
One player, referred to as White, controls the white pieces and the other player, Black, controls the black pieces White is always the first player to move. The chessboard is placed so that each player has a white square in the near right hand corner, and the pieces are set out as shown in the diagram, with each queen on a square that matches its color.Įach player begins the game with sixteen pieces: each player's pieces comprise one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. The colors of the sixty-four squares alternate between light and dark, and are referred to as "light squares" and "dark squares". Our highly skilled coaches can help you build your chess skills like never before.Chess is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks and denoted with numbers 1 to 8) and eight columns (called files and denoted with letters a to h) of squares.
Chess horse movement professional#
We host professional chess lessons for groups and private lessons for individuals. If you need additional help with your game, contact us here.

Keep these pointers in mind and you’ll begin to form an intuition about the knight and how he likes to play. Mastering the knight is one of the most satisfying feelings in the chess journey. This also goes for the queen! Being able to cover the same squares as a bishop, your opponents queen can threaten your knights in the same way. A good chess strategy for your knight involves spending an extra second keeping tabs on your opponents bishops to see how they might threaten your knight in the future. A well placed bishop can cover all the squares a poorly placed knight can move to. As the knight always switches the colour of the square it’s on, it’s prone to being threatened by the opposing bishop. This position is known as an ‘outpost’.ĭue to the limited (albeit creative) movement of the knight, it’s prone to getting trapped. A knight that is in the opponent’s half of the board with no enemy pawns that are able to kick it away can be particular powerful. Even on a crowded board, the knight’s ability to circumvent other pieces makes it right at home. This will open up every vector of movement available to the knight, which could otherwise be quite limited. Find a position where your knight is safe in the centre of the board. Chess strategy dictates that the centre of the board is often the place to be, and this is doubly true for the knight. There’s an old saying in chess: “Knights at the rim are dim”. It will take your knight 4 turns to get there, even though it seems very close. Count two squares diagonally from your knight.By extension of the first rule If your knight can’t make it to a particular opposite coloured square this turn, it will take at least 3 turns to get there.A knight always moves to a different coloured square than where it started.Intuiting your knights movement is the ultimate goal, but in the meantime, here are some rules to remember: At the same time, some further squares will be much faster for you to reach. A square that looks right next to your knight can take much longer than expected for you to reach. Once you’ve got this piece mastered, you’ll have all sorts of chess strategies and shenanigans at your fingertips!ĭon’t Let Your Knight’s Movement Surprise Youįor new players, moving the knight can be deceptive. This makes the knight a master of surprise.

Unlike most pieces, the knight has a unique asymmetrical movement with the ability to jump clear over obstructing pieces. The knight can be one of the most difficult pieces for a beginner to add to their chess strategy.
