How does the King move and capture?

The king can move one square in any direction. The king can also capture an opponent's piece if it is on one of those squares... assuming of course that the opponent is not defending this piece! The king can NEVER move on to a square that the opponent controls. Doing so would move the king into check.

. . . .

The first example illustrates how the king moves. It can move to any square marked with an "X"

In the second diagram, the king can move to any of the marked squares or capture the black rook because the rook is one square away and is undefended. But the king may not move to one of the squares controlled by the black rook even though the rook is undefended.

In the third diagram, the black rooks defend each other. The white king has only one legal move because the king cannot move to a square controlled by the enemy rooks.

Finally, it is important to add that if the king is under attack (in check), the next move MUST make sure that the attack has been stopped. There are three possibilities. The king must move out of check. Or... the attacking piece must be captured. Or... a piece must be moved between the attacker and the king in order to eliminate the direct attack. If the king is under attack AND there is no immediate way to end the attack, the game is over. CHECKMATE!

Castling

The king is permitted to take part in a very special move, the only chess move that actually involves two pieces at the same time! In the following diagram, the white king can castle on either side of the board. To castle, move the king two squares toward the rook, and then move the rook to the square immediately on the other side of the king.

For castling to be legal, make sure

• (1) that your king and rook have never moved.
• (2) that your king is not under attack. You may not castle out of check.
• (3) that your king is not passing through or arriving upon a square controlled by the opponent.
• (4) that all of the squares between the king and rook are vacant.

You may castle if your rook is under attack. You may even castle if your rook passes through a square controlled by your opponent.

Here's where the king and rook end up after castling on each side of the board.

So why castle? See below under the section "King strategy"

The Queen

The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board.

She can move up and down on Files,
back and forth on the Ranks,
criss-cross the board on the Diagonals.

How does the Queen move and capture?

The queen combines the powers of both the rook and the bishop. As such, it can move horizontally, vertically, or on the diagonal. In a sense, it's like the king in that it can move in any direction. Unlike the king, however, it can move far in one direction so long as there are no pieces in its path.

In the diagram, the queen can move to any of the squares marked with an "X" Like the rook and the bishop, the queen captures as it moves. In this position, the queen can capture the enemy rook, knight, or bishop, but it may not jump over any of the pieces on the board.

The diagram shows clearly how powerful the queen is. Use it carefully. As you will learn, it is very risky to bring the queen out early because, if you lose your queen, you are likely to lose the game!

How does the Rook move and capture?

The rook can move any number of squares in straight line, horizontally or vertically, but the rook may not jump a piece of either color.

In the diagram, the rook can move to any square marked with an "X" As you can see, the rook captures as it moves. The rook can capture the enemy bishop or the knight, but it may not jump over these pieces.

How does the Knight move and capture?

The Knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces! The knight always moves like the letter "L" Keep in mind, though, that the letter can be sideways or even upside-down and backwards!

In the diagram, the knight can move to any of the squares marked with an "X" Note that the white knight cannot move to the square occupied by the white bishop. No exceptions here. Two pieces can never occupy the same square!

How does the Bishop move and capture?

The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally, but like the rook, it may not jump a white or black piece. Like the rook, it can move forward or backward, but in only one direction at a time.

In the diagram, the bishop can move to any square marked with an "X" Like the rook, the bishop captures as it moves. In this position, the bishop can capture the enemy rook or the knight, but it may not jump over these pieces.

At the beginning of the game, each side has a "white-squared" and "dark-squared" bishop. Because they move diagonally, the bishops will always remain on a square of the same color on which they started the game.

How does the Pawn move and capture?

The Pawn is the only piece that moves differently from how it captures. The pawn, like the foot-soldier in war, marches forward one square at a time. Unlike the other pieces, the pawn can NEVER retreat. Pawn that have not yet moves have the option of beginning their forward journey with a double move two-squares forward. The pawns may not jump other pieces or pawns.

The pawn captures differently from how it moves. The pawn captures diagonally ONLY one square ahead, as if it were fighting on its side with a short sword.

. .

In the first diagram, the white pawn can move to any of the squares marked with an "X" By contrast, the black pawn, having already moved, has only one option.

In the second diagram, the white pawn can move straight ahead, or else capture the black knight or the black bishop. Meanwhile, the black pawn is about to move to the end of the board. When a pawn reaches the last rank, it becomes another piece! In most situations, it will become a queen; you may not leave it as a pawn and you may not promote it into a king. As a result of pawn promotion, it is possible to have many queens on the board at the same time!

Capturing "En Passant"

The pawn is also able to capture in a most unusual way. This is one of the trickiest moves to learn and the single move that causes consternation among beginners. A small bit of history helps to introduce and to understand the en passant (French for "while passing") capture. During the early days of chess, pawns could only move a single square at a time. Several changes were introduced in Europe to speed up the game. One of these changes permitted pawns to move two squares if they had not yet moved.

But this rule change introduced an unfortunate situation. A pawn could now move all the way down the board to become a queen without the opponent's pawn ever having a chance to capture it. In the following diagram, it is white's move. When the White pawn moves forward two squares in a single move, the Black pawn on the neighboring file wants to be able to capture the pawn before the white pawn can advance further. The en passant rule applies here. For one move, AND ONE MOVE ONLY, the black pawn can respond by capturing the White pawn as if it had only moved a single square. To effect the capture, move the black pawn forward diagonally and remove the white pawn.

Note that only pawns can capture "en passant," and only a pawn on an adjacent file can capture in this way.