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Bishop or rook. Chess pieces: names and possible moves

Chess is one of the ancient games, which is still very popular. Although the rules of the game are relatively simple, a game of chess can be very complex. However, to start playing chess, you just need to master the correct initial placement of the pieces and quite simple rules; perhaps this will be your first step towards participating in grandmaster tournaments.

Steps

Arrangement of figures

    Position the chessboard towards you so that there is a white square in the lower right corner. This rule applies to both players, regardless of the color they are playing with. White and black pieces will be located symmetrically.

    • You should place your pieces on the two horizontal lines closest to you.
    • Unlike the game of checkers, chess uses all the squares of the board.

  1. Place a rook (sometimes a rook is called a tour) in the corner squares of the board closest to you. Start by placing rooks - pieces that usually look like fortress towers and move in straight lines (horizontally and vertically). Take two rooks and place them in two corner cells.

    • In some chess sets, the pieces have an original appearance that makes it almost impossible to identify them without consulting the accompanying description or looking at the bottom of the piece. The rook is represented by the symbol ♜.

  2. Place the knights on the horizontal line closest to you next to the rooks. Knights, usually shaped like a horse's head, are located on the sides of the rooks. Knights move in the letter "G", that is, first two squares in one direction (horizontally or vertically), then one sideways, and this is the only piece that can jump over other pieces and pawns.

    • The symbol ♞ is used to represent a knight.

  3. Place the bishops on the sides of the knights. Place the bishops, which usually have the shape of an elongated oval with a small sphere at the top, on the sides of the knights, closer to the center of the board. Bishops move along diagonals.

    • The bishop is indicated by the sign ♝.
    • The bishop located on the left will be on a black square, and the one on the right will be on a white square.

  4. Place the queen on one of the two remaining squares that has the corresponding color. If you are playing as white, place your queen on the white square in the middle of the horizontal row closest to you. If you have black pieces, place the queen on a black square. Typically, the queen is one of the two tallest pieces and has a jagged crown at the top. The queen can move vertically, horizontally and diagonally in all directions and on any number of squares, which makes it a very strong and valuable piece.

    • The queen is represented by the symbol ♛.

  5. Place the king on the only remaining free square on the first row. As a rule, the king is the tallest figure, adorned on top with a rounded crown, often topped with a cross. By placing the king, you fill the first row (also called the first “horizontal” in chess) with pieces. The king can move vertically, horizontally and diagonally, but only one square at a time, and the rest of the pieces must protect it.

    • The king is represented by the symbol ♚.

  6. Place all your pawns along the second row. After placing the pieces, place smaller pawns in the second horizontal row. Pawns usually move forward one square, but they have many more additional properties. Now your entire army is deployed and ready for battle.

    • The symbol ♟ is used to indicate pawns.
    • When all the pieces are arranged as described above, the game can begin.

  7. Look around the board again, making sure that all your pieces are in the right places. The two horizontal rows closest to you should look like this (in the case of black pieces):
    ♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟
    ♜♞♝♚♛♝♞♜

    Rules of the game

    1. A game of chess is won by capturing the enemy king, that is, by declaring “checkmate” to him. Checkmate means that no matter where the king goes, he will still be under attack, that is, after any of his moves he will be in “check” from one or more enemy pieces.

      You can destroy your opponent's pieces by removing them from the board. By moving your piece to a square occupied by an opponent's piece, you thereby “beat” his piece, and it leaves the game. Your piece then moves onto the square that was previously occupied by the beaten piece. You cannot hit your pieces or place several pieces on one square.

      White starts the game, after which the opponents move alternately, with one piece at a time. Traditionally, the game opens with White moving one of his pieces. After this, Black makes a response move, also moving one of his pieces, and then the opponents take turns moving their pieces until the game ends.

      The game may end in a draw. There is not always a winner in a chess game. A “stalemate” leads to a draw - a situation in which the player who has the right to move cannot make a single move allowed by the rules. This means that his king is not under attack, but also cannot move anywhere without being in check; the remaining pieces are also unable to move anywhere, since they are blocked by other pieces, or their move will open the king, putting him under attack from the opponent’s pieces. As a rule, stalemate occurs at the end of the game, when there are few pieces left: for example, pawns are unable to move, being blocked by other pawns, and the king also cannot move without falling into check.

      Moving pieces

      1. Pawns move one square forward and attack one adjacent square diagonally. Typically, a pawn can resemble the adjacent square in front of it. This may make pawns seem like they provide little value, but they have a number of other features that greatly increase their value:

        The rook moves horizontally or vertically any number of squares. This figure can move in a straight line forward, backward, left and right. In this case, the rook can cross any number of cells until it meets another piece on its way or reaches the edge of the board.

      2. The horse moves in the letter "G". This figure moves the most in an original way: First she “jumps” two squares, then moves another square to the side, resulting in the letter “G”. The move can be made in any direction: two cells back and one to the right, two cells to the left and one to the left, and so on.

        • The knight “jumps” over the other pieces; thus, he can only capture those pieces that stand on the squares that complete the letter “G”. The knight always moves in the letter "L", regardless of the pieces standing in its path.
      3. . With its help, you can keep a brief record of moves (both your own and your opponent's), which will allow you to later reconstruct the flow of a chess game and analyze it.
      4. Learn the tactics of playing chess. Chess is a surprisingly complex game - despite the simplicity of its rules, it is full of unknown depths. Numerous literature is devoted to the game of chess, which addresses issues of tactics and strategy of this popular game. Studying this literature will allow you to improve your skills.
      5. Consider the relative value of different pieces. Each piece has its own value, which makes it easier for players to calculate the benefits or damages from a possible exchange of pieces.
      6. Study popular openings. Called debut initial stage chess game, during which the foundation for further play is laid. A mistake in the opening can lead to the loss of the entire game, but successful play at this stage gives a good chance of winning. Studying chess openings is a very exciting activity. Typically, experienced players are familiar with many different opening variations.

Hello friends. You are Uncle Valera Paranichev.

Theater, as we know, begins with a hanger. Chess - from a chessboard. The initial placement of chess pieces on the board must be correct, otherwise your entire game will go awry and not according to the rules.

First, a small digression. Since you’ve landed on this page, it means you’re a beginner, so we bring to your attention a cool educational video course “How to teach a child to play chess.” Thanks to him, you will learn and understand all the rules yourself, and you will also teach a child from 4 years old to play. You won't regret it...

If you want to start playing quickly, don't rush. You are a chess player, and chess begins with the basics.

Initial arrangement of figures

In classical chess, before the start of the game, the pieces are placed on the board in a strictly defined way: all the pieces are located on four horizontal lines. White on 1 and 2, black on 7 and 8. Rooks on the edges, then knights and bishops.


In the center, on the d and e verticals, are the king and queen. It was in relative position king and queen is where confusion most often arises. To make it easier to remember, the rule is this: The queen is located on a square of its color. Accordingly, the king is on the field of the opposite color.

The pawns are arranged in a row along the second and seventh ranks. There are 8 of them on each side.

I recommend that from the first steps you name your moves according to the names of the fields. Usually, when analyzing a game, chess players say this: “Knight f three.” This phrase means the knight's move on f3. Or: The queen hits de five” - the queen captured the enemy piece located on the d5 square.

Pieces and moves

We have separate articles on chess pieces. Therefore, we will limit ourselves to a short review. In total, each side has 16 figures. Each player has at his disposal a queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, 8 pawns and, of course, a king.

King– can make moves on one square
Queen- at any distance
Rook– moves vertically and horizontally
Elephant- diagonally
Horse- walks in a zigzag. More precisely, with the letter G. That is, two fields forward and one field to the side. Read more in this article
Pawn- can move either one field forward, or two - from the initial position. Read more about pawn moves in this article.
The king, queen, rook, knight and bishop can move in any direction. Pawn - only forward.

How to place pieces on the board

I recommend placing the pieces on the board, starting with the king and queen. Then minor pieces, rooks, and then pawns. While you are still a beginner chess player, such a sequence will help you remember the value of chess pieces.

This is not strictly necessary, of course. Just advice from an experienced chess player.

How to play for a beginner

The move e2-e4 opens the way for two pieces at once: the queen and the bishop. In addition, White's first move begins to fight for control of the center of the board.

Accordingly, it is reasonable for Black to respond to e2-e4 with e7-e5. The arguments are similar to those stated above.

Develop easy pieces - bishops and knights. It is better to bring the knights closer to the center of the board - to the squares f3, c3, f6, c6.

The center of the board - squares e4, e5, d4 and d5 - is the decisive springboard for the fight for advantage. Try to keep these fields in sight of your pieces

Try not to delay castling. For the king's safety.

Avoid rash moves with extreme pawns, especially on two squares. This weakens the position.

There must be good reasons for introducing the queen early into the game. This strongest piece has great potential, but due to its value it can become an object of attack. You will have to constantly divert the queen from exchanging for a less valuable piece.

It is clear that this is very general principles, stated briefly. Dozens of monographs have been written to describe various chess strategies. If you are a beginner, there is a time for everything.

We emphasize once again: The initial arrangement of figures on chessboard in classical chess is strictly defined. In other types of chess, for example in Fischer chess, the arrangement is arbitrary. But that's a completely different story.

Chessboard and pieces

A chess game is played by two opponents 1 on 1. One player controls the white pieces, the other controls the black ones. The game takes place on a square board, each side of which consists of 8 cells, or fields. Accordingly, the total number of cells is 8x8=64. To make it easier to distinguish the boundaries of the fields, they are colored alternately in light and dark colors. For simplicity, light fields are called white fields, and dark fields are called black fields. There is always a black field in the lower left corner of the board:

Vertical columns of fields are indicated in Latin letters from a to h. And the horizontal rows are numbers from 1 to 8. Accordingly, each field of the board can be designated by the letter of the vertical and the number of the horizontal at the intersection of which it is located. For example, b3, d5, f2, h6, etc. In addition to verticals and horizontals, there are also diagonals - field lines at an angle of 45 degrees. To call a diagonal, we say the starting and ending fields. For example, diagonal a1-h8, diagonal h3-c8, etc.

Each player has 8 pieces (king, queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights) and 8 pawns:

The initial arrangement of the pieces on the board, or the so-called. starting position:

Piece moves and captures.

The game consists of moving pieces around the board, or moves. The moves are made one by one. White makes the first move in the game. A move may consist of capturing an opponent's piece other than the king. At the same time, it is removed from the board, and the piece that captured is placed in the place of the captured piece. Let's look at how each of the figures moves.

King

 The king can move to any one square adjacent to himself vertically, horizontally and diagonally.


Queen

The queen moves to any number of squares vertically, horizontally and diagonally.

Rook

The rook moves vertically and horizontally.

Elephant

The bishop moves only diagonally.

Obviously, a bishop standing on a white square cannot in any way get onto a black square, no matter how many and what moves it makes. And vice versa. Looking at the initial position, you will see that each side has one bishop moving on white squares, the other on black squares. Accordingly, one bishop is called light-squared, the other - dark-squared.

Horse

This figure has an unusual move. The horse moves in the letter "G". More precisely, on the field located “at the tip” of this imaginary letter: two cells vertically or horizontally, plus one cell sideways. Look at the diagram and then everything will become clear:

Pieces cannot “jump over” other pieces, their own or others. The horse can. For example, in this diagram, even if there are some pieces or pawns on squares c4, c3, d3, the knight can still go to b3 or c2 (Unless, of course, b3 and c2 are occupied by their own pieces. If they are strangers, then they can be taken) .

Pawn

A pawn can only move one square forward. Pawns don't move back. In the starting position you have a choice: go 1 or 2 fields forward.


 Special moves

Castling

Castling is a simultaneous move of the king and rook. It is possible if both pieces are in the starting position. The king moves two squares towards the rook. The rook occupies the square that the king "jumped over". Depending on which direction the castling is made, it can be short or long. The diagram shows, as an example, the final position of the king and rook with white castling long and black castling short:

Castling is not possible in the following cases:

1) The king or rook participating in the game has already been played in the game
2) The king is in check (see below)
3) After castling, the king falls into check
4) Between the king and the rook participating in castling there is one’s own or someone else’s piece
5) The king (but not the rook) crosses a square attacked by an opponent’s piece

Castling is the most unusual move in chess. Beginners are often confused about when castling is possible and when it is not. For better remembering, let's give a clear example:


Let's assume that neither the white nor the black king, nor any of the rooks have yet moved in the game. Then White can castle short. They cannot castle long, since after the move is completed the white king will be on c1 under the attack of the black queen g5. Black cannot castle short, since in this case the black king would cross the f8 square, which is controlled by the white queen a3. Black can castle on the long side. Please note: the fact that the rook a8 is under the attack of the bishop g2, and the square b8 is under the attack of the bishop g3, does not in any way interfere with castling.

Taking on the pass

If a pawn, having made a move 2 squares from its initial position, becomes next to the opponent’s pawn, then it can be captured “on the pass”, since it has passed the square under the attack of this pawn.

Suppose, in a position on the diagram, White makes a pawn move from c2 to c4. In this case, Black can take the pawn en passant if he wishes. In this case, the black pawn will move to square c3, and the white pawn will disappear from the board.

The right to such a capture can only be exercised immediately in response to a double pawn move. In the future, this right is lost.

Pawn promotion

If a pawn steps on the last rank (for white - on the eighth, for black - on the first), then it must be transformed into one of the pieces of its color: queen, rook, bishop or knight. The choice of figure does not depend on what figures are in at the moment on the board. The pawn is removed from the board and replaced with a new piece on the same square.

Purpose of the game and possible options end of the game

The main figure in chess is the king. According to the rules, they are not allowed to go onto the field beaten by their opponents. An attack on the king is called check. Under Shah, the party to whom he was declared is obliged to protect the king. For example, move it to another square (not under fire from enemy pieces), or destroy an enemy piece that gives check, or place your piece on the line between the attacking piece and the king. If none of the methods is possible, then on the board mat, and the game immediately ends with the victory of the side that declared it. Checkmate implies that on the next move the opponent's king would inevitably be captured. Thus, the final The goal of the game is to declare checkmate the opponent's king.

Here are a few examples in which White declared checkmate.

Chess piece This is a special gaming unit that has certain properties specified by the rules of the game. These properties include the rules of movement on the chessboard, starting position, name and strength.

Chess pieces- these are several chess pieces that form a specific set for each player. As a rule, there are 32 of them, 16 for each player. One set is "Black" and the other is "White".

The external properties of chess pieces include material, size and design. The main materials from which chess is made are wood and plastic. The figure shows an example of professional tournament pieces:

Arrangement of chess pieces

At the beginning of the game, White pieces are placed on the 1st and 2nd horizontal lines, Black pieces - on the 8th and 7th horizontal lines, in strict order, according to the rules of the game. Only one piece can be placed on one field.

Rooks are placed in the corners of the board, on the “a” and “h” verticals. Knights are placed next to rooks. After the knights we place the bishops, and in the middle we place the queen and king. As a rule, there are no problems with remembering the placement of chess pieces on the board, but sometimes beginning chess players confuse the places of the queen and the king. To always place the queen correctly, you need to remember this saying: “The queen loves her color.” It says that the White Queen is placed on the white square (d1), and the Black Queen on the black square (d8). The arrangement of the initial figures is shown below:

Game Features

We have six unique chess pieces, each of which has its own name: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, pawn. Each figure has its own specific capabilities. Some are inactive with little impact force, some are more mobile with greater force. Some walk on white squares, others only on black squares, and some walk on all squares of the board. There are even pieces that need to be protected, under the threat of losing. Therefore, in chess not all pieces are equal.

When we play a game, we must carefully exchange pieces, trying to exchange a weaker piece for a stronger piece of the opponent. Otherwise, our opponent will gain a large material advantage and will easily win the game.

In this table, we provide a description of the pieces, their value and what pieces they can be exchanged for:

If there are three minor pieces opposite the queen, this means that the queen can be exchanged for three pieces. If you exchange the queen for one minor piece, then an unfavorable exchange will occur and you will suffer material losses, while your opponent will have a chance to win the game.

If you exchange a rook for a bishop with two pawns, then an equivalent exchange will occur, but if you exchange a rook for a knight or bishop, then there is already a loss of quality (the rook is higher quality than the bishop or knight). Usually they say that the player lost an exchange. If you exchange a rook for one or two peksha, then this is already a material loss.

During a game, positions sometimes arise in which weak pieces lead to successful battles against strong chess pieces. For example: A bishop is stronger than a rook, or a rook is stronger than a queen, etc. Thus there is an absolute and relative strength of the figures. Absolute strength is indicated in the table above, but relative strength cannot be measured. It depends on the game situation and can change in each position.

The highest skill in the art of chess is the ability to create such positions when weak pieces turn out to be stronger than strong ones.

In the following lessons, we will look in detail at the features of each chess piece.

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 both put 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 a fight, the horse stands in the place where the knocked down figure was.

By the way, this feature of the figure 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 to do this:

  • 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 point is that if the rook goes first, the second player has every right 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 its 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.