Chess Basics: How To Move the Pieces

There are two things every chess player needs to learn before they can start playing games: how to name the squares on a chess board and how to move the pieces. In this opening installment of our series on chess basics, we’ll go over the movement patterns of each piece.

How Chess Pieces Move

Each piece moves and captures enemy pieces in a unique way. Here's everything you need to know:

King

The king moves one square at a time in any direction–up and down, side to side, or diagonally:

Queen

The queen is the strongest and most versatile piece on the chess board. She moves up and down, side to side, and diagonally, both backwards and forwards:

Rook

Rooks move in straight lines, side to side or up and down:

In chess terms, rooks move along the ranks (horizontal rows) and files (vertical columns). 

Bishop

Bishops move diagonally, both forwards and backwards:

Each player starts with two bishops: one that travels along the light-colored squares and one that travels along the dark-colored squares.

Knight

Knights move in an “L” shape, two squares in one direction and one square to the side. The knight we see in the center of the board can move to any of the squares indicated:

The knight is the only chess piece that can jump over other pieces. Knights prefer to be in the center of the board than on the edge of the board, where their movement is limited. As a famous chess saying goes, “Knights on the rim are dim.”

Pawn

Pawns move forward one square at a time, never backwards, with two exceptions: first moves and capturing. Their movement is more restricted than any other piece in the game. On its first turn, a pawn can move two squares instead of one, but it doesn't have to:

After it makes its first move, a pawn can only move forward one square at a time.

Pawns capture other pieces by moving diagonally. In the position below, the white pawn could capture either of the black pieces indicated by a red arrow:

Once a pawn has moved diagonally to capture a piece, it returns to its normal movement pattern. 

When a pawn reaches the other end of the chess board, it gets a promotion and transforms into a bigger piece of the player’s choice: a knight, bishop, rook, or queen.