The game of chess has two sets of chess pieces since they are played by two people: one is one color and the opponent is another. Each set has the following: a king, a queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks and 8 pawns. These chess pieces have their own characteristic movement on the chessboard.

The king\’s movement is forward, backward, left, right or diagonally, one square at a time. Because the king is the main chess piece, its capture (or \”checkmate\”) ends the game. A checkmate occurs when the king can no longer move anywhere and can\’t be helped by its other chess pieces. The initial position of the king is on the first row of your side, occupying the fourth square opposite its color. So if your king is black, it occupies the fourth square colored white; if your king is white, it occupies the fourth square colored black.

The queen\’s movement is forward, backward, left, right, or diagonally using any number of squares on the chessboard. It cannot jump over any chess piece that is blocking her way. This basically unrestricted movement of the queen makes it the most powerful chess piece. The initial position of the queen is right beside the king, on the fourth square of the first row. Note that if you\’re playing a white queen, it should be on the fourth square colored white (if you\’re playing a black queen, it should be on the fourth square colored black).

The bishop can only move diagonally, using any number of squares. It cannot jump over any chess piece blocking its path. The initial starting positions of your two bishops are beside the king and queen on the first row of your side.

The movement of the knight is the most unique of all pieces. Its movement forms an \”L\” and it can jump over any other pieces. The \”L\” movement uses two squares either in front and back, or sideways; and one square either left or right forming an \”L\”. The starting point of the two knight pieces are on the first row of your side, and they are positioned right beside the bishops.

The Rook. The rook can only move horizontally and vertically anywhere on the board using any number of squares. It also cannot jump over any pieces. You have two rooks occupying the both corners of your first row.

The Pawn. The pawn can move straight ahead only, one square at a time. At the beginning of the game though, on its starting square, the pawn can either move one square or two squares forward. Note that the pawn can \”capture\” other chess pieces by moving one square forward, diagonally. You have eight pawns at the onset. They all occupy the second row, in front of the king, queen, bishops, knights and rooks.