Chess Moves

People who are new to the game of chess may find the game complicated due to all of the chess moves that they have to learn. However, with a little bit of study, they may find that the rules are simpler than they may appear at first glance.

At the start of the game, each player gets two of each of the following pieces: rook, bishop, knight. They also get eight pawns, one king and one queen. Each piece has its own way that it is allowed to move. The basic rules for this are as follows:

• Rooks – These pieces start one in each corner of the board. They can only move backwards and forwards and left to right. They can move as many spaces in one move as there is room on the board, but only in one direction. They must stop if there is another piece in the way.
• Bishops – These pieces start on the second space in from the rooks. They move in a similar manner, except that instead of moving horizontally and vertically they can only move diagonally.
• Knights – These pieces start on the third space in. They have the most complicated pattern in which to move. They move either up two, over one or up one, over two.
• Queens – These pieces, which start four spaces in from the right, are like bishops and rooks combined. They can move horizontally, vertically or diagonally, for as many spaces as the board allows.
• Kings – These pieces, which start four spaces in from the right, have the most limited movement. They can move one space only in any direction.
• Pawns – These pieces, which number eight of each color, form a straight line across the board in front of the other pieces. They can move one space forward at a time, with the exception of their first move, when they can move forward two. They cannot move in any other direction.

After reading through the rules above, it's time to begin the game. That's where these additional chess moves may soon come into play.

Capturing chess moves involve taking one of an opponent's pieces and removing it from the board. A player does this by moving one of her pieces in such a way that it lands on her opponent's piece. All pieces capture by moving as outlined above except for pawns, which move one space diagonally for capture moves only. The winner of the game is the person that captures her opponent’s king. All of the other pieces are irrelevant in this matter.

If a player gets a pawn all the way to the opposite end of the board, he can exchange it for another piece, either bishop, rook, queen or knight. This can be a piece that is already captured or is simply in another area of the board. The player removes the pawn from the board and puts the other piece in its place.

This chess move involves a king and a rook, both of which have not moved since the game started. A player can move the king two squares toward the rook and then place the rook in the spot the king passed over.

This move can only be performed by pawns that are five spaces up from the bottom of the board. If her opponent moves her pawn forward two squares at a time, on the next move, a player can move her pawn one space in front of that pawn and capture the pawn as if it had only moved one square forward.

Besides the fact that all pieces must follow their rules for movement, there is one more restriction on the king's chess moves. A player cannot move her king into "check," meaning that she sets it up so that the other player can capture it on the next move. If she's put into a situation where she has no choice but to do so, she is in "checkmate", and the other player wins. If both players are in checkmate at the same time, the game may end in a draw.

People that are experts in chess do more than just learn basic chess moves. They form strategies in their minds about how to play the entire game to their advantage. Chess Central has some tips on strategy to help a person advance from a chess novice to a pro.

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