Movement
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| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
| King | |
| Queen | |
| Rook | |
| Bishop | |
| Knight | |
| Pawn |
The knight move is unusual among chess pieces. When it moves, it can move two squares horizontally and one square vertically, or two squares vertically and one square horizontally. The complete move therefore looks like the letter 'L'. Unlike all other standard chess pieces, the knight can 'jump over' all other pieces (of either color) to its destination square. It captures an enemy piece by moving into its square. The knight's ability to 'jump over' other pieces means it tends to be at its most powerful in closed positions, in contrast to that of a bishop. The move is one of the longest-surviving moves in chess, having remained unchanged since before the seventh century. Because of this it also appears in most chess-related national games. The knight moves alternately to white and black squares.
A knight should always be close to where the action is, meaning it is best used on areas of the board where the opponent's pieces are clustered or close together. Pieces are generally more powerful if placed near the center of the board, but this is particularly true for a knight. A knight on the edge of the board attacks only three or four squares (depending on its exact location) and a knight in the corner only two. Moreover, it takes more moves for a decentralized knight to switch operation to the opposite side of the board than a decentralized bishop, rook, or queen. The mnemonic phrases "A knight on the rim is grim" or "A knight on the rim is dim" are often used in chess instruction and reflect these features.
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| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
The knight is the only piece that can move at the beginning of the game before any pawn move has been made. For the above reasons, in most situations the best square for the initial move of each knight is one towards the center. Knights are usually brought into play slightly sooner than the bishops and much sooner than the rooks and the queen.
Because of its move pattern, the knight is especially well-suited for executing a fork.
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| 5 | 5 | ||||||||
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| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h |
In the diagram at right, the numbers represent how many moves it takes for a knight to reach each square on the chess board from its location on the f5 square. Observing and even memorizing the patterns (diagonally 2-4-2-4-2-4, horizontally and vertically 3-2-3-2-3-2) helps a player to manoeuvre his knight and to avoid his pieces being attacked by an enemy knight.
Read more about this topic: Knight (chess)
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