The obvious threat is from the diagonals, which means one of the greatest threats to the Rook are from the Bishop and Queen, at distance while at more close-range, Pawns that have good support can also prove hazardous to your Rooks. Two Rooks operating together can be more potent than a single Queen, if used wisely. As they start a game in the corner squares, part of your opening strategy will be to, somehow, bring your Rooks inwards, while trying to mobilize your other pieces, ready for the carnage that takes place during the Middlegame stage. The Rooks are most effective in the middle of the board. Their range of movement is along the straights – if they have the space, they can get from one side of the board to the other, in a single move. Though, of course, the threat of the two Bishop pieces are only as good as the skill of the player who controls their movement.Įach player gets 2 Rooks, at the start of a game of Chess.

When it comes to realtive value, two Bishops are considered more valuable than either two Knights, or a Knight and a Bishop working together. This makes the Bishop a great, long-distance threat to your opponent – though, obviously, the flip side is your pieces are at an equal risk from the enemy Bishops. One patrols the light-colored squares the other goes along the dark-colored squares.Īs for range of movement, the Bishops move only on the diagonals but are able to go from one corner of the board to the other, on their colored squares. Which you choose will, naturally, depend on potential for positional advantage, capture, to avoid being captured, or for lack of options when your other pieces are blocking certain squares within the Knight’s legal range of movement.Īt the start of a game, each player has 2 Bishops on the board. It goes either two squares forward and one to the left or right or one square to the left or right and two squares forward … The Knight is also unique in the way it moves … Whereas other pieces go in straight lines – be it on the staights, or along the diagonals – the Knight moves in an L-shape. We’ve said that it is often one of the Pawns that moves first, at the start of a game … Often, but not always, as the Knight’s ability to jump over pieces allows it to be the only other piece that can make a move at the very beginning of a game. Each player begins a game of Chess with 2 Knights on the board. The Knight is the piece that often looks like a horse – well, a horse’s head (kind of like in The Godfather, but without the blood). However, thereafter, a Pawn may only move one square forward per turn and it can never move backwards.Īs for capturing, a Pawn can only capture on either one of the diagonal squares in front of its current position … This means that when another piece is on a square directly in front – on the straight line, your Pawn is stuck and cannot move forward until the blocking piece moves, or an enemy piece is within legal range for capture. On a Pawns first move, it may move either 1 or 2 squares forward, depending on your opening strategy. In total, each player begins a game of Chess with 8 Pawns on the board. These are they: Names Of All Chess Pieces Pawnīeing a war game, the Pawn is kind of like your common foot soldier – often the first ones into battle, while being more expendable than those of a higher rank, such as the Knight.

Chess game pieces names