The Movement of the Chessmen (cont'd)

You can download an AVI movie on how the chess pieces move, or find out below. On this page, we show you how the Rook, Bishop and Knight move.

The Rook

The Rook is next in power to the Queen. He moves and captures in a straight line (forwards, backwards, and sideways) but lacks the power of moving or capturing diagonally (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10 The Rook can move to any one
of the squares marked with an X

Like the Queen, the Rook cannot displace or leap over any piece to move or capture a piece at a square (Fig. 11).

Fig. 11 The Rook can still move to any
one of the squares marked with an X

In the diagram above, the White Rook cannot capture the Black Bishop or the Black Queen. In the first case, the White King is blocking the Rook's path to the Black Bishop. In the second case, the Black Knight is shielding the Black Queen. However, the White Rook can still capture the Black Knight.

The Bishop

The Bishop moves and captures diagonally forwards or backwards to the extent of the board, but he cannot do so vertically or horizontally like the Rook. But his diagonal movement means that he is confined to travelling on squares of the same colour throughout the game (he will never have any contact with a Bishop of the opposite colour). Also, he commands less squares than a Rook or Queen, and as such, is less valuable than any of them (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12 The Bishop can move to any
one of the squares marked with an X

He also cannot jump over pieces, unlike the Knight.

Fig. 13 The Bishop can still move to any
one of the squares marked with an X

As you can see from Fig. 13, the Black Bishop cannot capture the White Rook, because he is blocked from doing so by the Black Knight. Neither can he capture the White Queen, which is on a light square.

The Knight

The rules concerning the Knight's movement and capture are peculiar. He is the only piece which can leap over friendly and hostile pieces to move to a square (the movement of the others are all dependent on their freedom from obstruction by their opponents' and their own men). His move/capture is one square in a straight line and one in an oblique direction (Fig. 14). It is also worth noting that because of the peculiarity of his move, it impossible for him to jump from a white square to a white one, or from a black square to a black one.

Fig. 14 The Knight can move to any
one of the squares marked with an X

The White Knight above can either move to the squares marked with an X, or he can capture the Black Rook, but he cannot capture the Black Pawn. As you can see, the line of three Pawns does not stop the Knight from travelling to any square which he can legally travel to. So, at the start of the game, the Knight is the only one of the pieces placed at the first rank which can be played before the Pawns are moved, as you can see from Fig. 15. The rest are hemmed in by the second rank of Pawns.

Fig. 15 Both Knights can move to any
one of the squares marked with an X

The above diagram shows the possible Knight moves White can make at the start of the game, before any Pawn movement. The Pawns in front of the King and Queen prevent the Knights from moving to those squares.

Jump to the next page for a description of the Pawn and what it does. Also, learn about the en passant rule.