Chess Pieces: Names, Values and Moves

The six pieces at a glance

The letters appear in written moves. The knight uses N because K is already the king, and a pawn move is written with the square only, so e4 means a pawn moves to e4 and Nf3 means a knight moves to f3. The page on how to play chess shows each move with a diagram.

How each piece moves

The four diagrams below put one piece on an open board. Every arrow ends on a square the piece can reach in one move. The rook, bishop and queen can also stop on any square along an arrow, as long as nothing blocks the way.

The starting position

At the start of the game the pieces stand on the first and eighth ranks, and the pawns fill the second and seventh ranks. The queen goes on the square of her own color, so the white queen starts on a light square and the black queen on a dark one. The setup page explains the whole position, and the diagram below shows it.

The value of each piece

Point values help you judge a trade. A bishop for a knight is an even trade, because each is worth three. A rook for a bishop and a pawn is almost even, because the bishop and pawn together are worth four against five. Giving a queen for two rooks is also roughly even, ten against nine.

The classic values are 1, 3, 3, 5 and 9. Many players add that two bishops together are worth a little more than six, because the pair controls squares of both colors, and a rook is worth more than a knight and a pawn in an open position.

When the numbers lie

The values are averages, and they fail in specific positions. Learn the four cases below, because most club games turn on one of them.

1. A passed pawn near promotion. A pawn that is one or two steps from becoming a queen can be worth more than a rook. Count how many moves it needs.
2. King safety. A piece that gives you a forced checkmate is worth more than any material. A piece that your opponent can use to attack your king is worth more than its value on paper.
3. Open and closed positions. Bishops are stronger when the pawns have moved out of the way. Knights are stronger when the position is blocked, because they jump over the pawns.
4. A trapped or buried piece. A rook that cannot leave the corner is worth less than three points of activity. Activity matters as much as number.

What each piece does best

Each piece has a role. The pawns form the structure and control squares in front of them. The knights jump into the center and attack two pieces at once. The bishops control long diagonals. The rooks need open files and the seventh rank. The queen attacks quickly but should not come out before the minor pieces, because an early queen can be chased. The king stays safe early and becomes an active piece in the endgame.

The simplest way to remember roles is the order of development: pawns first to take space, then the knights and bishops, then castling, then the queen and the rooks.

The king is special

The king is the only piece that cannot be captured, because the game ends when it has no escape from check. It moves one square at a time and may not move into check. Because the king is slow and has to stay safe, it is usually castled behind a wall of pawns in the opening and middlegame. In the endgame, when few pieces remain, it becomes a strong fighter.

Pieces work best in pairs

No piece wins alone. A single rook cannot checkmate a king, but two rooks can, by taking the ranks away from the king one at a time. The idea, called the ladder, shows what coordination means: one rook cuts off a rank and the second delivers the check. In the diagram White has a rook on a7 that controls the seventh rank, and the rook on b1 gives checkmate on b8 because the king has no square left on the seventh or eighth rank.

The same principle applies with other pieces. A bishop and a knight cover squares that the other cannot, a queen and a rook attack along every line and a pawn chain supports the pieces in front of it. When you choose a move, ask which of your pieces is doing the least and bring it closer to the action. That question alone improves most beginners' games.

Three trades to compare

Use the values to check each trade before you make it.

• Knight for bishop. Equal in value. Keep the piece that suits the pawns: the bishop if the position is open, the knight if it is closed.
• Rook for two minor pieces. The rook is worth five and the two minor pieces six, so the minor pieces are worth slightly more. In the middlegame two minor pieces are usually stronger than a rook.
• Queen for a rook and a minor piece. The queen is worth nine and the two pieces eight, so the trade is slightly in favor of the queen, but a safe king and active pieces can make the pair better.

How to practice the pieces

Learn the pieces in three steps. First, learn the moves until you never make an illegal move. Second, learn the values so that you can judge trades. Third, play small games with only a few pieces, such as king and pawn against king, or king and rook against king, to feel how each piece works. A teacher can set up the positions that teach each piece best and watch how you use them. See the packages below for how lessons work.