The Knight
The Knight
At the beginning of the game, the White knights will be on the b1-square and the g1-square. The Black knights will be on the b8-square and the g8-square.
The knight move is composed of 2 different steps. First, it makes one step of one square along a rank or file on which it stands. Then while moving away from the square of departure, it makes one step of one square along a diagonal. It does not matter if the square of the first step is occupied. You might think of this move like a rook that moves one square and then a bishop that moves one square (See Figure 1 : the b1-knight). You can change this around if you like and move like a bishop first and then like a rook (Figure 1 : the b8-knight). It will take you to the same squares. Some people prefer to think of the knight moving in an L shape (Figure 1 : the g8-knight). In this case it will move two squares along a file and then one square on the rank or two squares along a rank and then one square on the file.
When the knight is on an empty board, and stands on a central square (like e4) he can move to one of 8 squares (See Figure 2). The knight is almost equal to a bishop, sometimes a little better, and sometimes a little worse depending on what it is doing. Knights are not as effective on the edge of the board. For example a knight at the h4-square can only go to 4 squares.
Unlike the other chess pieces, the knight is able to jump over any piece that may be in the way. In the case of a friendly piece, the knight must not land on that square. In the case of capturing, he moves to the square occupied by the opponent's piece. The player making the capture removes the captured piece immediately from the board.
Range and Capturing
In Figure 2, the White knight sits on the d4-square, he attacks the Black knight at c6. To capture the c6-knight, one would remove that c6-knight from the chessboard, and then move the d4-knight to that square (c6). Notice that the knight's movements are restricted by the placement of the White pawn sitting on the c2-square. The knight can not move to that square.
To better understand the activities of the knight, please watch the video at the bottom of the page.
In the next section we will descuss the Pawns.
The Rules of Chess
- Basics Improve logical thinking, memory and problem solving
- Chess Board The pathways of the pieces
- Queen The most powerful piece on the board
- Rooks Form a battery to increase their power
- Bishops A long range attacking piece
- Knights Must be centralized to be effective
- Pawns They move along the file and attack on the diagonals
- King If your king is in checkmate you lose the game
- Castling Keep the king safe and give him a castle
- Checkmate Game over
United States Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess
The U.S. Chess Federation's Official Rules of Chess is the only official rulebook for chess. Serious players at every level as well as chess club teachers, directors, and tournament sponsors should have it on hand during every match. This new edition features the latest rules, including guidelines for the popular game of speed chess, an updated quick rating system, and the latest conventions of governing tournaments. It also contains explanations of every legal move, a guide to calculating lifetime rankings, guidelines for sponsoring and running a tournament, and a lesson on how to read and write chess notation.
The Knight