The Everything Chess Basics Book (8 page)

The Bishop

The tall thin piece starting out between the royal couple and the knight is an expanded version of the old
alfil
, or “elephant.” The bishop is another of the long-range pieces, and it operates on diagonals. So the bishop varies in strength depending in part on what diagonal it stands on.

A bishop on an empty board can move to any square diagonally forward or backward to either side of the square it stands on. If a piece or pawn stands in the way, however, that’s where the bishop must stop. Bishops never learned how to jump.

Square Color

At the start of a chess game both opponents get two bishops: one dark-square bishop, which is confined to only dark squares for the duration of the game, and one light-square bishop, which is limited to the light squares only. Thus if your light-square bishop gets captured, you might conceivably become weak on the light squares. On the other hand, one of the best ways to begin an attack on the dark squares is to remove your opponent’s dark-square bishop.

The bishop was originally an elephant in the Indian version of chess. It didn’t get its modern powers until around the time of the Renaissance. The piece used to be a symbol of the elephant’s tusks, and that symbol reminded the Italians of a bishop’s miter.

The bishop can move to any of the eleven dotted squares. Bishops can be powerful on an empty board.

Captures

The bishop can capture any piece (except the king) or pawn located on any of its diagonals, provided nothing else is in the way. Simply move the bishop along the desired diagonal, stop at the square the enemy piece or pawn occupies, and remove the offender from the board.

The Queen

The other half of your royal couple is the superpiece of chess. Each side gets only one to begin with, and that’s just as well—two would be awfully hard to deal with.

The queen is not only the most powerful chess piece; she is also the newest. The early Indian and Persian forms of chess had no queen. Instead, they gave the raja or shah a “viser,” or counselor, that had approximately half the power of the monarch, and had to stay nearby. The new powerful queen is an invention of the Renaissance.

The queen is essentially a rook/bishop combination. She is another long-range piece, like the rook and the bishop, but she combines the power of both. Queens can operate on an empty board along ranks or files, just like a rook, and also along diagonals, just like a bishop. Furthermore, she can operate like both bishops, since in between diagonal moves, she can move along a file or rank and change the color of her diagonal. This is formidable power.

The queen can move to any of the twenty-seven dotted squares. The queen is the most powerful piece in chess, particularly on an empty board.

Captures

The queen can capture just like any chess piece. Sight along rank, file, or diagonal from where your queen stands, find the piece or pawn you want to capture, and move the queen there, removing the enemy from the board. Provided nothing is in the way except empty squares, you have made a capture.

Tips on Use

The queen is so powerful that most beginning chess players want to bring her out right away to wreak havoc on the enemy position. But this is often a foolish strategy, since the very power of the queen can be turned against her. Any lesser piece or pawn (and in terms of power, that’s all of them by definition) can come out and threaten to capture your powerful queen. She will wind up running from one attacker after another while your opponent pours more and more lesser pieces into the fight. It’s generally better to hold off on bringing the queen into the attack until the way has been cleared. Then her true power can be unleashed.

The Knight

The peculiar child of chess, knights are shaped like a horse’s head and don’t behave like any of the other pieces. They do not move along ranks, files, or diagonals, either short-range like the king or long-range like the rook, bishop, or queen. Instead, the knight moves from one corner of any six-square rectangle to the opposite corner. Thus, the rectangular corner highway is what he uses. You will notice very quickly that a knight always winds up on a different color square from where he began his move. Thus in a way he is the bishop’s opposite.

Knights are the cavalry of chess. Although there are no men or horses involved, the jumping action of the rectangular corner leap is close enough to have given players that impression. Along with the king, rook, and pawn, the knight represents one of the original pieces of the earliest Indian and Persian version of chess.

Other Explanations

The move of the knight is so strange that it takes some getting used to. It also allows for a wide variety of explanations. Many chess books introduce it as a piece that moves in an L-shape: one square forward along a file, then two squares at a ninety-degree angle along a rank; or two squares to the left along a rank, then one square backward along a file, etc.

But this L-shape puts emphasis on a square (along the bend) that has absolutely nothing to do with the knight’s move.

Place a White knight in the center of the board; let’s say on d5. Look at all the rectangles that use d5 as one of their corners. Now place a Black pawn on all the opposite corners. You should wind up with a Black pawn on c7, e7, f6, f4, e3, c3, b4, and b6. That is the knight’s wheel, which is a great visualizing tool.

Another way of visualizing the knight’s move is to think of this piece as a jumper. And as soon as you start to use the knight during a game where many other pieces are in the way, you will see that this is very true. Regardless of whether the squares in the middle of the rectangle are empty or occupied by friendly or enemy pieces, the knight can still make the jump.

The Black knight can move to any of the three dotted dark squares. The White knight can move to any of the eight dotted light squares.

Captures

Like the other pieces, the knight captures the same way it moves. Spring out from the square the knight occupies, and choose the occupied rectangular corner that is your destination. Land the knight on that square, removing the enemy from the board. You have just completed a knight capture.