moves

Question 1

How many rows or ranks are in a chess board?

Answer 1

8

Question 2

How many columns or files?

Answer 2

8

Question 3

What color is the square on the bottom right side?

Answer 3

white/light

Question 4

Who is at the center of the first rank?

Answer 4

The king and queen, the queen on a color that matches her

Question 5

How are they set up?

Answer 5

King and queen in the middle, followed by a bishop, knight, and a rook

Question 6

How does a rook move

Answer 6

Rooks move in a straight line, horizontally or vertically, for any number of empty squares.

Question 7

How do knights move?

Answer 7

Knights move in an L shaped pattern, two squares horizontally or vertically, then one square at a 90 degree angle. A knight is the only piece that can jump over another piece.

Question 8

How do bishops move?

Answer 8

Bishops move diagonally, for any number of empty squares. Each bishop starts on either a light or dark square, and stays on that color square for the entirety of the game. In some commentary, you will see reference to a “light” or a “dark” square bishop.

Question 9

How does the king move?

Answer 9

The king moves one square in any direction. The king cannot move to a square where it is under attack by another piece. Opposing kings must remain at least one square apart.

Question 10

How does a pawn move?

Answer 10

Pawns move forward one square at a time. On their first move, pawns may move two squares forward, though they cannot jump over any other pieces. They may only capture diagonally.

Question 11

Who moves first?

Answer 11

White always moves first, and players can only move one piece during their turn. Going first gives the player with the white pieces a slight advantage.

Question 12

What is a check?

Answer 12

An attack on the king is called a check.

Question 13

What happens in a check?

Answer 13

When the king is in check, the attack must be blocked, the attacker must be captured, or the king must move to a safe square.

Question 14

What is castling

Answer 14

Castling is a special type of move, and is the only time a player can move two pieces at once. The king moves over two squares in either direction, and then the rook jumps to the other side of the king

Question 15

Why castle?

Answer 15

It allows you to get your king to safety and get your rook to the center of the board, where it is stronger

Question 16

When can you not castle?

Answer 16

A player cannot castle if they are in check.

The king cannot castle if it crosses a square controlled by an enemy, nor can it move onto a square controlled by an enemy.

The king cannot castle if there are pieces between it and the rook.

It must be the king’s first move and the rook’s first move.

Question 17

When is a pawn promoted?

Answer 17

When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board, it promotes into a knight, a bishop, a rook or a queen. A pawn can promote into any of these pieces regardless of whether the player has previously captured one.

Question 18

What is en passant?

Answer 18

Pawns can perform a special type of capture called en passant. En passant is French for “in passing.” If a pawn moves two squares on its opening move and lands adjacent to an opposing pawn, the opponent can move to capture the first player’s pawn by moving diagonally behind it.

Question 19

How many rows or ranks are in a chessboard?

Answer 19

8