Chessville
...by Chessplayers, for Chessplayers!

Today is

Site Map

If you have disabled Java for your browser, use the Site Map (linked in the header and footer).

Chessville
logo by
ChessPrints

Advertise
with
Chessville!!

Advertise to
thousands
of chess
fans for
as little
as $25.

Single insert:
$35
x4 insert:
@ $25 each.

From the
Chessville
Chess Store

Rules

How the Pieces Move -- The Knight

Knights move in a way which is rather difficult to describe, and can in fact be described in a number of ways. It is easiest to see how a knight moves using diagrams and actual knight moves. Observe the following diagram: from the square on which it currently stands, the white knight may move to any one of the squares containing a black pawn.

Click here to open an interactive example board in a new window. Use the VCR buttons to get a feel for how the knight moves each turn. Simply close or minimize the new window to return to this page.

The most common way to describe the knight’s move is to say that it moves along an L-shaped path: two squares either horizontally or vertically, followed by one square at a right angle (or one square either horizontally or vertically, followed by two squares at a right angle: it amounts to the same thing).

Unlike all the other pieces, the knight may “jump” over other pieces: pieces occupying squares along the knight’s path do not impede its movement. However, just like the other pieces, a knight may not move into and occupy a square which is already occupied by a piece of the same color; and it may only move into a square occupied by a piece of the opposite color if it captures that piece.

Next: How the Pieces Move -- the pawn