Piece Movement

Pawns have unique movement rules:

• Move forward one square at a time
• On their first move, can move forward two squares
• Capture diagonally one square forward
• Cannot move backward
• Cannot capture pieces directly in front of them

Major pieces have powerful movement capabilities:

• Rooks: Move any number of squares horizontally or vertically
• Bishops: Move any number of squares diagonally
• Queens: Combine the movement of rooks and bishops
• All major pieces can capture by moving to an opponent's square
• Cannot jump over other pieces

Minor pieces have unique movement patterns:

• Knights: Move in an L-shape (2 squares in one direction, then 1 square perpendicular)
• Knights can jump over other pieces
• Kings: Move one square in any direction
• Kings cannot move into check
• Kings have special castling move (covered in Special Moves)