How to Move the Pieces

The King

The King moves 1-square in any direction. The arrows demonstrate where the King can move based on the square it sits.

The Queen

The Queen moves like the King except she can move more than one square. Each individual arrow shows each square the Queen can move from the square upon which she sits. Directionally speaking, the queen moves up, down, left, right, and diagonally.

The Rook

The Rook moves up, down, left, and right. Like the queen, the rook can move very far. However, the Rook only moves up, down, left, and right.

The Bishop

The Bishop moves diagonally. Like the Queen and Rook, the Bishop moves very far. You will notice that the Bishop is stuck on one color. When you begin a game of chess, you get a bishop on the light squares and a bishop on the dark squares. You will learn that when we show you how the board is set up!

The Knight

The Knight is the only piece in chess that does not move in a straight line. The Knight can move to the squares where the arrows point. Some people say this is an L-Shape. If you start where the knight sits and trace, with your eyes, by moving down 2-squares and 1-square to the right, it makes an L-shape.

The Knight is also the only piece that can jump over pieces. You will learn more about this when we discuss capturing.

The Pawn

The pawn can only move in a straight line one or two squares. The only time it can move 2-squares is when it has not yet moved. However, if the pawn has already made a move, it can only move 1-square forward from that point.

Pawns are also the only pieces that capture differently than they move. Pawns may only capture pieces that are 1-square diagonally in front of them.

Lastly, pawns are the only chess piece that cannot move backwards.