Step-by-Step Guide to How Each Chess Piece Moves

Let's begin with the pawn, chess's foot soldier and most numerous piece. Pawns have the most complex movement rules despite being the weakest pieces. A pawn moves forward one square, but on its first move, it has the option to advance two squares. This two-square initial move helps speed up the opening phase of the game. Pawns can never move backward, making pawn moves particularly committal—once advanced, a pawn can never retreat. Pawns capture differently from how they move: they capture diagonally forward one square. This means a pawn on e4 can capture on d5 or f5 but moves to e5. This unique capture pattern creates the tactical richness of pawn play.

The rook moves horizontally or vertically any number of squares. It cannot jump over pieces, so it needs open files (vertical) or ranks (horizontal) to be effective. A rook on e4 can move to any square on the e-file (e1, e2, e3, e5, e6, e7, e8) or the fourth rank (a4, b4, c4, d4, f4, g4, h4), assuming no pieces block its path. Rooks are particularly powerful in endgames when the board opens up and they can control entire files or ranks. They're also crucial for castling, a special move that helps protect the king. Beginning players often underutilize rooks because they start in the corners and are hard to develop early.

The bishop moves diagonally any number of squares but cannot jump over pieces. Each player starts with one light-squared bishop and one dark-squared bishop, and these bishops can never change the color of squares they travel on. A bishop on c1 (a light square) will always remain on light squares, while a bishop on f1 (a dark square) always stays on dark squares. This color-bound limitation means bishops work best in pairs, covering both light and dark squares. Bishops excel in open positions with long diagonals available and are particularly powerful when controlling long diagonals like a1-h8 or h1-a8.

The knight has the most unique movement in chess, moving in an "L" shape: two squares in one direction and one square perpendicular, or one square in one direction and two squares perpendicular. A knight on e4 can move to d2, f2, c3, g3, c5, g5, d6, or f6. The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces, making it valuable in closed positions. Knights are tricky for beginners because their movement pattern isn't linear like other pieces. A helpful way to remember knight movement is that a knight always moves to a square of the opposite color from where it starts.

The queen combines the powers of the rook and bishop, moving any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. This makes the queen the most powerful piece on the board, capable of controlling up to 27 squares from a central position. A queen on e4 can move like a rook (along the e-file or fourth rank) or like a bishop (along the diagonals through e4). The queen's power makes it a primary attacking piece, but its value also makes it a target. Beginners often bring their queen out too early, where it becomes vulnerable to attack by less valuable pieces.

The king moves one square in any direction: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. While this makes the king relatively weak in terms of mobility, the king is the most important piece because the game ends when the king is checkmated. A king on e4 can move to d3, e3, f3, d4, f4, d5, e5, or f5. The king has a special move called castling (covered in detail in the next chapter) that helps it reach safety. Despite its importance, the king often plays an active role in endgames when there are fewer pieces to threaten it. Understanding that the king is both the most important and one of the weakest pieces is crucial for chess strategy.