How the pieces move
Six kinds of piece, each with its own move. All of them capture by landing on an opponent’s piece, and pawns capture differently from the way they move.
Jump to: King | Queen | Rook | Bishop | Knight | Pawn | What they are worth
You may not move a piece to a square where one of your own pieces stands. FIDE Laws of Chess If a piece moves to a square where an opponent’s piece stands, that piece is captured and taken off the board as part of the same move. FIDE Laws of Chess
The king, rook, bishop, queen and knight capture the same way they move. Britannica: chess
The king
The king may move to any square next to it. FIDE Laws of Chess You may not make a move that puts or leaves your own king in check. FIDE Laws of Chess
The queen
The queen may move to any square along the file, the rank or a diagonal it stands on. FIDE Laws of Chess The queen combines the powers of the rook and the bishop, which makes it the most powerful piece. Britannica: chess
The rook
The rook may move to any square along the file or the rank it stands on. FIDE Laws of Chess The bishop, rook and queen may not move over any pieces in the way. FIDE Laws of Chess
In Russia the rook was usually shown as a sailing ship until the 20th century. Britannica: chess
The bishop
The bishop may move to any square along a diagonal it stands on. FIDE Laws of Chess So each player has one bishop that only ever travels on light squares and one that only travels on dark squares. Britannica: chess
The bishop has had other names, such as “fool” in French and “elephant” in Russian. Britannica: chess
The knight
A knight moves in an L-shape: two squares one way and then one square to the side. It can jump over other pieces. Britannica: chess The knight moves to one of the nearest squares that is not on the same rank, file or diagonal. FIDE Laws of Chess
A knight always lands on a square of a different colour. Britannica: chess A knight on e4 could move to f2, g3, g5, f6, d6, c5, c3 or d2. Britannica: chess
The knight has been shown as a horse ever since chaturanga. Britannica: chess
The pawn
A pawn may move forward to the empty square right in front of it on the same file. FIDE Laws of Chess On its first move a pawn may instead go two squares forward, if both squares are empty. FIDE Laws of Chess
A pawn captures an opponent’s piece diagonally in front of it, on a file next to its own. FIDE Laws of Chess A pawn can only move forward. It can never go back. Britannica: chess
A pawn moves differently from the way it captures: it moves straight ahead but captures diagonally forward. Britannica: chess
Pawns also have two special moves, en passant and promotion: see special moves.
What the pieces are worth
Counting a pawn as 1, the other pieces are worth roughly: knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5 and queen 9. Britannica: chess Britannica adds that winning matters more than counting pieces. Britannica: chess