The King: Mr. Doughnut.
kK
The King is what the game of chess is all about. Moving like a Queen but only one square at a time.
The number one rule in chess is: You're not allowed to lose your King! It is the one piece you can't lose. In every normal game of chess there will always be two Kings at the end of the game. No matter who won or lost.
The King gets his nickname for two reasons. One is the basic shape of his move. A doughnut. The second is the value of the King. Zero. Why? Because he can't be lost or traded. He has no cash value and is worth the game.
A King moves one square in any direction so long as it doesn't move to a square it can be taken.
Let's look at the white King. He can only move to e4, g4, g5, and g6. The King cannot go to e6 because black's King controls that square. He can't go to f6 because the Knight and Bishop both can take the King. Moving to e5 is impossible because of the Bishop. And f4 won't work because the Knight h5 controls that square. Can you find all the squares the black King can't go to?
Check, Checkmate and Stalemate:
When a King is attacked by an enemy piece he is said to be in check and he must get out of check and avoid capture using one of three methods.
A: Attack
B: Block
C: Chicken Run Away
If the King can't do any of these three things he will be in check mate.
Herei a basic endgame position and it is Black to move and put the White King in check.
Black played his pawn to d5 where the pawn can see the White King. Therefore the White King is in check. He must get out of check. With his three choices he choses attack.
A: Attack means capturing the enemy piece that is attacking your King. Here the White King takes the pawn and gets out of check.
In this variation Black checks the White King with his Bishop. It is a long range check so White cannot A: Attack. He must either B: Block or C: Chicken Run Away.
B: Block means placing one of your own pieces between the attacker and your own King. White chose to B: Block by moving his pawn forward to d5.
Here we have a new position that ads something new to the attack on the White King. You will notice the same Bishop on f7 is looking at the White King. "Checking him out". The Bishop is too far for the King to take him so White has to get out of the check and would love to simply block again by moving the pawn to d5. There is a big problem though. See the Black Rook on h4? If the pawn were allowed to move to d5 then the Black Rook would be looking at the White King putting him in check. Therefore it is illegal to move the pawn. The pawn is pinned to his own King. The Remember you cannot make any kind of move that leaves your King in check.
C: Chicken runs away means moving your King away from the attack. White uses the last choice he has available to him so he C: Chicken runs away and moves his King to d3 and is safely out of check.
The black King is being checked by the white Bishop on b5. The black player can do all three methods to get out of check.
• Attack: Capture the attacking Bishop on b5 with the Pawn on a6.
• Block: Move either the Knight on b8 or f6 to d7 to block the check.
• Chicken run away: Move the King to either d8 or e7 to avoid the attacking Bishop.
This diagram shows the black King being checked by both the Bishop on a4 and the Knight on d6. In this case the poor King cannot use any of the methods to escape both checks. It is a double check so attacking either the Knight or the Bishop leaves the other piece still checking the King. Since there are two checks at once blocking is also out of the question. Finally the King cannot run away from the checks because all the squares surrounding him are under attack by white pieces; d8 is attacked by the white Knight on b7, e7 is attacked by the pawn on f6 and d7 is still in the line of fire by the Bishop on a4. This condition of a trapped King that is in check is called “ Checkmate ” and it is how one side can win a chess game.
When a King is surrounded in such a way that he can't move when it is his turn and he is NOT in check then the condition is called “Stalemate” and the game ends in a tie or a draw.
This position is white to move. Unfortunately the white King cannot move to any adjacent square as black's Queen is attacking all of them. To make matters worse all of whites Pawns are blocked. White needs to move something and again both the Knight and the Bishop are unable to move because if they do the Rooks on either a1 or g8 will then be checking the white King. This condition is Stalemate. Neither side wins or loses. It is a draw.
Now that you have learned the basic rules for all the pieces I have only one more special rule to present.
Castling:
In chess the King needs to be safe very early in the game. He finds this safety away from the center of the board and usually behind the pawns on one side or the other. A move was developed to allow the King to do just that with the added bonus of bringing a Rook towards the center. It was called castling or building a house.