Chess Lesson # 2: How the Chess pieces move | How to play Chess the right way

Summary

This instructional video script teaches chess beginners how to set up the board and move each piece correctly. It covers the placement of rooks, knights, bishops, queens, kings, and pawns, emphasizing the unique movement rules for each. The script simplifies complex moves, like the knight's L-shape jump, and uses exercises to reinforce learning, promising that practice will make perfect. It also highlights the importance of not jumping over pieces and the special initial double-step move for pawns, setting a foundation for playing the game.

Takeaways

• 😀 The correct chessboard setup is crucial, ensuring the bottom right corner is a light square.
• 🏰 The king's initial placement should be on a light square for white and a dark square for black.
• 👸 The queen is the most powerful piece, moving in any direction without limit, except it cannot jump over other pieces.
• 🏹 The rook moves through files (vertical) and ranks (horizontal), and can move multiple squares in a straight line.
• 🐎 The knight moves in an 'L' shape, three steps in total, and is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.
• 🐘 The bishop moves diagonally and does not change color, always staying on squares of its initial color.
• 👼 Pawns move forward straight, with the special rule that they can move two squares on their first move.
• 🚫 Pieces cannot move through other pieces; they must move to empty squares unless it's capturing.
• 🔄 The knight is unique in its movement, alternating colors with each move.
• 🎯 The next lesson will cover capturing, check, and checkmate, which are fundamental to playing chess.

Q & A

What is the first thing to check when setting up a chessboard?

The first thing to check is that the bottom right corner square is a light square. If not, rotate the board until it is.

How do you set up the white pieces on a chessboard?

You start by placing the rooks, then the knights, bishops, and finally the queen and king in the middle. The queen goes on a light square and the king next to her. Pawns are placed in front of the pieces.

What is the rule for setting up the black pieces on a chessboard?

The black pieces are set up by placing the rooks on each corner, followed by knights, bishops, and the queen on a dark square with the king next to her. Pawns are placed in front.

How can you remember which piece goes where if you're having trouble setting up the chess pieces?

Practice setting up the pieces repeatedly, focusing on speed and enjoyment to build muscle memory and familiarity with the correct positions.

What is the basic movement of the king in chess?

The king moves one step in any direction, like a box of eight squares around him, but limited by the edges of the board or other pieces.

What is a common mistake beginners make when learning how to set up the chess pieces?

A common mistake is confusing the knight and the bishop, or placing the queen and king incorrectly.

How does the queen move on a chessboard?

The queen can move any number of squares in any direction: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, as long as her path is not blocked.

What is the difference between how a rook and a bishop move on a chessboard?

A rook moves any number of squares vertically or horizontally, while a bishop moves diagonally any number of squares, and bishops also stay on their starting color (dark or light) throughout the game.

How does a knight move and what makes it unique among other pieces?

A knight moves in an 'L' shape, three steps in total, and can jump over other pieces. It is unique because it's the only piece that doesn't move in a straight line and can jump over other pieces.

How do pawns move and what is special about their initial move?

Pawns move straight forward one or two squares from their starting position, and only one square forward afterward. They capture diagonally forward.

What is the next topic to be covered after learning how the chess pieces move?

The next topic to be covered is check and checkmate, which are essential concepts for playing chess.

Outlines

00:00

🏰 Setting Up the Chessboard and Pieces

This paragraph covers the essential steps for setting up a chessboard and the pieces correctly. It emphasizes the importance of the board's orientation, ensuring the bottom right corner is a light square. The process of setting up the white and black pieces is outlined, detailing the placement of rooks, knights, bishops, queens, kings, and pawns. The narrator also advises on practicing the setup to avoid common mistakes, such as mixing up knights and bishops or queens and kings. The segment concludes with an introduction to the movement of the king, describing its one-step movement in any direction and the limitations when near the edge or corner of the board.

05:01

👑 Understanding King and Queen Movements

The paragraph explains the movement patterns of the king and queen in chess. It reiterates that the king moves one square at a time in any direction but cannot jump over pieces or move to occupied squares. An exercise is introduced to demonstrate the king's movement towards a specific square, highlighting the need to move one step at a time. The queen's movement is then detailed, describing her ability to move any number of squares in a straight line, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The queen's power is emphasized, and an example is given to illustrate her range of movement. The narrator also clarifies that the queen, like the king, cannot jump over other pieces.

10:01

🏹 Rook and Bishop Movement Explained

This section delves into the movement of the rook and bishop. The rook is described as moving any number of squares vertically or horizontally, but not diagonally, as long as no pieces obstruct its path. The bishop, conversely, moves diagonally and can change directions as long as its path remains clear. An important rule is highlighted: bishops never change color, meaning a bishop starting on a dark square will always move on dark squares. The narrator contrasts the movement of rooks and bishops by placing them on the board and demonstrating their paths. The paragraph aims to clarify the distinct movement patterns of these two pieces.

15:03

🐎 Knight Moves and Pawn Basics

The unique movement of the knight is the focus of this paragraph. The knight's L-shape movement is explained, allowing it to move in an L pattern over three squares, making it the only piece capable of jumping over other pieces. The knight's color-changing ability after each move is also noted. An alternative, simpler method for understanding knight movement is introduced, comparing it to a combination of rook and bishop moves. The paragraph concludes with an overview of pawn movement, which is straightforward: pawns move forward one or two squares from their starting position and one square forward thereafter. The narrator uses an analogy of pawns losing 'energy' after their initial move to explain this rule.

20:05

🏁 Wrapping Up the Chess Piece Movements

In the final paragraph, the narrator summarizes the lesson on how the chess pieces move and looks forward to the next class, where check and checkmate will be covered. The summary acknowledges the complexity of learning all the pieces' movements and encourages practice to solidify understanding. The narrator assures that with the knowledge gained, students will be able to play their first game of chess, emphasizing perseverance and the anticipation of learning more in the upcoming lesson.

Keywords

💡chess

Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8x8 grid. The objective of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, meaning that the king is under immediate attack and there is no way to remove the threat. The video script is a lesson on chess, focusing on teaching how the pieces move, which is fundamental to playing and understanding the game.

💡board setup

Board setup refers to the initial arrangement of the chess pieces at the start of the game. Each player has one white and one black set of pieces, which are placed on the alternating light and dark squares of the chessboard. The script emphasizes that the board should be rotated so that each player's right bottom square is light, which is a standard rule for chess setup.

💡pieces

Pieces are the chess figures such as the king, queen, rook, knight, bishop, and pawn, each with specific movement patterns and powers. The script reviews the setup of these pieces, which is essential for beginners to learn before they can start playing the game.

💡King

The King is one of the six types of chess pieces, and it moves one square in any direction. The video script uses the king to demonstrate basic movement, emphasizing that it cannot jump over other pieces and must move to empty squares. The king's movement is crucial because the game's objective is to checkmate the opponent's king.

💡Queen

The Queen is the most powerful piece in chess, capable of moving any number of squares in a straight line horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The script highlights the queen's movement as an example of how some pieces can control large areas of the board, which is vital for offensive and defensive strategies.

💡Rook

The Rook moves any number of squares vertically or horizontally across files and ranks but cannot move diagonally. The script explains the rook's movement as a way to control the board's edges and center, which is essential for controlling key areas of the chessboard.

💡Bishop

The Bishop moves any number of squares diagonally. Each bishop is confined to squares of one color, either light or dark, depending on its starting position. The script uses the bishop to illustrate diagonal movement and the concept of bishops staying on their color throughout the game.

💡Knight

The Knight moves in an 'L' shape, two squares in a rank and then one square orthogonally or one square in a rank and then two squares orthogonally. The script explains that knights can jump over other pieces, making them versatile for bypassing obstacles and making unusual moves.

💡Pawn

Pawns move forward one square, but on their first move, they have the option to move two squares forward. They capture diagonally. The script describes pawn movement, which is unique in that they move forward but capture to the side, and they cannot move backward, reflecting their role as the game's infantry.

💡Check

Though not explicitly mentioned in the script, 'check' is a crucial concept in chess where a player's king is in danger of being captured on the next move. The script promises to cover check and checkmate in the next lesson, which are essential to understanding the game's objective.

💡Checkmate

Checkmate occurs when a player's king is in check and there is no legal move to remove the threat of capture. It ends the game with the checkmating player winning. The script hints at covering this concept in the next lesson, which is fundamental to understanding how to win at chess.

Highlights

Introduction to the lesson on how to set up the chessboard and move pieces.

Ensure the bottom right corner of the chessboard is a light square.

Setting up the white pieces: Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, and Pawns.

Queen must be placed on the color of the square corresponding to her color.

Setting up the black pieces with the same pattern as the white pieces.

The importance of practice in setting up the pieces correctly.

Common mistake of confusing the Knight and Bishop during setup.

Explanation of the King's movement: one step in any direction.

The King's movement is limited by the edges of the board.

Exercise to demonstrate the King's movement and additional rules.

Kings cannot jump over pieces and cannot move to squares occupied by their own pieces.

Queen's movement: any number of squares in any direction.

Queen's power illustrated by her ability to move across the entire board.

Rook's movement: any number of squares vertically or horizontally.

Bishop's movement: any number of squares diagonally.

Bishops stay on the same color of squares throughout the game.

Knight's movement: in an L-shape, three steps total.

Knight's unique ability to jump over other pieces.

Pawn's movement: forward one or two steps from the starting position.

Once a Pawn moves, it can only move forward one step at a time.

Overview of how pieces capture the same way they move.

Upcoming lesson on check and checkmate.

Transcripts

hello students welcome back it's time to

learn how the pieces move but before we

get to it let's review what we learned

in Lesson number one and anyways we have

to do it anytime you're going to play

chess so first thing we have to make

sure the board is set up the right way

and all we have to do is basically make

sure that this square the bottom right

corner is a light square if that's not

the case just rotate the board and

you're going to be just fine then I'm

going to set up my pieces I'm going to

start with the white pieces I'm going to

bring my rook then the knight and the

bishop and then I go to the other side

rook Knight Bishop then it's time to put

the Queen and the king in the middle and

since I'm setting up the white pieces my

queen is going to be light so I put it

on the light square that's the rule and

then the King goes next to the Queen and

of course we just put the pawns in front

now I'm going to set up the black pieces

you could do it just like I did with the

white pieces or you could do it by

pieces like put the rooks first one on

each corner then next to the rooks we

put the knights then the bishops and

this time the queen is dark so that

means the Queen goes on the dark square

the King goes next to her and pawns go

in front and honestly once you get the

hang of it

you could put it anywhere you want you

could put a bishop first and upon it

doesn't really matter as long as you put

the pieces where they belong and if at

this point you're still having trouble

setting up the pieces

trust me all it takes to fix that little

problem is do it over and over and over

and over if you do it five times seven

times ten times and if you do it as

quickly as you can try to have fun with

it do it as quickly as you can trust me

that's what it takes to fix it and one

of the main mistakes you're gonna see

people doing at the beginning is that

they confuse the knight and the bishop

they put the bishop with the nighties

and so on or the Queen and the king but

again with a little bit of practice

that's going to be out of the way now

with this being said let's move on to

how the pieces move and for that I'm

going to

of all of the pieces and just leave the

kingdom so here we go we're gonna start

with the King because the King is one of

the easiest pieces to learn and

basically the King is going to move one

step in every direction if you look at

the the White King the king could move

to any of these squares right next line

so it's like you could think of it like

a like a box of eight squares that the

King is always going to have access to

if you pay attention to the black king

notice that I put him at the edge on

purpose because in this case the King

has only five squares that he could go

to we don't have more space on the board

so he has only access to five squares if

I happen to have the King at one of the

of the corners then it's not going to be

eight or five squares it's going to be

only three squares so he could move too

and that's it that's how the King moves

I'm going to give you a small exercise

that way you can sort of see it a little

bit better but this is all it takes

so let me just move the Kings a little

bit let me bring some more pieces around

right so take a look at this exercise I

just want you to see how the king is

going to move and also I wanted to go

over a few other rules with this with

this example so in this exercise

basically our goal is going to get this

King to this square and the black King

is going to make his way to this square

and I would like to highlight another

rule and this rule is that the Kings

cannot jump over pieces and they cannot

go to squares where their own pieces are

placed like in this case I want to go

all the way to this square but I cannot

go this way they'll be the fastest way

just going probably app one step at a

time and then turn but this point is in

the way so I can then move that way so I

told you the King has access to eight

squares but that's only when they are

empty there's no none of these pieces on

those words so here I have to go to this

square and then make my way up one step

at a time that's the only way for the

King for the black king same thing he

can that move you're here right now but

he could move up then here and so on so

with that being said let's get to it

in chess you're gonna take turns so the

white pieces take a turn and the black

pieces and so on so I move my king

that's going up but notice is one step

at a time and then I'm gonna take a

pause at this at this moment just to go

over one more time so this King could

move to any of these squares and the

black King could move to any of these

squares of course it doesn't make sense

to go back to a size right now we have

an objective so let's keep going to our

destination so the King goes here and

just like that the black King got to a

square and my King needs two more moves

so he moved there let's say we make a

move with the King again just to allow

the white cane to get to its destination

and that's it as you can see was one

move at a time now that being said I

hope you understood how the King moves

let me now do the same thing and just

bring the Queen on the board now the

queen is going to be

similar to the king in the sense that

the Queen could move one step in every

direction but the queen is actually way

better the Queen happens to be the most

powerful piece in chess and Queen can

actually go in every direction but as

many squares as she likes

so that's what makes her the best piece

so all of these squares are the ones and

the Queen can move to and I'm going to

do it also by highlighting it maybe it's

it paints a better picture this way then

I go diagonally so it's going to be

always on a straight line but see how

many squares a queen can move to and

that's it so you could move in any

direction on a straight line and of

course the Queen just like the Kings

cannot jump over other pieces it cannot

turn so you see she can go so far but it

has to be in a straight line if I wanted

this Queen to go from here to here it'll

require two terms I can not just in one

move go like that we'll just place it

over there I have to make a move

probably I go over here then my opponent

makes a move and then I could go like

that but as long as you go straight you

could go as far as you like so just to

give you just to practice a little bit

more let's say I put my Queen over here

so my question to you is do you think

this Queen could go from here all the

way here oh yes the Queen could just go

diagonally straight and I could move

there so if it was my turn I put my

Queen there and I'm done now let me put

the Queen over here

can the queen go from here to here not

in one move there's no way you can go on

a straight line to that square what

about over here all the way to the other

side

oh yes they quickly go on this diagonal

and you could make it all the way to the

other side and that's it that's how the

Queen moves as many squares as you like

in any direction so let me bring it to

the center and now it's time to go over

to the next piece

here we are with the rook the rook is

going to move through the files and the

ranks if you remember from lesson number

one files or the lines that go up and

down and the ranks are the lines that go

side to side so that's exactly how the

rook moves as many steps as you like up

down side to side that's it you could

move one step you could move two steps

or you could go all the way to the end

of the board as long as you go in a

straight line up down side to side so

just like I did with the Queen I'm going

to highlight this course that this rook

specifically could go to from its

current position if I want I could go up

to the square I could go out to this one

I'll go all the way up to the end

same thing side to side or going down

now let me change position for the work

I'm going to put it right here not from

here is the same thing I could go up

down of course I don't have downed it

there's no more space to go down with

the rook I could go to the right and I

cannot go to the left in this case for

the same reason there's no more space

but as long as I have space on the board

I could move up down side to side so

from this position up there at the

corner we could move to any of these

squares or to any of these squares if

just to give you another example if the

rook happens to be over here well I

could move up only one square at out

more space I could move down I could

move to the left and to the right I can

only go up to one square because that's

what I have now let me ask you a few

questions about the rook

can the rook from this position move all

the way here well yes I could just go

all the way to the right and it's a good

move

now let's say I'm here can we go from

here all the way to this square or in

one move I cannot go like that that

route doesn't move diagonally so again

the rook is going to move

straight up down side to side alright so

now let me bring the bishop the bishop

is also going to move in a straight line

but the bishop actually is the piece

that moves through the diagonals the

rook we said moved through files on

ranks well the bishop is a 1 the moves

through the diadem's and that's it

that's all you have to know just like

the rook just like the Queen just like

the king the bishop can that jump over

other pieces you can now move to squares

where his old pieces are set up but as

long as he is clear he could move

diagonally one step two steps all the

way to the end of the board let me

highlight this course you could move to

and it is important to mention that

bishops they never switch color meaning

that if this Bishop starts on a dark

square he can never switch to a light

square so he's gonna be on the door

squares for the whole game and the same

thing if I bring another bishop and I

put it on this light square you will

never see the specific bishop switched

into a dark square he can that happen

and that's what he goes to Atlanta he

goes this one goes through the light

squares the other Bishop is going to go

through the dark squares now just for

you to see the contrast between the rook

and the bishop let me bring the two

pieces on the board so I'm going to put

the bishop here this Bishop is going to

move diagonally while the rook is going

to move side-to-side up and out so I

hope this becomes clear I'm sorry that I

keep repeating the same thing over and

over but I really want you to get a

clear before we move on to the next

piece and now we only have two more

pieces to learn the knight and the pond

so let's get it done so here we have the

knight I'm going to put in the middle of

the board there are two ways to learn

how to move tonight I'm going to teach

you the way that I learned and I'm going

to teach you the way that I teach my

younger students so the way that I

learned I was that the name

three steps in l-shape so think of the

capital L and then that is going to move

like that

three steps so what does that mean well

this night could move one two and three

so if you think about it this is the L

shape there's gonna be three steps in

total in L shape one two three

but of course and I could move up down

side to side as strong as you do this

the l-shaped and that is the only piece

that doesn't move in a straight line so

let me show you all of the different

squares and I could move to using this

technique so I could move down into the

right down into the left so these two

squares and I could jump to I could also

go to the side and then down to the side

and up I could move to the left and down

I could move to the left and up and of

course I could move up to the right and

out to the left

so these are the squares that the knight

can jump to when a mat is in the middle

of the board he could move to eight

different squares now if we put the

night let's say he goes to the edge he

doesn't have eight squares to move to

anymore he only has one two three and

four so that's how denied moved and if I

bring it let's say I'm gonna bring it

back to the center here's one more thing

that I want you to notice and it's the

fact that the night he always switched

his colors meaning that he jumped from a

dark square to a night square so any

square that he jumps to from here is

going to be a light square now if I move

it let's say here one two and three now

once he moves again from here since he's

sitting on a light square he's going to

move to a dark square so that's another

way for you to make sure you're moving

it in the right and the right way so let

me put it back here and show you the

other way that you can learn the night

if it's getting too complicated like

this way or you want to break it down

for someone else you could say that the

night moves one step like the

and one-step like the bishop or one

step' like the bishop and one step left

at work so if you if you start going in

this direction going up you can move one

step like that work one step like the

bishop and it's the same thing as going

three steps in ljp

if you do it down you could go one step

like that rook one step like the bishop

and it's the same thing as going three

steps in our shape same thing to a site

once I bet the Brooke wants them back

the bishop so that's how did I move

there is something else very cool about

the night and it is a fact that the

night is the only piece in chess that is

allowed to jump over all the pieces I've

been telling you all this time about the

rogue the bishop the king and the Queen

how they can not jump over other pieces

well the knight can so let me put all of

the pieces from the very beginning so

they just set up ready to start the game

you're going to see how if I wanted to

move this rook the rook cannot move

right now same thing for the bishop he

could go diagonally but there is a pond

going this way there's a pond going this

way so he stuck the King moves one step

in every direction but in every

direction that he wants to move right

now there is a PT is blocking him the

queen is so powerful but at the very

beginning it can move anywhere since her

pieces so long but the Knights the

Knights could just jump over pieces so

if we go in L shape

three steps I could go one two three or

one two three so I could jump to any of

these two squares if I want to move it

like the rook and then like the bishop

could go one side like that work once

that make the vision now just to give

you an example let me show you this

random position and we're going to be

used in the night so I'm going to start

by moving this Knight and he could go

one two three he could jump over the

pond and be developed and let's say the

black pieces move this night it would go

one two three and then I move this over

night I'm going to put it this time I'm

going to go to the side I'm going to go

want like a brook one like the bishop

then let's say this Knight goes one two

three now if I wanted to move this night

I could jump

over this pond one two three and it's

okay or I could go to the side I could

go one two jump over my own pond and I

could go here so that's it just make

sure that the square where the night is

going to land it's available so I hope

this explains how the night moves and

again don't worry too much about it if

it's still confusing we're going to be

doing so many exercises that you're

going to get it in no time and last but

not least we have the ponds and ponds

are also pretty pretty easy to learn

because ponds move only straighforward

these are the only pieces that can never

go backward and ponds are actually going

to move one or two steps at a time no

more than that now the trick is to know

when the pond can move one step and when

he could move both so let's get to it

ponds are going to move like I said one

step forward that's what they could do

except for when they are at the very

beginning if one of your pawns have

never moved then that pond has a right

to move two steps but once a pawn moves

then that ponds can only continue one

step at a time the way I explain it to

my younger students I tell him that

ponds at the very beginning and full of

energy so they could do one step or one

and two but once they move let's say I

move this point here then the pond loses

energy and he continues one step at a

time so let me bring it back and let's

take a look at some examples so if I

wanted to move this point the question

is has this point moves before No so he

said the beginning Square and that means

he could move one step or he could move

two steps I'm going to choose to move

them two steps this time and then it's

the black pieces to move and they're

going to move this point they're going

to move it one then I'm going to choose

this point I'm going to move it two

steps let's say they move this pawn two

steps now if I wanted to move any of

these two pawns I can only move it one

step

there's no two steps anymore now any of

the other points they could of course do

one or two because they haven't moved so

I'm going to choose this pawn I'm going

to move it once and then same thing for

the black pieces if they want to move

this pawn it has to be one step only he

already moved he lost energy these are

the pawn has it moved yes

so only one step at a time any of the

other plans were at the very beginning

they have to write to still do one or

two steps that's it so that's how the

pawn moves

just remember straight forward pawns can

then move to the side Ponte can I just

start marching diagonal they move

forward one or two steps ok everyone if

you've made it this far we can say you

have almost all of the foundation most

of the pieces capture the same way they

move so it's going to be very easy next

class should take us only a few minutes

this one took us a little bit longer

because I wanted to make sure you

understood everything about how to move

the pieces it didn't make sense to just

go over a few pieces in this lesson and

break it down this way we got all of the

pieces out of the way and again next

class a few minutes you're going to

learn how the pieces move then you're

going to learn check and checkmate

it's just a concept you have to

understand and at that point you will be

able to play your first game so don't

give up and I'll see you in the next

lesson