What does bishop mean in chess

It is a long-range piece and can be very dangerous! At the beginning of the game, each side starts with two bishops. The light-squared bishop for White starts on the f1-square while Black's light-squared bishop starts on the c8-square. White's dark-squared bishop begins on the c1-square while Black's dark-squared bishop begins on the f8-square. The bishop is considered a minor piece like a knight and is worth three points. It is considerably more valuable than a pawn which is worth one point , equally valuable as a knight also three points , but less valuable than a rook five points or a queen nine points.

The bishop is interesting because it never moves straight forward, backward or side to side. It cannot hop over other pieces like a knight. The bishop moves only on diagonals. Every bishop is confined to half of the board, as it can move only on its respective light or dark squares.

Most players are willing to sacrifice just about any other piece on the board in order to save their queen. So why is the queen so important? The queen chess piece is like a combination of the Rook and Bishop chess pieces. Each player starts out with one queen piece although any pawn that makes it to the other side of the board can be traded in for another queen, which is why some chess sets come with extra queens.

The queen can move forward or diagonal in any direction. Here are a few notes:. Most players try to keep their queen defended because of its ability to move. It is a very useful piece in any chess game and is often involved in endgame strategy. Experts try to get the queen piece toward the center of the board as soon as possible in order to help defend that space and gain an advantage over their opponent.

The queen can be used in a variety of defensive strategies and works well to defend the King no matter where the King is on the board, so long as the queen is nearby.

The most dangerous piece to a queen is the opponent's knight pieces. The queen may not be able to attack a knight piece directly that is attacking the queen, so players try to be wary of their opponent's knight pieces. Advanced players may be more likely to sacrifice their queen in an attempt to win a game, though this is quite rare.

The last piece to discuss on the chess board is the King piece. This piece is the game winner. Once your king is check-mated, the game is over, and your opponent wins, regardless of the score.

The King chess piece is the piece you must protect the most and you cannot live without. Many experienced players, though may find themselves utilizing their king in an attempt to gain an advantage over an opponent, something weaker chess players are very leery of doing. No matter how you choose to use your King piece, he must stay alive at all costs. King chess pieces are somewhat limited in their movement.

They cannot go riding across the chess board as quickly as most other pieces and they are easier to contain than most chess pieces from an opponent's perspective.

Here are a few rules to note:. Safety first, is the motto most chess players abide by when moving and using their king piece. Experienced players can use their king piece to help set traps and capture opposing pieces, though the King is rarely the aggressive piece in this situation. Most players try to keep their king piece in one of their two corners where there are fewer directions from which an attack can come.

Often, castling with a rook piece early in the game gets the King piece to the corner faster, keeping the piece safer from attacks. Affiliate Program. Price Match Policy. Here are a few things to know about how a pawn chess piece moves: Pawn chess pieces can only directly forward one square, with two exceptions. Pawns can move directly forward two squares on their first move only. Pawns can move diagonally forward when capturing an opponent's chess piece. Once a pawn chess piece reaches the other side of the chess board, the player may "trade" the pawn in for any other chess piece if they choose, except another king.

The Pawn Ram When two pawns meet at squares directly in front of each other, they are considered part of a "ram". Here are a few things to know about how the Rook chess piece moves: The rook piece can move forward, backward, left or right at any time. The rook piece can move anywhere from 1 to 7 squares in any direction, so long as it is not obstructed by any other piece. Castling The rook piece is the only piece on the board that can participate in a "castling" move with the King piece.

History has proven that many reigning queens could be ruthless when it came to battles and wars. The king is not as powerful as the queen, but he is considered the most important piece that needs the most protection. Once a king is trapped and no other moves will allow him the game is over.

This also symbolizes the king during medieval times. Only when a king is killed or forced to surrender is the battle over and the opposing party declares victory. A game of chess is like an intense battle between kingdoms and this is what chess pieces represent in every game.

Skip to content Everyone who knows a little something about the game of chess will notice that the chessmen are uniquely named. Table of Contents. The Pawn. The Castle. The worst nightmare for a bishop is when it finds itself blocked by its own pawns, and the pawns are in turn blockaded by the enemy, dooming the bishop to perpetual imprisonment.

A bishop that is blocked by its own pawns is known as a bad bishop. Here is an extreme example:. Here, white's bishop is stuck behind its own pawns, which are in turn blockaded by black. The bishop is next to useless - it can't ever do anything active and does little more than get in the way. Not only is the bishop bad, but because both bishop and pawns stand on the dark squares, the light squares are left unguarded. There is little white can do to stop the black pieces infiltrating on the light squares.

Black is a pawn down, but he should eventually win the game because white's bad bishop is little more than a fancy pawn and no match for black's knight. This is a case where a bishop is worth a lot less than the usual 3 points! So, it's clear we should try and avoid putting all our pawns on the same colour square as our bishop, but we start the game with two bishops on opposite coloured squares.