About the Pieces of Chess

When the Indians developed chess, they modeled it on their army. Each piece represented an arm of the military. The pawns were styled on the infantry on the front line. Not much changed as the Europeans saw them in a similar light.

The pawn represented a foot soldier or a common peasant. For this reason the pawns line up on the front line. It only marches forward, is used to hold the line and like cannon fodder is often sacrificed for a higher purpose. The Europeans quickened it by allowing 2 squares on the first move to speed up the game.

Maybe promotion represents the little guy's dream to a tee. Work hard, fight like a tiger, survive the odds and maybe you can move up in the world.

It's Moves:  A pawn can move only forward one square at a time except its first move when it can move two squares. It can only move diagonally when it is capturing its opponent. If a pawn reaches the back rank on the opposite side of the board, it can be promoted to one of the other pieces except the king. In many cases, players promote pawns to queens.  (8 pawns per player)

*One special move for a pawn is called an en passant. A pawn may capture a horizontally adjacent enemy pawn that has just advanced two squares in one move. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy pawn passed over as if the enemy pawn had advanced only one square.      

The term Rook is taken from the Persian word rukh which means chariot. In the ancient armies of India and later Persia, the chariots were used for their lightning speed on the battlefield.

In other places that later adopted chess, such as Russia, the chariot became a fast boat. It was always represented by something powerful and dynamic.

The Persian chariot resembled a small mobile castle due to the stonework on its sides. When chess came to Europe, the Europeans took this to be a castle or tower of some kind.

The Persian word rukh even sounded like rocca, the Italian word for fortress. The piece became a castle referred to in English as the Rook. The German word for it is Turm meaning Tower.

It's moves: A rook can move only forward or sideways, but can move any number of squares that are open and capture opponents accordingly. Rooks cannot move diagonally.  (2 rooks per player) 

The Knights represented the cavalry on the chessboard. The distinctive move is unchanged since the piece was invented. The Knight like the cavalry doesn't charge directly at the enemy. As it moves in it veers to one side in an effort to outflank the opposing forces. This is where the Knight's movement comes from.

Some people say the Knight ended up with this move because the Knight starts between a Rook and a Bishop. It moves one square orthogonally like a Rook and continues one square diagonally like a Bishop.

Other people say that it's because all other conceivable movements were taken already. It was the only movement remaining. Along with it's ability to jump all blockades, with it's distinctive movement, it is pretty hard to imagine chess without the Knight. Maybe that's why it's movement was never changed. Don't mess with perfection. 

It's Moves:  A knight moves two squares in one direction and one square over in an "L" motion. 

It is also the only piece that can jump over others. It captures an opponent resting on the square where it lands, regardless of the square's color.  (2 knights per player) 

This piece originally began life as a symbol of the elephants in the Indian army. It's original movement was 2 squares diagonally in any direction. It was a piece of only moderate power.

It was only when the game was carried to Europe that it's fortunes began to improve. The Europeans were not as familiar with the elephant as the Indians so they needed to change the piece to something that people in Europe could relate to. The church was very powerful in Europe when these changes were going on. It's influence on political life in the Middle Ages was recognized when the piece became a Bishop.

The Europeans also wanted to speed the game up as they found it laboriously slow. The Bishop was one of a number of pieces to see it's powers increase, gaining unlimited range on the diagonals. 

It's Moves:  A bishop moves diagonally in any direction along the same color squares that are open and can capture accordingly. For each player, there is a bishop that stays only on dark squares and one that stays only on light squares. (2 bishops per player)   

The Queen changed probably more than any other piece in the game. In India in the 6th Century this piece was a male Advisor (Vizier), not a Queen. The King and the Vizier would watch the battle from a vantage point. They would send instructions to the troops in the field.

The Vizier was weak, able to move only one square diagonally in any direction. When the game moved to Europe this piece became a Queen as they were commonplace in just about every European country.

In the Middle Ages, the Europeans introduced a raft of rule changes to speed up the game. They enhanced the power of a number of pieces.

Due to the influence of Queen Isabella of Spain circa 1475, the Queen was empowered dramatically. Her movement was amended to what it is today, unlimited range on the ranks, files and diagonals making her the strongest piece in the game. 

It's Moves:  The Queen can move any number of squares of any color that are open, diagonally, forward and sideways in any direction, and can capture accordingly. It is considered the most powerful piece on the board. (1 Queen per player - although many sets include an extra Queen for promotion from a pawn.)   

The King was the King right from the start. Neither has the King's movement changed. In variants such as Chinese Chess and others from South East Asia, the piece is a General.

In Shatranj, a variant bridging Chaturanga and western chess, there was no stalemate rule. If the King can't move and there is no other move, then even if he is not in check, it's said to be checkmate.

There is no castling in Shatranj. Taking all of your opponents pieces apart from the bare King is a win unless he can take your last piece apart from the King on the next move. That's a draw.

The Europeans introduced castling to make it possible to get the King safe in the new, speeded up version. They said that a King must be under attack to be in checkmate. If he was not the result would be a draw by stalemate. They also decided that a bare King was not defeated and had to be checkmated. 

It's Moves:  The King can only move one square of any color at at time, any direction, that is open and not threatened with check by an opponent. It is the piece that a player must protect at all times from check and checkmate to stay in the game. The only time that a king can move more than one square is during castling when it can move two and the corresponding rook moves to its other side.   (1 King per player )   

A chessboard consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colors of squares, one light and one dark, in a checkered pattern. During play, the board is oriented such that each player's near-right corner square is a light square.

The columns of a chessboard are known as files, the rows are known as ranks, and the lines of adjoining same-colored squares (each running from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge) are known as diagonals. 

Each square of the board is named using algebraic, descriptive, or numeric chess notation; algebraic notation is the FIDE standard. In algebraic notation, using White's perspective, files are labeled A through H from left to right, and ranks are labeled 1 through 8 from bottom to top. Each square is identified by the file and rank which it occupies. The A- through D-files comprise the queenside, while the e- through h-files comprise the kingside.

Notation is a means of players writing down their moves and those of their opponents using algebraic symbols and abbreviations. Notation allows players to keep track of their moves so if there is a question or dispute over the legality of a move during a tournament, a decision can be made by a tournament director. In most cases, notation is required when playing rated games.

Even more valuable, notation allows players to keep their games for purposes of reviewing them later to see what mistakes may have been made. Chess teachers use notations with students in helping them improve. Notation also allows more experienced players to make their games available to other players to help them improve. It is widely used in chess publications where games are shared.