The king moves two squares towards a rook, and that rook moves to the square at the other side of the king.Ī maneuver in chess which is performed after a player moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and an opposing pawn captures it as if it had only moved one square. The word 'piece' has three meanings, depending on the context. When castling, you simultaneously move your king, and one of your rooks. The pieces that belong to each player are distinguished by color: the lighter colored pieces are referred to as 'white' and the player that controls them as 'White', whereas the darker colored pieces are referred to as 'black' and the player that controls them as 'Black'. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture that piece.Ĭastling is a special type of chess move. They can never move or capture backwards. Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in front of them. The earliest known chesspieces (chatrang) were found at Afrasaib, near Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The piece has a cross on top of it and was found in an old Byzantine or Roman palace. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares. If this is really a chess piece, then it is the oldest chess piece found anywhere in the world. Pawns are unusual because they move and capture in different ways: they move forward, but capture diagonally. Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces. Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces – going two squares in one direction, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an “L”. Each bishop starts on one color (light or dark) and must always stay on that color. The bishop may move as far as it wants, but only diagonally.

The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides. And, like with all pieces, if the queen captures an opponent's piece her move is over. She can move in any one straight direction - forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - as far as possible as long as she does not move through any of her own pieces. The king may never move himself into check (where he could be captured). The king can only move one square in any direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally. The king is the most important piece, but is one of the weakest. Learn the names and movements of the sixteen chess pieces, from pawns to rooks, knights to queens, and how they interact with each other on the board. Pieces are generally moved into positions where they can capture other pieces (by landing on their square and then replacing them), defend their own pieces in case of capture, or control important squares in the game. However, they can be moved to take the place of an opponent's piece which is then captured. Pieces cannot move through other pieces (though the knight can jump over other pieces), and can never move onto a square with one of their own pieces. Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces moves differently.

Names of chess pieces