Did those songs that you were hearing end? Do you want to hear them again?

The King

Ok, do you remember what the king looks like? I hope so, if not, here's a quick refresher:

Because the king is the most important piece in the game and he is not aloud to walk into "Check" (explained later) or, in other words, walk into a place where he can be captured, which will be explained in this section, he cannot be able to move all over the board or the game would be impossible because you could not trap him. Think of it like in actual wars where the king isn't really a strong force on the team, but rather guides the rest of force to victory. So, the king is only aloud to move one square in each direction. He can move diagonally, horizontally and vertically, but only one square each way. He is allowed to move backwards. So, from the position below, the king can move to squares e1, d1, d2, d3, e3, f3, f2 and f1.

One square in each direction, just remember that and you'll do fine. Here's another example just to be sure. Where can the black king move in the following diagram?

Ok, now see if you're right. Here is the correct answer:

The black king can move to squares h3, g3, g4, g5 and h5. Did you get that right? If you didn't, look at the answers and compare them to yours to see why you were wrong and try to answer where the king can move in Diagram 1 without looking.

The Rook

The rook runs along on the ranks and files (horizontal and vertical rows of the board respectively) but it is not allowed to skip along the diagonals. It can move as many spaces along these ranks and files, as long as it doesn't go in two directions at once. This also goes for the king. In fact, no piece, with the exception of the knight can go in more than one direction on one move. Also, you may not hop over pieces like checkers with the rook or king. If there is a piece obstucting the way, such as a pawn, the rook only aloud to go as far as the pawn and then stop. Another thing is that only one piece can occupy a square at a time. You cannot have a rook and a pawn on the same square. So, if you look at the diagram below, where can the rook move?

The rook can move to squares a7, a6, a5, a4, a3, a2, a1, b8, c8, d8, e8, f8, g8 and h8. You can see how much more powerful the rook is compared to the king. Did you get that answer? Hopefully you said yes, because the next one is going to be a little harder.

How about this one? Where can the rook move now?

The rook can move to squares a7, b8, c8, d8, e8, f8, g8 and h8. Remember that two pieces cannot occupy the same space and that you can't jump pieces. If you remembered that, then you probably got that answer right.

The Bishop

The bishop is the exact opposite of the rook, if you want to remember it like that. It cannot move along the ranks and files and is only aloud to move along the diagonals. It works like the rook and king in the respect that it can't jump pieces. Where can the bishop move in the diagram below?

The bishop, remembering that it moves along the diagonals, can move to squares b2, c3, d4, e5, f6, g7 and h8. Here's another:

Where can the bishop move to in this position?

The bishop can't move anywhere! The pawn blocks the squares that it would normally be able to reach. If you got that one, you really understand what's going on, good job. If not, don't worry, before long it will be second nature, just a little practice is all that you need.

The Queen

The queen is an extremely powerful piece. It works like a rook and a bishop combined. This is why chess players must protect their queen the best that they can. It can move in every direction, whether it be diagonally, horizontally or vertically. It can't jump pieces either though. But, it can move as many spaces as it wants.

How many squares can the queen go to in the diagram below? Name all of them.

The queen can move to the following squares: a2, a3, a4, a5, a6, a7, a8, b1, c1, d1, e1, f1, g1, h1, b2, c3, d4, e5, f6, g7 and h8 for a total of 21 squares! Considering there are only 64, that is quite a range!

Now let's look at the one below, what about that one?

The queen can move to a5, b5, d5, e5, f5, g5, h5, c1, c2, c3, c4, c6, c7, c8, a7, b6, d4, e3, f2, g1, a3, b4, d6, e7 and f8 for a total of . . . drum roll please . . . 25 squares! Clearly the most powerful piece on the board, use it wisely.

The Poor Little Pawn, Not Even a Piece By Today's Standards

The pawn has a very easy move pattern, but to spice it up, the rules of chess have been changed so that the pawn has some interesting options for moving in certain cases. The pawn's move is very straightforward . . . literally! The pawn is only allowed to move forwards one square at a time. It is the only piece that cannot move backward. So, from the diagram below, the pawn has an amazing . . . er . . . one choice to move. What is it?

The pawn can move to square c5.

Alright, now here is the spice they added to the pawn. When it's the pawn's first move, he doesn't have just one choice, oh no, he has TWO! Whoa, too much, eh? The pawn, on the first move, has the option of moving one or two squares forward. This is, however, only on the first move. Each pawn has this option. This is described in greater detail in the Interesting Cases section of this tutorial. So, from the position below, how many legal moves are there, and what are they? Bear with me, there is more than one piece on the board so you must count for both pieces.

The first pawn can move to two squares because he is on the square where he starts the game. He can move to c3 as well as c4. The other pawn has already moved so this means that he only has one move which is h4. So, 2 + 1 is . . . . 3. Therefore there are three legal moves in the diagram.

Did you get that one? It was kind of tricky if you're reading through this tutorial fast. If you didn't, just go back and see what you did wrong. Two more interesting things about the pawn are its ability to promote and the way in which they capture other pieces. These are both described later on in the tutorial.

The Knight, The Tough One

Ok, now there's only one more left to learn how it moves, and unfortunately I saved the toughest for last. Just bear with me, it may seem complicated but its just complicated to explain and isn't really all that tough.

The knight doesn't move in a regular pattern, it doesn't move straight like the other pieces, nor does it follow the same rules as the others. For one, the knight is allowed to jump other pieces, which none of the others can do. Second, it moves in two different directions in one move, which none of the others are allowed to do either. However, just like the other pieces, the knight cannot land on the same square as another piece.

This is how the move pattern works. Imagine an "L" shape. This is how the knight moves. It is allowed to move up one square and move over two, or two up and one over. This is how the "L" is formed. Simply remember two squares, one square and you will remember how it moves. In the diagram below, the knight can move to squares a4, a6, b3, b7, d3, d7, e4 and e6.

Where can the knight move from the position below?

The knight can move to the following squares: c1, e1, f2, f4, e5, c5, b4, b2.

Did you get that? If you did, great, this is a tough thing to get right off the bat. If not, it may help to set the diagram up on your board, if you haven't done so already. Examine the above position and solution and see where your mistakes were. (NOTE: It may be helpful to have some paper and a pencil to write down what you think are the correct moves so you can check the solution to see whether you were right or wrong).

What on Earth are you Talking About?

A capture is when you take a piece off of the board which means that the piece that was taken off can no longer compete in the battle. Each piece captures in a specific way which I will now tell you about. Here are each of the piece's ways to capture:

The King

The king capture is relatively simple . . . if you know how the king moves. Do you remember? I hope so, that wasn't too long ago. :-) The capture works the same way as how the king moves. If there happens to be a piece (that is unprotected due to the king not being allowed to walk into an attack) on one of the squares that is a legal move of the king, he may take off the piece. See the diagram below.

In this diagram, the king has two legal moves, not one as you may have been thinking ( NOTE: The king is not allowed to move to a place it can be captured, thus, there are only two places where it can go). Because one of the legal moves would have been where the rook is and there is nothing protecting it, the king may move to that square and take it off the board, or, in other words, capture it. The piece is set off to the side and is out of play.

In this diagram, however, the piece is protected by another (protection means that it guards it by if a piece takes it off, that piece may take it off. So now, because the king may not go anywhere where it may be taken, the rook cannot be taken off.

All Other Pieces (Neon Flashing Lights)

All the other pieces capture in the exact same way that the king does. ie: if a piece occupies a square that the piece can move to, then it may be captured by your piece. The only exception is that the piece may capture even if there is another piece protecting it. If you capture a piece which has a piece protecting it, this is known as a trade. I'll discuss trades and how to win trades later on. This is why you cannot capture a protected piece with your king, because you would be trading your king and it would result in your losing the game. NOTE: the pawn capture is discussed on the Interesting Cases section of this tutorial because, well, the way the pawn captures is an interesting case (See? This whole tutorial is logical) :-) Please take a look there by following the link so you know how all the pieces move.

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