The game of chess is a great one which requires a huge amount of skill and mental agility. It is a game which really requires a lot of thought and which can improve intelligence when played regularly. At the heart of this wonderful games are the chess pieces which are used to make moves across the board with a view to beating the opponent’s king.
The movement of chess pieces across the board is something of a ballet which must be carried out by the opponents as they come up with new and exciting strategies which will hopefully lead them to victory.
Although there are rules as to how chess pieces must be moved, the possibilities are almost endless and no two chess players will move them in the same way; this results in some fantastic battles of the mind which are played out elegantly on the board by the pieces they move.
Chess Moves
There are about 1040 different legal positions for the pieces in chess and each piece can move in almost 220 different ways, so you can see just how exciting it can be to come up with new chess strategies and test them out on an opponent. Doing so can give hours of pleasure, improve mental agility and make for some very exciting and enlightening games.
Today, chess sets have 32 pieces – 16 for each player and they are as follows:
King
The King is the most important piece on the board and is to be protected at all costs; this limits the movements it can make.
Queen
Less regal than the King, this piece can really change it up on the board and is a powerful offensive tool.
Bishop
The Bishop has great vertical capability and can travel diagonally like a Queen. It is a useful piece mid-game
Knight
The Knight is a piece which brings up the flanks. Players should not be too daring when positioning their Knights.
Rook
The Rook is the perfect piece to use for defines.
Pawn
The poor Pawn is the most dispensable of all the chess pieces and is often used with disregard. However, sacrificing them too early could lead to problems further down the line.
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