The six types of chess pieces
Each player starts with 16 pieces, giving 32 on the board at the start of a game. They come in six types: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. White and Black have identical armies, and White moves first. See proper chess board setup for where each piece starts.
Pieces capture by moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece and removing it from the board. The one exception to “captures the way it moves” is the pawn, which moves straight but captures diagonally. A piece cannot move onto a square occupied by a friendly piece, and every piece except the knight is blocked by pieces standing in its path.
Quick reference table
| Piece | Number per side | Movement | Common point value |
|---|---|---|---|
| King | 1 | One square in any direction | Not given a value |
| Queen | 1 | Any distance along a rank, file or diagonal | 9 |
| Rook | 2 | Any distance along a rank or file | 5 |
| Bishop | 2 | Any distance along a diagonal | 3 |
| Knight | 2 | L-shape; can jump over pieces | 3 |
| Pawn | 8 | Forward one square (two from its start square); captures diagonally | 1 |
The point values are a rough convention used to judge trades, not an official rule.
How each piece moves
The king
The king moves one square in any direction: horizontally, vertically or diagonally. It is the most important piece, because the game ends when it is checkmated. It can never move to a square attacked by an enemy piece. See how the king moves for castling and illegal moves.
The queen
The queen combines the rook and the bishop. She can move any number of squares in a straight line along a rank, file or diagonal, as long as nothing is in the way. More on this in the piece that can move in any direction.
The rook
The rook moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically. It is often stuck behind its own pawns early on and becomes powerful once files open up, especially in the endgame.
The bishop
The bishop moves any number of squares diagonally. Because it always stays on squares of one color, each player has one light-squared and one dark-squared bishop. See which pieces move diagonally for the full list.
The knight
The knight moves in an L-shape: two squares in one direction and then one square at a right angle (or the reverse). It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces, and it always lands on a square of the opposite color from the one it started on.
The pawn
Pawns move forward one square at a time. From their starting square they may move two squares forward, provided both squares are empty. They capture one square diagonally forward. A pawn can never move backward (see which pieces can move backwards). When a pawn reaches the far end of the board it is promoted, usually to a queen.
Special moves
Three rules do not fit the ordinary patterns:
- Castling: the king moves two squares toward a rook, and that rook jumps to the other side of the king. It is only allowed if neither piece has moved, the squares between them are empty, and the king is not in check, does not pass through an attacked square and does not end in check.
- Promotion: a pawn that reaches the last rank must be exchanged for a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same color.
- En passant: a special pawn capture, explained in the en passant rule.
Which piece is the most powerful?
The queen is usually considered the strongest piece because of her range and flexibility, and she is worth about nine pawns by the common point system. Strength depends on the position, though. A knight can be stronger than a queen in a particular tactic, and a lone king matters more than any other piece because losing it means losing the game. If you are wondering how to win a queen from an opponent, read how to capture a queen.
Common beginner questions
Can a king capture another king? No. See can the king capture the king.
Do all pieces capture the way they move? All except the pawn.
Which pieces can jump? Only the knight. Castling also involves the rook moving past the king, but that is a special rule rather than a jump.
Where to go next
Once you can name the pieces and move them correctly, practice recognizing how they work together in short puzzles, and read the best tactics for chess for the main patterns. Seeing a knight fork or a bishop skewer a few times usually helps the movement rules stick far better than memorizing them.