The Pawn

The Pawn can only move straight forward. He is so slow that he moves one space at a time. However, if a Pawn has never moved, he can happily jump two spaces or choose to move just one. If a player is in front of your Pawn, then he is stuck until that player moves out of his way. The Pawn is a pretty wimpy dude, but he has dreams of reaching the other side of the chessboard where he can become very strong! The dots show where the Pawn is allowed to move.

The Pawn and every other player on the chessboard can capture other players. The Pawn captures by moving diagonally! The X’s show where he could capture a player if they move there.

The red dots show where you can move.
Grab a chessboard and practice some moves with the Pawn.

The Rook

The Rook can move in the following directions: up, down, left, or right. The Rook is very strong and can move as many spaces as he chooses to. He can roll to the other side of the chessboard in just one move, or choose to go just a few spaces!

The Rook is a strong attacker. He captures other players by making his move up, down, left, or right. He can never move diagonal like some of the other chessmen. Because of this, other players can attack him diagonally and he will not be able to attack back. Even the wimpy pawn can annoy the Rook and make him retreat! Play thoughtfully and bring your Rooks out only when it is safe to do so.

The red dots show where you can move.
Grab a chessboard and practice some moves with the Rook.

The Bishop

The Bishop can only move diagonally. He enjoys moving across the board as many spaces as he wants to, like the Rook. He can glide all the way across the board to another side in just one move if he chooses.

The Bishop is also a strong attacker. He captures other players by making his move diagonally. The Bishop cannot move or attack up, down, or sideways so be careful of Rooks! When setting up your chessmen, one Bishop is placed on a dark square, and one is placed on a light square to start the game. Since the Bishop can only move diagonally, he is forever stuck on the color that he started on.

The red dots show where you can move.
Grab a chessboard and practice some moves with the Bishop.

The Knight

The Knight makes the weirdest move of all the players. He can jump around in the shape of the capital letter L. Remember, though, that to make an L shape, he must always move two spaces from where he started in any direction - up, down, right, or left, then one square over from that direction. With such a strange movement, the Knight is the sneakiest and trickiest of players. Watch out for Knight forks!

The Knight is the only one who can jump players. Do we get to capture the ones we jump over? The answer is no. The Knight can only capture players that he lands directly on. What a strong player with the power to jump over others who get in his way!

The red dots show where you can move.
Grab a chessboard and practice some moves with the Knight.

The Queen

The Queen has the combined powers of the Bishop and the Rook allowing her to move - up, down, left, right, and diagonally. But unlike the Pawn or the Knight, she is allowed to move as many spaces as she chooses. She can glide all the way across the board in one move!

The Queen is your strongest attacker, so you need to be careful not to trade her for wimpier players. Try not to let your opponent trap her. If you decide to capture someone, just make her move up, down, left, right, or diagonal and capture a player! You can trade your Queen for your opponents’ to be fair. Use her in combination with other players to attack a King.

The red dots show where you can move.
Grab a chessboard and practice some moves with the Queen.

The King

The King can move in any direction - up, down, left, right, and diagonally. There are two major restrictions to the Kings movement. First, the King can only move one space wherever he makes his move. Second, the King cannot occupy squares that are attacked by enemy pieces (cannot move into check or stay in check). We'll learn more about that later.

Though the King may have restricted movement, he is the most important piece on the chessboard. Trapping a King is the only way to win the game! The King will make his move up, down, left, right or diagonal to capture enemy players that come close to him.

The red dots show where you can move.
Grab a chessboard and practice some moves with the King.