How the knight moves in chess

Start with the fact that catches everybody out. A knight standing in the corner on a1 needs four jumps to reach b2, the square right next to it.

The knight moves two squares in one straight direction, then one square to the side. That path makes the shape of the letter L.

Say it as a count if that helps: two, then one, and turn.

• From the middle of the board a knight has eight squares to choose from.
• It may move in any of the four directions, and turn either way at the end.
• It captures the piece standing on the square where it lands, and nothing else.

The knight is the only piece that cannot move in a straight line. Because there is no line to follow with your eye, knight attacks are the easiest ones to miss.

Yes, and it is the only piece that can. Nothing in the way stops a knight.

Two things people get wrong here:

• The knight does not capture the pieces it jumps over. Only the piece on the landing square is taken.
• The knight cannot land on a square where one of its own pieces already stands.

This is why a knight is at its best when the board is crowded with pawns. Rooks and bishops are shut in, and the knight walks straight out.

A knight in the corner reaches only two squares. A knight in the middle reaches eight. That is four times the power for the same piece.

The old saying is a knight on the rim is dim. It is only a rhyme to help you remember, but the counting behind it is real.

• Corner square: 2 moves.
• Edge square: 3 or 4 moves.
• One square in from the edge: 4 or 6 moves.
• Central square: 8 moves.

So when you have a free move early in the game, a knight heading towards the centre is usually a good one.

Every knight jump lands on a square of the opposite colour to the one it left.

That single fact tells you a lot without any counting.

• A knight on a light square can never attack another light square this move.
• If your king is on a light square and the enemy knight is on a light square, the knight cannot check you right now.
• A knight needs an even number of jumps to come back to the square it started on.

Use it as a quick safety check. Look at the colour under the enemy knight, then look at the colour under your queen. If they match, your queen is safe from that knight for one move.

A fork is one move that attacks two pieces at once. The knight is the best forking piece in chess, because it does not attack along a line that the other player can watch.

The strongest fork attacks the king and one other piece. The other player has to answer the check first, and then you capture the second piece.

The fork to watch for is a knight attacking the king and the queen together. Losing the queen this way is one of the most common beginner mistakes.

Use a knight tour drill. Put a knight on one square, pick a target square, and find the shortest path.

1. Start with two-jump targets. Put the knight on a1 and try to reach b4, c5 or d2.
2. Move up to three-jump targets across the board.
3. Then prove the fact at the top of this page. A knight on a1 needs four jumps to reach b2, the square right next to it. Both squares are dark, and a knight needs an even number of jumps to end up on its own colour.

Two minutes of this each day, for a week, and knight moves stop feeling strange. The two puzzles below are exactly this drill.