece to the square where the enemy piece stands, removing the enemy piece, and replacing it with your own. You can only capture one enemy piece per turn.

How does the King move?

Let’s start with the King, which is the simplest. The King can move (or capture) one square in any direction. If you put your King in the center of an empty board, you can see that he can move to eight different squares. If an enemy piece were standing on any of those squares, the King could capture that piece by moving onto the square where the piece is standing. The captured piece is removed and the King replaces it where it stood.

The King can also make a special move called “castling.” I have two articles on castling … which is a combined move of the King and Rook. (See Castling, part 1 and part 2.)

How does the Rook move?

The Rook moves vertically or horizontally in a straight line. It can move forward or backward, left or right. Again, like the King, the Rook can capture any enemy piece that is in its line of movement. In capturing, the Rook replaces the enemy piece, which is removed from the board.

How does the Knight move?

The Knight’s move is “L” shaped. It can move up two and over one, or up one and over two. It can also move back two and over one, or back one and over two. Watch the video to see the Knight move demonstrated. The Knight is unique among the pieces in that it can “jump over” friendly or enemy pieces. Thus, in the starting position, all the other pieces require the pawns to move to get out of the way. The Knight can move regardless of the blocking pawns and pieces. The Knight captures only pieces that are on the square it would land on; it doesn’t capture any enemy pieces that it can “jump over.” None of the other pieces are allowed to make this “jumping” move … well … except for castling, which we’ll cover in another article. (See the links above.)

How does the Bishop move?

The Bishop moves diagonally any number of unobstructed squares. It can move either forward or backward. And it can capture any enemy piece that is obstructing its movement. You should note that a Bishop always moves on the same colored squares. White’s Queen-side Bishop, which starts on a dark square (the c1 square), remains on the dark squares for the entire game. This goes for all the Bishops.

How does the Queen move?

I’ve saved the best for last! The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and perhaps the simplest to explain its movement. It can move any number of spaces in a straight line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. It can move either forward or backward, and captures any enemy piece that would block its movement.

How does the Pawn move and capture?

I have another article devoted to how the Pawn moves and captures.

The Chess Rule book!

If you want to get a good book to explain the rules of chess from a practical standpoint, you can’t do better than Learn Chess: A Complete Course. And if you want the official version of the rules from the U.S. Chess Federation, get the chess rule book.

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I (or some friendly visitor) will try to answer your question. Be sure to read the rest of the blog posts about how the pieces move.