Quick Summary

➡ The King moves in all directions one square at a time.
➡ The Queen is also able to move in all directions, but as many squares as it wants.
➡ The Rook can only move vertically and horizontally, as many squares as it wants.
➡ The Bishop only moves diagonally - as many squares as you want.
➡ The Knight moves like an L and can “jump” over other pieces.
➡ The Pawn captures diagonally and moves vertically, one square at a time, with the possibility of moving two squares at once on its first move.

Photo: Lennart Ootes.

Welcome to the World of Chess!

Are you new to chess and want to learn how the chess pieces move to start playing?

You've come to the right place.

We have put together a comprehensive guide to show you how to move each piece so you can start playing your first game right away.

You will also learn about:

🔵 The chessboard.
🔵 Chess notation.
🔵 The value of the pieces.
🔵 And some basic chess strategies to win your first games!

Without further ado, let’s get cracking!

Photo: Lennart Ootes.

Introducing the Chess Pieces and their Names

Two players—one White and the other Black—play chess on a board with 64 squares.

White always starts the game by making the first move.

Each side starts the game with 16 pieces each.

✅ 1 King.
✅ 1 Queen.
✅ 2 Rooks.
✅ 2 Bishops.
✅ 2 Knights.
✅ 8 Pawns.

In order to win at chess, your only goal must be to checkmate your opponent's King before they can checkmate you.

In order to do this, you need to create chess strategies that allow you to attack your opponent and corner their King so that it is impossible for it to escape.

More on checkmate will be discussed below, but for now, let's learn how chess pieces move, using examples.

Photo by Yanni Panesa on StockSnap

How Chess Pieces Move

Before you get into deep chess strategy and tactics, you need to understand how chess pieces move.

This is the easiest part of chess. Believe us.

Let’s get started.

Photo: Lennart Ootes.

King Chess Moves

The King can move in any direction, but only one square at a time.

In comparison to the Queen, Rooks, Bishops, and Knights, it is a fairly weak piece because it has very little board mobility.

The way the King can capture an enemy piece is also in any direction.

The King is the only chess piece that cannot capture an enemy piece that is protected by another enemy piece.

This is because the King can never be in a situation where the opponent has the opportunity to capture your King and vice versa.

In case that happens in any of your games, you should know that it's an illegal move.

Photo: Lennart Ootes.

Queen Chess Moves

The Queen is by far the most powerful piece in chess.

Why?

Because it can move in any direction, as many squares as you like.

The way the Queen moves allows it to go from one corner of the chessboard to the other in only one move.

So the Queen can be used to attack one side of the board and defend at the same time the opposite side.

This is true for the Rook and the Bishop too (see below), but none of them can cover as much ground as the Queen does.

Rook Chess Moves

The Rook can move as many squares as you want, but always in a straight line.

It can be vertically or horizontally.

Bishop Chess Moves

Like the Queen and the Rook, the Bishop can move an unlimited number of squares, but it can only move diagonally.

Knight Chess Moves

This is probably the hardest chess piece move to learn.

The Knight moves in an L - two squares in a straight line and one to the side.

The Knight is the only piece in the game of chess that can “jump” over other pieces.

Pawn Chess Moves

The Pawns have many possible moves in chess.

♟ First of all, they always move forward, never backward.
♟ Then, if they do not capture any piece, they only move in a straight line.

♟ If they are going to capture a piece, they only do it diagonally.

♟ If it’s the first time a given Pawn will be moved, the player has the chance to move it one or two squares, but that’s the only time this is possible.

♟ If a pawn reaches the last rank, it can be promoted into a Queen, Rook, Bishop or Knight.

♟ Finally, if your pawn is on the 5th rank and an enemy pawn moves two squares up, landing on the square next to your pawn, you can capture your opponent’s pawn diagonally towards the sixth rank. This is a very special move called en passant.

Castling in Chess - A Very Special Move

We already know that the King is the most important piece in chess.

If the King is checkmated, the game ends.

So, what can we do in order to further protect our monarch?

One of the best ways to create a shelter for your King on the board is called castling.

This is a special chess move in which the King and the Rook switch places, although not exactly. See the diagram below.

The short castling in the example above depicts how the King moves from square e1 to square g1 and the Rook moves from square h1 to square f1 in a single turn.

After castling has taken place, it cannot be done again for the rest of the game.

Also, if the King has moved, the player loses the right to castle for the rest of the game.

Finally, here's an example of long castling.

Basic Chess Rules

Now that we know how chess pieces move, let’s go over some of the basic rules of chess.

🔱 Rule 1 - The King cannot be captured. Capturing the King is an illegal move. You can only deliver checkmate (see below for a further explanation of what checkmate is).

🔱 Rule 2 - If the King is in check, it has to escape from that situation in the next move.
🔱 Rule 3 - Pieces can’t jump over each other. The only exception to this rule is the Knight, which moves in an L-shape and can jump over the other pieces.
🔱 Rule 4 - The only way to occupy a square with an enemy piece on it is to capture that piece.
🔱 Rule 5 - Players can agree to a draw, which means that the game ends in a tie.
🔱 Rule 6 - None of the players can skip a turn.

How to Deliver a Checkmate in Chess

A check is a direct attack on the King.

Checkmate is declared when the King is unable to escape from check on its own or with the assistance of other pieces.

Below you will see a couple of examples of different checkmates.

Chess Piece "Value"

This is one of the most controversial topics in chess.

Each chess piece is assigned a specific numeric value.

☑ Queen - 9 points
☑ Rook - 5 points
☑ Bishop - 3.5 points
☑ Knight - 3 points
☑ Pawn - 1 point

The King is not included on this list because it is necessary for the game to proceed.

However, the value of the pieces is relative.

This means that depending on the position we have on the board, a piece can increase or decrease its value.

Sometimes dramatically!

Let’s see a few examples in which the value of each piece changes.

Chessboard Orientation

One of the most important things when starting a game of chess is the chessboard orientation.

Always make sure there is a light square in the bottom-right corner.

If you are playing and see that you have a dark square in the bottom-right corner rather than a light one, rearrange the pieces and start over.

How to Record the Moves of the Chess Pieces

Chess notation is very helpful when you are playing an over-the-board game or tournament.

By recording all the moves of the game, you will be able to analyze them later at home.

So how does chess notation work?

You will notice that most chessboards have coordinates on the sides.

Vertical lines are called files and are named from A to H, and horizontal lines are called ranks and go from 1 to 8.

When you move a piece, you have to take two things into consideration:

-Which piece it is.
-Which square it lands on.

So, if you moved your Rook to the square located on the H file and on the third rank, the move you should record is Rh6.

Pawn movements only indicate the square the Pawn landed on, so if you moved a pawn to the f5 square, you should write simply f5.

When you move the Knight, the letter you have to use to record that move is the N. This is done to avoid any confusion with the King, that also starts with a K.

Let’s see some other examples.

Chess Pieces in the Opening

Chess games are roughly divided into three main phases: opening, middlegame, and endgame.

Throughout these phases, the pieces and Pawns adopt various roles that change as long as the game goes on.

In the opening, our main goal is threefold:

⏩ Occupy and gain control of the center of the board.
⏩ Develop our pieces.
⏩ Protect our King by castling.

In the diagram below, the White pieces have done things right by following these 3 steps to perfection.

In the diagram that follows, White, however, has failed to check off every item on the aforementioned checklist.

Chess Pieces in the Middlegame

After the opening is completed, the middlegame arises.

Things start to become more complicated at this point in the game.

As soon as all the pieces are on the board, chess tactics and strategies can begin to be used.

We will cover basic chess tactics and strategy in other articles, but here are a couple of examples of useful chess tactics you can use.

Chess Pieces in the Endgame

This one is the final stage of the game.

Both players have fought in the middlegame to get an advantage.

Now only a few pieces are left on the board, and no mistakes can be made if you want to win the game.

The endgame in chess may appear to be the easiest of all the phases at first glance because there are fewer pieces involved, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

The way you play with your Pawns and your King at this stage is key.

In the endgame, the main goal is usually to try to get one of your Pawns to be promoted into a Queen.

Let’s see an example of how to win an endgame.

Conclusion

We hope this article helped you to understand how chess pieces move and that you are now ready to play your first game with confidence.

Chess is a 1500-year-old game and the strategies and tactics available are countless.

You have now taken the first step into one of the most amazing board games ever invented.

We are excited to be part of your journey, and we want to share with you below some extra resources you can use to dig deeper into your chess path!

Useful Resources to Improve at Chess

Chess24 free chess school

I'm not a Beginner Beginner but I'm a Beginner

Checkmate Puzzles for Beginners

1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners

The Susan Polgar Method for Scholastic Chess Training