Chess Basics & Piece Movements

What Is Chess?

Chess is a two-player strategy game played on an 8×8 board. Each player starts with 16 pieces. The goal is to put your opponent's king into checkmate — a position where the king is under attack and has no legal escape.

One of chess's defining features is that there is no element of luck. No dice, no random draws — every outcome comes down to the decisions both players make. That's what makes it endlessly rewarding: the better you think, the better you play.

The Six Pieces at a Glance

Each type of piece moves in a unique way. Mastering these movements is the foundation of everything in chess.

Piece	Symbol	How It Moves	Relative Value
King	♚	One square in any direction	Priceless — losing it ends the game
Queen	♛	Any number of squares in any direction	~9 points (the most powerful piece)
Rook	♜	Any number of squares horizontally or vertically	~5 points
Bishop	♝	Any number of squares diagonally (stays on one color)	~3 points
Knight	♞	L-shape (2 squares + 1 at a right angle). Can jump over pieces	~3 points
Pawn	♟	Forward 1 square (2 on first move). Captures diagonally	~1 point

Each Piece in Detail

♚ The King — Protect It at All Costs

The king moves one square in any direction — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. It can never step into a square where it would be under attack. Lose the king and you lose the game, so its safety is always the first priority.

In the opening, keep the king off the center of the board and tuck it away safely with castling (explained below) as early as you can.

♛ The Queen — Your Most Powerful Weapon

The queen combines the moves of a rook and a bishop: it can travel any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. It's the most powerful piece on the board. That power also makes it a prime target, so avoid bringing your queen out too early in the game — it can easily be chased away by weaker pieces.

♜ The Rook — Master of Open Files

Rooks move horizontally or vertically, any number of squares. They're most effective on open files (columns with no pawns in the way) and in the endgame when the board is less crowded. Two rooks working together — called a battery or connected rooks — are a devastating attacking force.

♝ The Bishop — Long-Range Diagonal Shooter

Bishops slide diagonally any number of squares. Each bishop is locked to a single color for the entire game — a light-squared bishop stays on light squares, a dark-squared bishop stays on dark. Bishops shine in open positions where their long diagonals aren't blocked by pawns.

♞ The Knight — The Leaper

The knight moves in an L-shape: two squares in one direction, then one square perpendicular. Crucially, it can jump over any pieces in its path — it's the only piece that can do this. Knights are especially effective in closed positions where other pieces are blocked, and they can control up to 8 squares at once.

♟ The Pawn — Small but Dangerous

Pawns move straight forward one square at a time. On their very first move, they may advance two squares. Unlike every other piece, pawns capture diagonally — one square forward and to the side. They can never move backward.

Don't underestimate the pawn: it has three powerful special rules (en passant, promotion, and its role in castling) and a pawn that reaches the last rank can become a queen.

Three Special Rules

1. Castling

Castling is a special move that lets you tuck your king to safety and activate your rook in one motion. The king moves two squares toward a rook, and that rook jumps to the other side of the king. You can castle on the kingside (short castling) or queenside (long castling).

You cannot castle if: the king or rook has already moved; the king is currently in check; the king would pass through or land on an attacked square; there are pieces between the king and rook.

2. En Passant

If a pawn advances two squares from its starting position and lands beside an opponent's pawn, the opponent can capture it as if it had only moved one square. This capture — called en passant (French for "in passing") — must be made immediately on the very next move or the right is lost forever. It's a tricky rule that surprises many beginners.

3. Promotion

When a pawn reaches the far end of the board (rank 8 for White, rank 1 for Black), it must be promoted to another piece: queen, rook, bishop, or knight. Almost always you'll choose a queen — but sometimes a knight promotion (called an underpromotion) is the winning move.

Reading the Board

Every square on the chessboard has a unique name. Files (columns) are labeled a–h from left to right (from White's perspective). Ranks (rows) are numbered 1–8 from bottom to top. So the square in the middle of the board might be "e4" or "d5."

White starts on ranks 1 and 2; Black starts on ranks 7 and 8. White always moves first. This coordinate system is called algebraic notation — it's how games are recorded and studied worldwide.