The chess board is an 8x8 checkered board. Games are played between two people. Each one gets 16 pieces with different ways to move. The two competitors each take turns moving their pieces to different places. After the pieces are set up in the desired position, the goal, simply put, is to kill the enemy "king", one of the chess pieces. If one team is 1 move away from killing the enemy king, and the opponent has no move which will avoid the death of the king, it is called "checkmate". When someone is checkmated, they lose. I will have this explanation expanded and diagrammed so it will be more clear for anyone who does not understand the small description of chess I have provided.

There are 6 types of pieces in the wonderful game of chess. There are

pawns-> bishops-> knights-> queens->rooks->

and kings->

Now that I have explained the goals of chess and the names of the pieces, I will explain how each piece moves. Each one moves differently, but only move 1 at a time. The way each individual piece moves creates a perfectly balanced game. After the piece movement is thoroughly understood, I will continue link it to a discussion about how to win a game of chess.

This piece is the bishop. If the diagram doesn't explain how it moves, a bishop moves along diagonals. They move diagonally. in other words, if the bishop was where it is in this diagram, it could follow any of the arrows I have drawn. It can move up to 8 squares, because that's the number of squares in the biggest diagonals. If you can not yet comprehend how a bishop moves, ask your dad. If he doesn't know, your family is deprived. Sorry for that ugly looking chess board, but you try drawing one! I mean really, its not as easy as you think!

This is the Rook. Again, if you can't see how it moves from the diagram you are a huge idiot. It moves along ranks and files. It moves forwards and sideways. In other words, it could follow any of the green lines shown in a single move. A rook can move up to 8 squares in 1 move, because that's the length of the board. I can not think of a more vivid way to descrive rook movement, but remember, it moves straight. The word straight might be the easiest way to remember it.

If you aren't already aware, the horse-like piece you see here is a knight. The knight's movement might be over the heads of the more idiotic viewers of this page, but I'll try to explain. It moves in an 'L'. It moves 2 spots straight and one spot to the side after that. If a knight was located where it is in this diagram, its moves could allow it to land on any of the big dots you see before you. A knight is the only piece that can skip over other pieces. Remember, it makes an L. If you follow a knight's path from where it starts to where it ends, you can make an 'L' out of it. If you still dont get it, follow the lines I drew, and note that they are all 'L's. I did my best, if you dont follow my teachings, you're an idiot.


This is the queen. The queen is a bishop + a rook. It can move across diagonals and along files and ranks. It moves sideways and crossways. In other words, if the queen was where it is on the diagram, it coul go across the green lines. The queen is the most valuable attacking piece in the game, due to its mobility.

This will be a reach for some of us. Lets see if we can understand how to move the king now. The king moves 1 tile in any direction. I repeat, it can go to any tile directly next to it. Whether it be diagonal, on it's side, under or over it, it can go there. It can only move 1 space, no more. If you don't follow, look at the diagram. The king can go to any one of the places where the green line ends.

Ah, the pawn, the most confusing of pieces. The pawn, moves 1 spot upward. It can only move forward, it can not move backwards. However, on the pawn's first move, it can go one space forward OR 2 spaces forward! Now, when capturing pieces, most pieces take by landing on top of the opponent's piece. The opponent's piece is within the piece's line of movement. However, a pawn has to travel sideways to capture. If there is a piece in front of a pawn, the pawn can not take it, and will be blocked. If the piece is diagonally in front of the pawn, the pawn can take it.