The king

Except when Castling, the king moves to an adjacent square which is not under attack by an opponents piece. The squares with blue dot indicate the possible squares onto which the king can move.

The king is said to be 'in check' if it is under attack by one or more of the opponent's pieces, even if such pieces cannot themselves move. Declaring a check is not obligatory. A player must not make a move which places or leaves his own king in check.

Castling is a move of the king and one of the rooks, reckoned as a single move of the king (and allowed only once for each player in a game). In castling, the king moves two spaces to the right or two spaces to the left. The rook toward which the king has moved is then placed on the square over which the king has just crossed. (See diagrams below.)

A player may not castle if his king or the rook involved has been previously moved. The player may not castle if he is in check or if the square he must cross is under attack. Castling is not permitted if there are any pieces between the king and the rook. And, of course, the king cannot move to a square which is under attack.

White castles on the king side

Black castles on king side and white on queen side

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queen

The queen moves to any square on the file, rank or either of the diagonals on which it is placed

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rook

The rook moves to any square on the file or rank on which it is placed

bishop

The bishop moves to any square on either of the diagonals on which it is placed

knight

The knight's move is made up of two different steps. It takes one step of one single square along the file or rank , and then, still moving away from the square it left, takes one step along the diagonal

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pawn

The pawn can only move forward (either during advancing or during a capture). It advances one vacant square along the file at a time. The first move of a pawn can be either one square or two squares forward.

On reaching the end of a file a pawn must be immediately exchanged, as part of the same move, for a queen, rook, bishop or knight, at the player's choice without taking into account the other pieces still remaining on the board. This exchanging of pawn is called "Promotion". The promoted piece must be of the same color as pawn and its action is immediate.

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Capture with pawn

Pawns cannot capture while moving forward along the file. When making a capture it advances one square along either of the diagonals on which it is placed.

"en passant" (while crossing): A pawn attacking a square crossed by an opponent's pawn, which had been advanced two squares, can capture opponents pawn as though the latter had only been moved one square. This capture can only be made on the move immediately following such advance.