How the Pieces Move
King
The King moves one square per turn in any direction.
It can capture any enemy piece as long as it does not move into check.
Castling
Once during the game the King has the privilege of making a special move in conjunction with either Rook. This move is called "castling." There are five rules that must be observed before castling is allowed.
- Neither the King or the Rook with which it is to castle has previously been moved.
- The King cannot castle if it is IN check.
- The King cannot castle INTO check.
- The King cannot pass over a square which is being attacked by any of the opponent's pieces.
- ONLY Royal Guards can be between the King and the Rook with which the King is to be castled.
During the castling move any Guard between the King and Rook to be castled may make ANY legal move or capture prior to the actual castling of the King and Rook.
The Guard may actually capture or block a piece checking the King or a piece attacking a square the King wishes to castle over, thereby allowing the King to Castle out of check.
If castling is intended to include a Guard move, it must be announced before making the Guard move, otherwise, moving the Guard completes the turn.
Kingside Castling
Move the King's Guard if desired.
Then the King is placed either on the King's Bishop, King's Knight or the King's Guard square, provided the square is vacant.
The King's Rook is then placed on the opposite side of the King on the first vacant square nearest to the King.
These next illustrations show the Kingside castling configurations:
These next two illustrations show the possible castling positions of the King and Rook after the King's Guard has moved from the back rank.
Queenside Castling
Move the Queen's Guard if desired.
Then the King is placed either on the Queen's Bishop, the Queen's Knight, or the Queen's Guard square provided the square is vacant.
The Queen's Rook is then placed on the opposite side of the King on the first vacant square nearest to the King.
Queen
The Queen can move any number of squares in a straight line horizontally, vertically, or diagonally as long as they are vacant.
She cannot jump over another piece.
She captures an opponents piece in her path by removing the "captured" piece and occupying the square it was on.
Rook
Rooks move any number of squares in a straight line, either horizontally or vertically, as long as they are vacant.
A Rook captures an opponent's piece in its path by removing the "captured" piece and occupying the square it was on.
There are two instances where Rooks can jump over their OWN Guards:
- A Rook can always jump over its own Guards on the first rank.
- Two Rooks on any other identical rank or file may jump over their own Guards anywhere between them, but they cannot capture an opponent's piece, with this exception:
If one of the Rooks is captured, the other Rook may recapture the opponent's capturing piece ONLY on the very next move or forfeit this ability.
Bishop
A Bishop can move any number of vacant squares in a straight line diagonally.
It can never jump over another piece.
It may capture an opponent's piece in its path by removing the "captured" piece and occupying the square it was on.
Knight
A Knight moves two squares farthest from its present position by moving a combination of one diagonal square and one horizontal or vertical square.
A Knight can jump over any piece to makes its move.
A Knight captures an opponent's piece on its final resting place by removing the "captured" piece and occupying the square it was on.
A Knight always ends its move on a square of the opposite color than its starting square.
Royal Guards
There are two Royal Guards; a King's Guard, and a Queen's Guard.
Each Guard has two methods of moving; a Major move, or a Minor move.
- The Major move is its strong move, allowing capture on ANY square in its range.
- The Minor move is for mobility and only allows LIMITED capturing ability.
- A Guard CAN jump over its own King if the King is on its first rank.
- A Guard CANNOT capture a piece when jumping over its King.
- A Guard CANNOT jump over any other piece.
White Guards on their home squares.
King's Guard
The King's Guard is like a short range Rook with limited powers of a Bishop.
The Major move for the King's Guard is to move one, two, or three squares, either horizontally or vertically.
It can capture an opponent's piece on ANY of these squares.
The Minor move for the King's Guard is a diagonal move of one, two, or three squares in any direction with these two exceptions:
- It can ONLY capture an opponent's piece on the FIRST adjacent diagonal square.
- Immediately upon crossing the center line of the board into the opponents territory, the Minor move ends on the first square into enemy territory (the fifth rank). While in enemy territory, Minor moves are limited to one square only, unless that one square brings it back into its own territory, in which case, it may make a complete two or three square move.
Black circles indicate "capturing" squares, white circles indicate legal moves in which captures are not allowed.
White King's Guard on the 4th rank.
The next two figures demonstrate the restrictions of the King's Guard when it moves into the opponent's territory.
White King's Guard on the 5th rank.
Its forward Minor move is now limited to only one square.
White King's Guard on the 6th rank.
All Minor moves are now limited to just one square.
Queen's Guard
The Queen's Guard is like a short range Bishop with limited powers of a Rook.
The Major move for the Queen's Guard is to move one, two, or three squares diagonally from its present position.
It can capture an opponent's piece on ANY of these squares.
It's Minor move is one, two, or three squares horizontally or vertically in any direction, with these two exceptions:
- It can ONLY capture an opponent's piece on the FIRST adjacent horizontal or vertical square.
- Immediately upon entering enemy territory, the Minor move ends (on the fifth rank). While in enemy territory, vertical Minor moves are limited to one square only, unless that one square brings it back into its own territory, in which case it may make a complete two or three square move.
While on the fifth rank (the first rank inside enemy territory) the Queen's Guard may still move the complete Minor move horizontally of one to three squares.
White Queen's Guard on the 4th rank.
The next two figures demonstrate the restrictions of the Queen's Guard when it moves into the opponent's territory.
White Queen's Guard on the 5th rank.
Its forward Minor moves are now limited to only one square.
White Queen's Guard on the 6th rank.
All Minor moves are now limited to just one square.
Pawns
Pawns can only move straight forward one square at a time, except during each Pawn's first move, when it can move either one or two squares.
Pawns can only capture diagonally, one square forward.
A Pawn cannot capture a piece directly in front of itself.
A Pawn may also capture "en passant" (in passing), which means that if a pawn moves two squares on its first move and in doing so "passes" an opposing pawn's attacking square, avoiding possible capture had it only moved one square, the opponent's pawn has the option of capturing it as if it had only moved one square. This option must be exercised by the opponent on the next move or the move stands as it is.
Pawn Promotion
When a pawn reaches the eighth rank it must immediately be promoted to a piece of higher value.
It CANNOT be promoted to a King.
It can ONLY be promoted to a piece that has been previously captured.
There is one special rule when promoting to a Guard. While the "promoted" Guard remains on the square of "promotion" it has the powers of a queen on its initial move from that square. If this power of the Queen is not desired by the promoting player, it must be immediately and irrevocably waived. Waiving this power would most likely be used to avoid a stalemate.
After the Guard moves from the promoting square, its powers revert to that of the chosen Guard on all succeeding moves.
If the Pawn is promoted to some other piece, it only has the power of that piece.
Relative Value of the Pieces
Obviously, the value of a piece changes during the course of a game. A bishop that is blocked by its own pawns might readily be exchanged for a more mobile knight, while exchanging an active bishop for a poorly placed knight is usually a bad trade.
These figures for relative strength are based on an average of many factors, such as, a piece's mobility on the larger board, which pieces can protect each other and their range, the number of squares a piece can attack, mating strength with various combinations of pieces, the increased pinning and forking opportunities and supporting roles for the lesser pieces, etc.
The Guards have a major influence on the value of the other pieces. For instance, a Guard working with a Bishop or Rook, might be more desirable than having a Queen, because of a Guards limited range, it can contain an opponent without risking certain stalemate situations.
Relative Value Chart:
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