A chess piece that can only move diagonally. Chessmen
Chessmen. From left to right - King - Queen - Bishop - Knight - Rook - Pawn
Chess is played with special pieces. Let's see what each of them looks like, is called and what rules follow. In addition, chess pieces have their own specific value, classification, weaknesses and strengths. Let's start the description with the most important piece - the king, and then continue from the strongest - the queen, to the weakest - the pawn.
King
The French king Louis XIV said: “The state is me!” Chess king and there is the state, that is, the personification of the player. This is the most important piece in the game, since the inability to defend one’s king leads to defeat, and an irresistible attack on the enemy king leads to victory in the game. Despite such importance in the game, the king is a rather weak piece; it can move in any direction, but only one square per turn. Therefore, protect the king from the very beginning of the game until the end of the game.
QueenThe queen is often called the queen, and in many chess sets this piece is depicted as a woman. The king and queen are similar in appearance, so do not confuse them, immediately determine which one is which. The queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard; it can move as many squares as it wants in any direction horizontally, vertically and diagonally. The loss of a queen is often an irreparable loss for the player, and he often gives up in such situations.
RookThe rook in the classic set of chess pieces looks like a defensive tower of a castle, this appearance corresponds to its European name. Also, this figure can be depicted as a war chariot or it can look like an ancient naval combat unit - a rook. In terms of strength, this piece takes an honorable second place after the queen. The rook can move any number of squares vertically and horizontally. At the beginning of the game, each player has 2 rooks.
ElephantIn the classic set of pieces, the chess bishop is not at all similar to the elephant from the animal world. In height it is second only to the king and queen. The upper part of this figure externally represents the personification of the robes of Western priests, which corresponds to the English name for the elephant - bishop, which translates as bishop. Bishops move in any direction diagonally on any number of squares. At the beginning of the game, you have two bishops, each of which retains the diagonal colors for the entire game, that is, one will move only along diagonals from light squares, and the second only along dark squares, hence they are called light-squared and dark-squared bishops, respectively.
Horse Chessmen. Horse
The only piece on the board that everyone outwardly immediately identifies, even the smallest children just starting to play chess. Only a knight can jump over its own and other people’s pieces, and the trajectory of this piece’s moves is also unusual. The knight moves first two/one cells vertically or horizontally and then one/two cells horizontally or vertically perpendicular to the original direction. This description of the knight’s move sounds very tricky, but remembering how a knight moves is simple - it moves with the Russian letter “G”. The bishop and knight are approximately equal in strength and they are inferior to the rook in value, but superior to the pawn.
Pawn Chessmen. Pawn
At the beginning of the game you have 8 of them and the pawn is the weakest piece. The pawn moves only forward one square, eats forward diagonally and also only one square. From the starting position, the pawn has the right to jump 2 squares forward on its first move. With this 2-move jump, if the enemy’s pawn is directly to the side of yours, then the opponent can take your pawn on the next move, placing his own not in the place of yours, but 1 square closer to you - this is called an en passant capture. During the game, the weakest piece can become the strongest, so a pawn, having reached the last rank, turns into any piece at the discretion of the player, even a queen.
We described what chess pieces are called, look like and move. In the next article we will touch on strengths and weaknesses and recommendations on what to do with them in a given position or stage of the game.
If you decide to learn how to play chess, the first thing you should do is understand the name of the chess pieces. This will significantly speed up and simplify the process of further learning. The game of chess is one of the oldest, it has been around for many centuries. Its development was continuous: at first people played with grains, then with clay balls, and only by the Middle Ages the figures that are familiar to us appeared on the board.
Today, when playing chess, each player uses six types of pieces. They differ in color: one has white figures, and the second has black ones. In this case, the “army” of both one and the other player consists of 16 figures. We will look at them in more detail a little further. Each piece has its own place on the board and a specific trajectory, method or methods of movement during the game. So, let's figure out the names of the chess pieces from pictures and photos.
1. (King) - this is the most important figure on the “battlefield”, around which the game is built. After all, the end of the game comes precisely when the opponent’s king is defeated. Despite his status, the king is quite limited in his movements; he can only move one square in any direction. But at the same time, he has the advantage of castling. This term means a joint move with a rook, during which the king is sent to a safer place.
2. (Queen) - this is the most active, strongest and second most important figure during the game. Its possibilities in movement trajectories are most diverse. The queen can move both up and down the board, and left and right, as well as along white and black diagonals. The queen is a difficult piece from the enemy’s point of view, because she has great capabilities for protecting the king and can be in the right place at almost any moment. The queen usually looks almost the same as the king, but a little lower and often with a small ball on top.
3. (Rook) - this figure moves only vertically or horizontally and is limited by obstacles. At the start, the player has two rooks, which are placed at the edges of the field. Sometimes amateurs call them "tours", but experienced players it hurts the ear.
4. (Bishop) - also a paired figure, considered light, usually looks like a low tower with a pointed drop. This form may resemble the robes of a monk - and so it is. The figurine appeared precisely because Catholic priests were fond of chess and brought something of their own to it.
5. (Knight) - usually looks like the corresponding animal. Its peculiarity is its unusual manner of movement, namely the letter “G” in any direction. The knight easily jumps over obstacles (opponent pieces) and at the beginning of the game stands next to the rook. 
6. (Pawn) - this is a chess soldier who is the first to rush into battle and opens the game. Each has 8 pawns. They move most simply - one square at a time and only forward, although as a first move they can jump over a square - and they only knock down enemy pieces diagonally. Pawns play an important role, they defend other pieces, and when they reach the opposite edge of the board they can return in their place any previously captured piece - a queen, a rook, and a knight. The only exception here is the king.
Artyom's secret dream is to walk. Unfortunately, the Oblaka charity foundation cannot fulfill this New Year's wish of a boy diagnosed with cerebral palsy. But giving him the opportunity to do what he loves is quite possible. Now Artyom’s whole life is in chess.
The Clouds Charitable Foundation is announcing a fundraiser for the purchase of an electronic chessboard so that 15-year-old Artem, like many children, will also have a New Year's surprise under the Christmas tree.
The collection amount is 37,900 rubles. To date, thanks to responsive and caring people, we have managed to collect 28 thousand in a fairly short period of time. Only 9,900 rubles left.
When you see Artyom’s smile for the first time, it is absolutely impossible not to fall in love with it. His kind and radiant eyes simply attract you. You look at the boy and feel incredible warmth, you literally physically feel the purity of his heart. Artem is an unusual teenager. He is only 15 years old and confined to a wheelchair. According to doctors, forever.
Sometimes fate determines for us a path on this earth that we cannot change. But how to explain this to a future man who so wants to walk, run, and live a full, rich life? Like an ordinary person...
Artem stopped by “Oblaka” on his way to therapeutic gymnastics. It was not possible to park the car on the side of the street where the fund’s office is located. Artem cannot walk on his own, and it was impossible to force him to get out of the car across the slippery road. Moving in such conditions is difficult, even scary to some extent. And so it happened that the employees of the charity foundation met the wonderful Artem, who had already won 7 medals in three years of participating in various chess tournaments, right in the car.
To the question: “What is your most cherished dream?” Artyom answered so confidently, as if if you woke him up in the middle of the night, he would say the same thing without hesitation: “Only one thing - to walk.”
Artem believes that if he continues to do strength exercises at the Patriot club, his back will become stronger, his fingers will become obedient, and he will be able not only to play chess more calmly, but also to write letters, essays and type texts on the keyboard.
When Artem was 9 years old, his grandmother Galina Mikhailovna sat down on the edge of his bed and placed the chess board on his lap. “Now you and I will play chess,” she said in a peremptory tone, and in just a few months Artyom not only learned to play chess, but also began to beat his grandmother.
Artyom remembers this day very clearly, when his hands first tried to grab a chess piece. How much effort he had to make to tame the spasticity of his hands and skillfully move the pieces on the chessboard.
While Artem told the foundation about his passion and dreams, his mother recalled the moment of Artem’s birth and what happened after. Artem was not born easily. The birth was very difficult, and for the first 6 hours Artem could not breathe on his own. In these very first and important six hours of his life in our world, the worst thing happened to him - a cerebral hemorrhage, which confined him to bed and made him a hostage in a stroller.
Natasha and Vyacheslav (Artem's parents - editor's note) decided not to give up. They fought for his life and for his intellect from the very first days. There were no opportunities for expensive treatment, but the father took on the most complex construction projects for finishing and grabbed any job to pay for his son’s treatment.
And now Vyacheslav disappears for days at work so that Artem has the opportunity to attend additional sections, circles and clubs. Artyom's day is scheduled minute by minute, and this does not allow him to lose heart. All these activities, meeting people, studying at school and constantly traveling to tournaments seem to help him feel that he is the same as all his peers.
Artem has almost everything that a teenager with cerebral palsy could dream of in life: a loving mother and father, two little brothers and his own house, which was built by his father’s hands. Only sometimes there is not enough money for simple things. Because his father is trying to give everything for Artem so that his rehabilitation is not interrupted for a single day. His parents also believe that Artem will be able to walk. Some day.
In the meantime, with your support, the Clouds Foundation can make Artem's secret wish come true. He wished for it after he saw real electronic chess for the first time at the Belaya Ladya chess club. Previously, he had only read about them and seen them on TV. And now he had a chance to touch them and play with them.
Electronic chess is not just a tablet with arranging pieces. This is a DGT electronic chessboard with pieces. With its help, you can broadcast to the Internet in real time all the moves made on the board, as well as the readings of the chess clock (supports the DGT 3000 chess clock). You can connect additional boards to the board (up to 12 pieces). All games played on all boards can be broadcast online. Parts are automatically saved and can then be exported to PGN format. It is possible to analyze every move made. These are the boards that are used in all chess tournaments, including the World Chess Championship. All the outstanding chess players of our time, such as Carlsen, Karjakin, Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, Aronian, Morozevich, Gelfand, Svidler, Ivanchuk, played on exactly the same board.
It is simply vital for Artem for the simple reason that you can play on this board from a prone position. When Artem plays regular chess, after 30 minutes of a tense sitting position, Artem’s back muscles cramp. And it’s very difficult for a boy to keep his back straight. When Artem’s mother and his aunt, when contacting the foundation, said that this is not the most important thing in life and they understand this, and it is unlikely that “Oblaka” will undertake to help them, the employees of the charity foundation could not stand aside.
How difficult it is to compare two completely different destinies in our world at the same time. Here is a baby who is healthy, and he can walk, run and talk, play, misbehave and draw. But he doesn’t have his own home, doesn’t have a father, and doesn’t have a full breakfast.
And here is a teenager, Artem, who cannot walk or run and whose friends do not have healthy teenagers, but only special children like him. He found meaning in life - chess, and became a real champion in his category. He has a happy family, even if it is simple, ordinary, but they are always next to him. And he dreams of chess.
Comparison is excruciatingly painful and difficult. After all, the wishes of these two completely different children are equivalent for the fund.
And the foundation decided to help Artem and become his friends. After all, he will have real tournaments ahead. And the “Oblakov” team really wants to take part and develop his talent. Help the boy become a real champion.
The magic of the New Year is unique, which means that today, by making every effort and uniting, caring people will be able to collect the necessary balance of funds to buy real electronic chess for Artem.
The DGT electronic chessboard with pieces costs 37,900 rubles, and it must be ordered from Moscow. The Clouds Foundation covers the transportation costs and invites everyone who believes in New Year's miracles and believes in brave Artem to make a donation and help make the wish of the amazing teenager of the city of Barnaul come true.
Details for translation with the message: “To Artem the champion!”
- donation through the website: www.fondoblaka.com/pozhertvovat
- through Sberbank-online No. 4276020427762163, registered to Jamilya Alibulatovna S. (director of the fund);
- by phone number linked to your Sberbank card: +79609612442, Semenenko D.A.;
- send an SMS to short number 3434 with the code word Cloud 300 (the amount after the space can be from 50 rubles).
- For each donation method, it is important to include the name of the family you choose to help. Here is the message: “To Artem the champion!”
During the game, 32 chess pieces interact, but, of course, their number decreases as the game progresses. Several types of combat units take part in the battle: these are the main king and queen, paired rooks, knights and bishops, as well as pawns. Now we will figure out how chess pieces move in pictures. Material especially for beginners and children.
How does a pawn move in chess
The first feature of pawn soldiers is that they cannot move backwards. The second - starting from the second move, the pawn can move only one square at a time. But the first move is an exception - the player has the right to place a pawn one square forward and move it two. The pawn shoots one square in a diagonal direction and in both directions. Here is the second feature of these small proud figures: they walk according to one principle, but hit according to a different principle, which makes them different from all the others.
It would seem that what else interesting a pawn could hide inside itself. But a lot can depend on it in the game. After all, having reached the last horizontal line (opposite to the initial one for this player), this small figure can become anyone, except, of course, the king. You just need to remember that such a “substitution” is considered a full-fledged move.
Pawns have their own rules. For example, the so-called “passing capture”. It implies that if another player's pawn crosses the beaten square, it can be captured without any hindrance. However, there is also a peculiarity here: the rule is valid only on the next move; after a move, this advantage can no longer be taken advantage of.
How does a knight move in chess?
The horse is known for walking along an unusual path, which when outlined resembles the letter “L”. That is, he moves two fields forward and then one to the side. And he can move like this in any direction, which means that in the center of the field he has as many as 8 options for moves, and two when moving from the corner. What’s interesting is that only the knight has the right to jump over pieces (both its own and others’) during a move. He can be very dangerous for the opponent’s pieces even if he seems to be closed from them. And during the fight, the horse stands in the place where the knocked down figure was.
By the way, this feature of the figure has passed into colloquial speech. The phrase “Make a move with a knight” means an unusual step, a cunning unexpected plan.
How does an elephant move in chess?
The elephant is considered a strong figure, it is comparable to the knight, but has some peculiarities. In some situations he will be stronger, and in others weaker. Like the knight, it belongs to the “minor pieces”. As for the movement of the bishop on the board, it moves along diagonals to as many squares as desired.
In this case, the players are each positioned with two bishops, which move only along the corresponding color of cells, white or black.
How does a rook move in chess
This piece is similar in weight to the queen; it moves along the board strictly vertically or horizontally and hits in the same way.
There is one unusual chess move associated with the rook called castling. It is performed with two figures at once. Its essence lies in the fact that the king suddenly changes its location for the enemy, finding itself in a safer place and under the protection of other pieces. During this operation, the king moves two squares towards the rook, and the rook itself becomes behind the king. There are several important conditions for performing such a move:
- castling is available only to those king and rook that were previously motionless;
- there should be no obstacles on the line between these figures, the fields should be empty;
- castling is not done if the king is under attack;
- the same applies to the fields: the king, naturally, cannot go into check, but there is a catch - the square that the king “jumps over” must also be clear from the enemy’s sights.
Interestingly, castling can be done in both directions: both to the rook near the queen and to the one closest to the king.
The move also has one more rule. The king must leave his seat first. The fact is that if the rook goes first, the second player has every right to say that the move has already been completed.
How does a queen move in chess?
The queen is the most powerful character on the chess battlefield, and her movement capabilities are impressive. It moves vertically, horizontally, and diagonally without any limitation on the number of fields.
The queen can be used for both attack and defense; it is extremely important. Therefore, it is extremely important to take care of the queen, not to put it under attack without a good reason (professionals sometimes achieve their gaming goals by doing this) and not to exchange it for a less significant piece. An equal exchange would be a queen, or two rooks, or three minor pieces.
How does a king move in chess?
This is the most important figure around which the game is built, and therefore when checkmate is announced, the game ends. The king cannot go into battle or be under it, he must be constantly protected. His movement capabilities are quite limited: in any direction, but only one field. When the number of pieces decreases during the game, the king's strength is comparable to another minor piece.
There are several options for the development of events for the king. The first is check, which means being under attack. The piece must be immediately moved to another place; such a move cannot be postponed for the sake of other strategic movements. On the other hand, you can organize a defense or knock down the piece that declared check with another piece or even with the king himself.
The next stage is checkmate, ending the game. In this position, the king is already under threat, that is, by check, and he has nowhere to retreat, and there is no way to remove these figures. There is another interesting situation called a stalemate. Here the king, although not in check, is unable to move anywhere, since all the nearby cells are also under attack. In such a situation, the result of the game is a draw.
A win in a game is worth 1 point, a draw is worth 0.5 points, and a loss is worth 0 points.
Interesting fact. Some figures have double names. For example, in pre-revolutionary times, a bishop was an officer, a rook was a tour, and a queen was called a queen. However, experienced chess players practically do not use these names; they are common among amateurs.
Good day, dear friend!
As a child, the author of these lines was first taught to play checkers. When the fateful acquaintance with chess took place, your humble servant was slightly confused. Unlike checkers, in this game the pieces move in different ways. The question immediately arose: how do chess pieces move?
I’ll say right away that the phrase “in pictures” in the title means exactly chess diagrams .
Comparison of figures with horses, elephants, knights, loopholes, etc. in my opinion, somewhat artificial. And it only takes the child away from the world of chess somewhere into another area.
At least, I personally did not have such analogies even in childhood.
And according to this, as they say, “to the barrier.” Let's figure out how the pieces move on the board, and not anywhere else. First things first.
Queen
Let's start with the strongest figure. can walk in all directions: diagonally and in a straight line (up, down and to the side). Moreover, at any distance.
Jumping over other pieces is not allowed (only the knight can do this).
The queen can capture any opponent's piece standing in the way. The diagram shows a horse. But the bishop from its own camp prevents the queen from moving.
Simply put, the way the queen moves combines the capabilities of the rook and bishop.
King
Now comes the most unique figure - the king. main feature- You cannot beat the king, this is not provided for by the rules.
Similar to queen moves. The difference is that the king can only move one square, while the queen can move any number.
Moves can be made in all possible directions - forward, backward, diagonally and sideways.
The king uses the same technique to beat the opponent’s pieces. Or, as inexperienced players sometimes say, “eats” or “cuts.”
Rook
Along with the queen, it is considered a “heavy” piece. The direction of movement is straight. Up, down or sideways.
The distance is any, as long as the trajectory is not blocked by other figures. The rook cannot jump over them.
That is, in comparison with the queen, the rook cannot move diagonally.
The relative “weight” (value) of a rook is 5 pawns. For comparison, a knight or bishop is equivalent to three pawns. Queen - nine.
That is, as a rule, the rook is stronger than a minor piece (knight or bishop), but slightly weaker than the knight + bishop pair. And two rooks are slightly stronger than the queen.
Horse
Which chess piece moves like an L? That's right, of course. And only the horse.
In the diagram, the squares that a knight in the center of the board can “jump” to are colored green.
Another important ability of the knight is that it can jump over pieces, including opponent’s pieces:
The white knight has the opportunity to take the black bishop, despite the obstacles in the form of pawns. The horse, like an inveterate hurdler, jumps over them.
Elephant
The bishop, like the knight, is considered a minor piece. The direction of movement is exclusively diagonal. Any distance.
Just like other pieces (with the exception of the knight), the bishop can only move along the free space of the board. He can beat someone else’s piece that he meets on the way, but his own simply impedes the movement of the bishop:
In the position on the diagram, the bishop has only 2 moves - to squares e5 and f6, simultaneously capturing the black rook
Pawn
Despite its unpretentiousness in terms of the value (strength) of the figure, it surpasses other figures in the variety of its capabilities.
Main features of the pawn: Moves only forward, attacks diagonally, can transform into other pieces and capture other pawns “on the pass”. First things first
Initial move
Pawn in starting position can move one or two fields forward.
The general rule for promoting a pawn can be formulated as follows:
If a pawn bumps into another piece on its way, it cannot continue moving.
If the pawn were a queen or a rook, they could capture the enemy piece, but the pawn is not allowed such a “delicacy”. It will rest against another piece until the path is clear. Or it will not get the opportunity to capture.
Take
The trajectory of a pawn capture is diagonally one square and exclusively forward. The pawn cannot move back and cannot not capture.
For example: 1. f3: g4 or 1... e5:d4
The pawn on square b5 cannot move vertically, but it can capture the knight. 1. b5:a6
There is an exception to this rule: taking on the pass. Sometimes called - through a broken field.
Taking over a broken field (on the pass)
The rule looks like this:
In a situation where a pawn, located in its original position, that is, on the 2nd or 7th rank, makes a move to 2 squares and jumps through a field (cell) that is under the attack of an enemy pawn, it can be captured by this very pawn.
1.с2-с4 b4:с3 or 1...f7-f5 2. g5:f6
You can only take a pawn across a broken square. The pawn is not allowed to capture another piece.
The opportunity to capture on the pass is provided only for 1 turn. In other words, as a response move to the opponent’s pawn move.
Transformation
Another unique ability of the pawn is the ability to transform into another piece.
This is any pawn's finest hour! The crowning achievement of a career, so to speak.
Transformation rule:
When a pawn reaches the last, eighth rank (black - respectively the first), it must transform into any piece of the same color, with the exception of the king.
In practice, it looks like this: A pawn is placed on a promotion square, removed from the board, and another piece is placed on this square. Which one it is, the chess player himself decides.
As a rule, a pawn is promoted to a queen, of course. This way, several queens can appear on the board. Two queens of the same color often appear on the board.
It happens that the transformation occurs simultaneously with the taking. It does not interfere:
The pawn captures the opponent's piece and at the same time transforms into another piece of its own. This results in a double effect: 1.d7:с8Ф
In conclusion, let me remind you that the rules for moving pieces are only one section of the rules chess game. Agree, the goal of the game is not to “walk.” It's about winning.
Therefore, I urge you, dear friend, to study other articles on the rules of the game on our blog.
Step by step, and you will plunge into the world of one of the most exciting and useful games invented by mankind. If not herself.
Thank you for your interest in the article.
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25.10.2020Backgammon
