{"id":420,"date":"2022-06-06T16:25:47","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T14:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chessily.com\/?p=420"},"modified":"2022-06-08T13:09:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T11:09:27","slug":"how-does-the-knight-move-in-chess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chessily.com\/questions\/how-does-the-knight-move-in-chess\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does The Knight Move In Chess?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Does The Knight Move In Chess?<\/h1>\n

The knight is arguably the chess piece with the most unconventional movement pattern of them all. Before you can master the king’s game, you’ll have to learn the abilities and movement of all the pieces. So, in this guide, we’ll have a closer look at how exactly the knight moves on the chess board. Let’s start!<\/p>\n

Knights Move in an “L-Shape”<\/h1>\n

The rules of chess allow the knight to move in a very distinct way, often called the “L-Shape” or “L-Pattern”. Why is that?<\/p>\n

The knight can move either two squares in a horizontal direction, followed by one square in a vertical direction, or two squares in a vertical direction, followed by one square in a horizontal direction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This sounds horribly complicated, but really isn’t. Have a look at this animation and see, if you can spot the distinct L-shape and match the knights movement with the explanation above:<\/p>\n

\"knight
This Is How the Knight Moves In Chess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/i> Fun Fact<\/div>
Due to its unique movement, the knight is the only piece that always lands on a different color square from where it started. Try it out!<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

This is how a knight moves along an empty chess board. However, the knight has another trick up its sleeve: jumping over other pieces. Let’s go into detail.<\/p>\n

Knights Can Jump Over Other Pieces<\/h2>\n

The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces. Because of this special ability, the knight behaves quite differently in battle, compared to all other pieces. Here you can see the knight jumping over other pieces in action:<\/p>\n

\"the
the knight can jump over other pieces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you might have guessed, that makes the knight the only piece, besides the pawns, that can make the first move in a game of chess.<\/p>\n

How Does The Knight Attack in Chess?<\/span><\/h1>\n

Since the knight can jump over other pieces, it only attacks the exact squares it can jump to, not the ones in between. This is in contrast to pieces like the rook<\/a>, bishop<\/a>, or\u00a0queen<\/a>. These three attack all squares between their current position and the furthest square they can move to.<\/p>\n

Just like all other pieces (except the pawn<\/a>), the knight also attacks in the same way it moves across the chess board<\/strong>. Meaning, each square the knight could move to within the next move is being attacked by it.<\/p>\n

\"how
How The Knight Attacks in Chess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this example you can see a knight attacking two enemy rooks in a fork.<\/p>\n

Knights Love Attacking With Forks<\/h2>\n

Knights are notorious for forking pieces, meaning they attack two (or more) enemy pieces at once, making it impossible for the opponent to defend them all. Forks are powerful strategic attacking tools, as they are often hard to spot, especially for beginners.<\/p>\n

The Knights Movement is Hard to Calculate<\/h2>\n

The knight can be a deadly attacking piece, even more so if your opponent is in time trouble. As said, the knight is known for its excellent forking abilities, which really come into play once your opponent lacks the time to calculate all of your knight’s moves. So, be on the look out for nifty knight forks during endgames<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Limits To The Knight’s Movement<\/h1>\n

As with all chess pieces, the knight also faces some restrictions on what it can do on the chess board. We split this section up into moves that chess pieces are not allowed to do altogether, and moves that are forbidden for the knight in particular.<\/p>\n

Moves Chess Pieces Can’t Do In General:<\/h2>\n