Basic Chess Moves

Watch the Moves & Captures of the Pawn:

• From the Start a Pawn can move either one OR two squares forward, but each Pawn can only do this ONCE and on its first move from its starting position on the board.
  
  
• After its first move a Pawn can only move one square forward per turn.
  
  
• If the next square forward is occupied a Pawn becomes immobile - it's stuck there until the square is cleared.
  
  

• To be able to capture a Pawn must have an enemy piece on an adjoining diagonal square, either forward -left or -right, during its turn.
  
  
• A special kind of capture is called En Passant, as can be seen in the video.
  
  
• (Note: En Passant captures are only available if taken immediately - if you move another piece, the opportunity to capture by En Passant is lost).
  
  

• Unique to the Pawn only, if you manage to advance said piece to your enemy's back-row, you get to exchange it for a higher-value piece.
  
  
• With Promotion, you may choose to exchange for either a: Knight, Bishop, Rook, or Queen.
  
  
• With Promotion, it's possible to have MORE THAN ONE Queen on your side, with which to press for a crushing victory.

Watch the Moves & Captures of the Knight:

• From the Start a Knight may jump over the front-line of Pawns, two one of two squares.
  
  
• As the it moves away from its own side and into more space, you can see more move-options open up for the Knight.
  
  
• From the video, you can clearly see the L-shape pattern of the Knight's legally-available moves.
  
  

• Captures by the Knight can only be made if there's an enemy piece sitting on a square that would complete the Knight's L-shape pattern move.
  
  
• Jumping over a piece does NOT result in capture - be aware of this when plotting where to move your Knight, on the board.
  
  

Watch the Moves & Captures of the Bishop:

• From the Start neither Bishop can move until the Pawns along its diagonals have been moved out, to make the way clear.
  
  
• Your opening strategy will dictate thisbut, be aware of how early movement of the Pawns can free-up or restrict movement of your Bishops.
  
  

• Bishops can only capture along the diagonals but they can capture from as many squares as is legally available, in any ONE direction per turn.

Watch the Moves & Captures of the Rook:

• From the Start, your Rooks are unable to move forward, due to the Pawns sitting infront and due to the Knights sitting next to them.
  
  
• In the video, you can see how the Rook can be held up in access to the middle of the board, due to its inability to nip across along the diagonal squares.
  
  
• But, once free and closer to the middle, you can see move-options dramatically increase - but only forwards-backwards, left or right... NO Diagonal movement for the Rook.
  
  

• Capture opportunities can be hindered by the Rooks inability to move along the diagonals; sometimes, chances to capture are gone before the Rook has chance to get into a legally-threatening position.
  
  
• However, once the enemy is in line-of-sight, the Rook can capture from distance. If you don't get to Promote a Pawn, a Rook can combine effectively with the original Queen, to press for Checkmate.
  
  

Watch the Moves & Captures of the Queen:

• From the Start, the Queen CANNOT move until the Pawns infront, OR to both diagonals, have moved to give clear space.
  
  
• As seen in the video, the Pawns can restrict attempts by the Queen to move out quickly.
  
  
• However, once clear of her own side's cover, the basic chess moves of the Queen sees her as the most mobile piece on the board, being able to not only move along both the straight AND diagonal squares, but also as far as is in direct line of sight.
  
  
• In fact, the only standard move unavailable to the Queen is the ability to jump over other pieces, which only the Knight can do.
  
  

• As with moves available, and so long as the enemy is in line-of-sight, the Queen can zip from one side of the board to the other, in order to capture.
  
  
• Only by being blocked by your own pieces is the Queen likely to be incapable of capturing enemy personnel.

Watch the Moves & Captures of the King:

• At the Start - and for good reason - the King is unable to move until pieces infront or to either side have moved.
  
  
• In the video, while the King isn't shown actually moving to one of the available squares, you can see the blue-highlighted squares showing the legal moves that would be available.
  
  

• As seen in the video, even capturing a humble Pawn means a bit of a detour just to get to a safe square, from which it can legally make capture.
  
  
• More often than not, the only time you'll see a King capturing is during the endgame, when it can launch an attack with a majority backing.
  
  

• Castling can happen on either the King's side of the board, or the Queen's side.
  
  
• Castling CANNOT take place in order for the King to get out of Check.
  
  
• In addition, Castling CANNOT take place if the King has already moved, prior to the Castling option becoming available.
  
  
• Castling CAN ONLY take place when there is clear space between the King and the Rook - be it on the King's side or the Queen's side of the board.
  
  
• The opportunity for Castling can become void - that is, it can no longer happen for the remainder of that game - either because the King is forced to move before Castling has been able to take place (usually due to being put in "Check"); or, because both Rooks have already moved (even if the King hasn't moved yet).
  
  Even if one Rook has moved, yet the remaining Rook and the King have not left their starting positions, Castling can take place to whichever side that Rook is on (whether it's the Kingside or Queenside of the chessboard).
  
  
• The benefit of Castling is the time saved in repositioning both the King and one of the Rooks.