In a way to understand these strengths and weaknesses, the concept of chess pieces values came up.Īs a beginner or learner in chess, it is important to know the “value” each piece has so that you can know when to retain such a piece or exchange it. Pawns are the only chess pieces that cannot move backward.Įvery chess piece on the board has its respective strength and weaknesses due to its distinct movements on the chessboard. Pawns capture other chess pieces by moving just one square ahead in a diagonal manner. If it has not yet made its first move, it also has the option of moving two squares straight forward, provided both squares are vacant. Pawns are like the foot soldiers in a chess game.Ī pawn moves straight forward one square if that square is vacant.

Knights are also the only chess pieces that jump over other chess pieces. The rook moves horizontally or vertically, through any number of unoccupied squares.Ī way of explaining is this is that the knights move two squares horizontally then one square vertically, or they move one square horizontally then two squares vertically, all done in an “L” pattern. This also means that the king can only move one square at a time. The king moves exactly one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. It’s worth noting that every chess piece captures according to the way they move. Next, we would have a look at how these chess pieces move on the chessboard. Pawns are represented by the coordinates on the chessboard. The chess pieces all have their corresponding notations: The King is represented by the capital letter “K”, The Queen is given as “Q”, Knights as ” N”, Bishops as “B”, Rooks as ” R”. In a standard chess game, each player begins the game with the following 16 pieces: A chess piece is any of the 32 movable objects found on a chessboard and used to play the game of chess.

All the names of chess pieces