King

The Most Important Piece on the Chessboard.

The entire objective of a chess game is to put your opponent’s king into a hopeless position, that is, to deliver checkmate. If the king is doomed, the game is lost. At the same time, it is the only piece on the chessboard that cannot give check or checkmate to the opponent’s king.

How Does the King Move in Chess?

The king is rather limited in its movement. On the one hand, it can move in any direction, but its range is very limited—it can move only one square per turn. If you place the king in the center of the board, with no other pieces present, it will have 8 (eight) possible moves, but only to adjacent squares (Diagram No. 1).

If the king stands in the corner of the board, it has only 3 (three) possible squares to move to (Diagram No. 2).

How Does the King Capture in Chess?

The king cannot move to a square that is attacked by one of the opponent’s pieces. However, it may capture any enemy piece except the opposing king. In Diagram No. 3, the White king can capture the Black rook on c6 or the Black knight on e4. It can also move to d4 and e6.

The king cannot capture the Black pawn on d6 because it is protected by the rook. The squares c5 and e5 are unavailable because they are attacked by the Black rook and pawn. The square c4 is occupied by White’s own bishop.

On the same diagram, the Black king has no legal move at all because the squares h7 and g8 are occupied by its own pieces, while the only free square, g7, is attacked by the White bishop.

Nevertheless, in certain situations the king may move two squares, but only horizontally and only if specific conditions are met. In Diagram No. 4, the White king may move two squares toward either of its rooks, after which the corresponding rook is placed on the opposite side of the king. This special move is called castling.

If the opponent’s pieces attack the king, the king is said to be in check. If there is no legal way to defend against the attack, the king is checkmated, and the game is over.

A chess game can also end in a draw, for example by perpetual check or stalemate. A draw is also declared when only the two kings remain on the board or when neither player has sufficient material to deliver checkmate.

Since the king cannot move to a square attacked by an opponent’s piece, it is easy to conclude that the Black king can never move directly next to the White king, and vice versa. Look at Diagram No. 5. The two kings are facing each other, but neither of them can take the final step forward because the squares c5, d5, and e5 are under mutual attack.

Where Does the King Stand in the Starting Position?

When it comes to the queen, players often remember its starting square by saying that “the queen loves her own color.” Since the queen always stands next to the king, the opposite can be said about the king—the king does not love its own color. In other words, if you play White, the king starts on the black square e1. If you play Black, the king starts on the white square e8 (Diagram No. 6).

The king’s closest neighbors are the bishop and the queen. Directly in front of the king are three pawns.

As you can see, in the starting position both kings are surrounded by their own pieces, which means it is impossible to make the first move of the game with the king.

Since the king is the most important piece on the board, protecting it is the duty of every chess player. At the same time, you should always look for ways to force your opponent’s king into checkmate.