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How the pieces move

King, queen, rook, bishop, knight and pawn each move in their own way. Learn them all from the diagrams.

Learn how these six pieces move and you are ready to play chess online.

The board and the starting position

The board has 8 × 8 = 64 squares. The columns are called files and are labelled a to h; the rows are called ranks and are numbered 1 to 8. Every square has a name: e4 is where the e-file meets the 4th rank. When the board is set up correctly, each player has a light square in their bottom-right corner.

Each side has 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. White starts on ranks 1 and 2, Black on ranks 7 and 8. Each queen starts on a square of her own colour: the white queen on d1 (a light square), the black queen on d8 (a dark square).

Capturing

Moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece captures it, and the captured piece leaves the board. Apart from the knight, no piece can jump over other pieces. A piece of your own blocks the way, and you can never move onto a square your own piece is on. Only the pawn captures differently from the way it moves (see below).

King

The king moves one square in any direction. It is the most important piece: if your king is checkmated, you lose the game. That is why the king can never move to a square where it could be captured.

Queen

The queen moves any number of squares in a straight line, along a file, a rank or a diagonal, until something is in the way. It is the most powerful piece.

Rook

The rook moves any number of squares along a file or a rank.

Bishop

The bishop moves any number of squares diagonally. That means a bishop always stays on squares of one colour: each side has one bishop for the light squares and one for the dark squares.

Knight

The knight moves in an L shape: two squares along a file or rank, then one square to the side. It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces, and every time it moves, it lands on a square of the other colour.

Pawn

A pawn only moves forward, one square at a time, and can never move backwards. The first time each pawn moves, it may go two squares instead of one.

A pawn captures differently from the way it moves: it captures one square diagonally forward. If a piece stands directly in front of it, the pawn can't move forward.

Pawns have two more special rules: promotion when they reach the last rank, and en passant. See Special moves.

What each piece is worth

These are the usual estimates, used to judge whether a trade is a good one. The +1 and +3 in the player bars are counted this way.

For example, giving up a knight for your opponent's rook means trading 3 points for 5, which is a good deal. The points are only a guide, though: where the pieces stand matters too.

Got the moves? Try them out in a real game of free chess against the computer.