General rules for all pieces: only one piece can stand on a square; you may capture only your opponent's pieces; only the knight can jump over other pieces. A piece captures the same way it moves — except the pawn.
Rook
The rook moves in a straight line — along a file or a rank — any number of free squares.
Bishop
The bishop moves diagonally any number of free squares. That is why a bishop stays on squares of one colour for the whole game: each player has a “light-squared” and a “dark-squared” bishop.
Queen
The queen is the strongest piece: she moves both like a rook and like a bishop, that is, along straight lines and diagonals.
Knight
The knight moves in an “L”: two squares in a straight line and one to the side. It is the only piece that jumps over others. With every move the knight changes the colour of its square: from a white square it jumps to a dark one and vice versa.
King
The king moves one square in any direction. The king may not step onto a square attacked by an enemy piece and may not remain in check. The two kings never stand next to each other. The king's special move is castling.
Pawn
The pawn moves only forward, one square at a time. From its starting square it may move two squares at once. A pawn captures differently from how it moves: one square diagonally forward. Pawns never move backwards.
On reaching the last rank, a pawn promotes to any piece except a king — usually a queen. The pawn also has a special capture, en passant.
Value of the pieces
To judge whether an exchange is good for you, it helps to count the pieces in “pawns”:
| Piece | Value |
|---|---|
| Pawn | 1 |
| Knight | 3 |
| Bishop | 3 |
| Rook | 5 |
| Queen | 9 |
| King | priceless — without it the game is lost |
This is an approximate scale: in a concrete position a well-placed knight can be stronger than a poor rook.