Chess Pieces - the Knight, Bishop, Queen and King
Chessmen - the Knight
The knight is one chess figure that isn't symmetrical. It has a horse's head for a symbol. There are a pair of knights on each side in chess.
This chessman is unique in that it can jump over other pieces. The knight moves in an L-shaped manner: either sliding two squares to a side and then advancing one square forward or backward, or sliding a square to the side and moving two squares forward or backward.
To make sure a knight's move is correct, check the color of the square it lands on. If it is its own color, the move is wrong; it has to be of its own color. A knight's L-move takes up 4 squares including its own starting square.
Chessmen - the Bishop
The bishop is a medium-sized piece with a top resembling the caps of bishops and popes. Like rooks and knights, there is a pair of bishops on each chess army.
The bishop can move diagonally for any number of squares, backward or forward. Like the rook, it can capture an enemy piece in its path and stop there; it is blocked if there is a chessman of its own color in the way.
Chessmen - the Queen
The queen is a tall, slender chess piece.
Why does the queen have the highest point value in chess? It is because of all the pieces, the queen can make the most moves.
Essentially, the queen combines the powers of the rook and the bishop. She can move in any of 8 directions: left, right, backward, forward, diagonal front-left, diagonal front-right, diagonal back-left and diagonal back-right.
Like other chessmen, the queen's moves are limited if there are friendly pieces in her way. i Because of the queen's strength, most players choose to promote their pawns to a queen when it is permissible.
Chessmen - the King
The most important figure on a chess board is the king. All action revolves around protecting one's king and attacking that of the enemy's; the king himself is largely a passive figure.
The king is not a powerful figure like the queen or rook. The king can move one square at a time in any direction. Like other pieces, it can be blocked or capture enemy pieces. However the king can never be captured; if it is in harm's way, he must be moved to a safer square. If that is not possible, the game ends in a "check mate" - "the king is dead."