The Bishop Chess Piece

Marble Chess Board

The Bishop is another chess piece that starts on the back row.  Remember one Bishop is right next to the King and the other is right next to the Queen.

He has the same distance capability as the Queen and the Rook, except, that he only moves diagonally. An easy way to remember that is to remember that a Bishop will only be able to move on the color of the square he starts out on. If the Bishop is on a white square, he will always stay on white squares to move. The same moves, only on black squares, for a Bishop that starts out on a black square. He may not at any time zig-zag. Notice on the diagram how a Bishop can move diagonally.

How the Bishop Moves

Of course, remember that the squares just have to be different colors, they do not have to be black and white for you to practice the game.

The Bishop may be referred to as the Queen's Bishop or the King's Bishop in order to identify which chess piece they are. They do not have to follow the Queen chess piece moves nor do they follow the King, it is just a way of identifying which piece they are. Since they are "forever doomed" to play on only one color you may look at them as in a prison type setting. I prefer to look at them as a guard. I imagine them as tall and majestic with authority. Nobody I would want to fool with.

The Bishop will capture as any other piece. He will occupy the chess piece that he lands on and takes the opposing piece out of the game.

One white Bishop can capture
the black Rook
The other white Bishop can capture
the Black King

The Bishop will capture anything that lands on his territory. A white Bishop that is on a black square can capture the King. That leaves the white Bishop on the white square waiting to capture the Rook. You can see how this works in the diagram.

It is pretty simple to remember that the Bishop chess piece moves have to stay on the white squares if he starts out on the white squares, and he has to stay on the black squares if he starts out on the black squares.

How do you picture this bishop and what will you think of to remind you of his role and his movements?

Bishop

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The Chess Piece Rook's Place

Marble Chess Board

I used to call this piece a "castle". I'm not sure where it comes from but it looks like a tower on a wall that reminds me of a castle. Castle or tower or the other previous names for the Rook are not accurate.

In the initial chess board set up or starting position, the Rook is in the outermost corners of the back rows. Again note that one white Rook will be on the white square and the other white Rook will be on the black square. The same is true with the black Rook.

The Rook has the distance ability as the Queen, but not the directions. The Queen chess piece moves in every direction, but the Rook can only move vertically or horizontally. So he can travel up or down and right or left.

The diagram on the right will show how a Rook can capture.

Rook can capture
black Knight or black Bishop

The Rook can capture either the black Bishop or the black Knight. He will travel to the square of the opponent and displace the opponents piece with himself.

Very simple moves, but can be very powerful in certain qualified moves.

I still think of the Rook as a castle, but that's easy to stop. Just learn why a Rook is called a Rook. Learn how a Rook and King work together in a move called "Castling".

Rook

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Chess Queen's Capturing Powers

Marble Chess Board

Formidable is a very descriptive word and it entirely pictures the capturing powers of the Queen chess piece. Her enormous range in distance is the reason for this term. This  movement of the Queen can be visualized in the diagram below.

What happens if the white Queen moves vertically? Which chess piece can she capture in that
direction, and would it be wise to choose to do that? She, of course, can capture either of the black Bishop pieces.

If she moves diagonally, the queen can capture either one of the black Knights. What would be her motive in capturing these chess pieces?

Lastly, the Queen can move horizontally and capture either of the black Rooks by landing on their square and removing them from the game. She places herself on the square the opponent was on.

The biggest question remains that we will discuss later, which plan would benefit her side the most? But for now we just have to know that the Queen has the ability to move in those directions and at that distance. Again, she can only go one direction at a time in the move. She does not even have to capture the chess pieces if she does not want to. But it would be foolish to land right up to where they could capture her in the next move.

Remember in the opening position, or starting position of the game, each Queen is in the center of the back row next to the King. The white Queen on the white square and the black Queen on the black square is the rule of "Queen on color." Do not forget this rule as it can never be changed.

It would be nice if the Queen could capture all these pieces in one move, but she has to choose only one piece. That could get tricky if she can not make up her mind.

Remember too, that after you have learned the chess piece names and their places and are ready to play, there is a time limit for each move you make. It is nice to start memorizing plays that you would like to make, and that are effective, right now while you are learning the basic moves of each piece.

Center - King and Queen

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