Ponderchess / Learn
The chess pieces and how they move
Each side starts with sixteen pieces: eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, a queen and a king. Every piece moves in its own way. Here is each one, with the squares it can reach and what it is worth.
Pawn
1 point
A pawn moves straight forward one square, or two squares on its first move if both are empty.
How the pawn moves →Knight
3 points
A knight moves in an L shape: two squares in a straight line, then one square to the side.
How the knight moves →Bishop
3 points
A bishop moves any number of squares diagonally, forward or backward, as long as nothing blocks its path.
How the bishop moves →Rook
5 points
A rook moves any number of squares in a straight line along a rank or a file, forward, backward or sideways, until something blocks it.
How the rook moves →Queen
9 points
The queen moves any number of squares in a straight line along a rank, file or diagonal.
How the queen moves →King
Priceless: the game is lost when it is checkmated
The king moves one square in any direction, including diagonally.
How the king moves →
Ready to try them? The rules of chess lets you move each piece on a live board, and the special moves cover castling, en passant and promotion.