King

The King is the head of the chess kingdom. You cannot afford losing him. The game is lost if your king is checkmated. Thus King is the most important piece on the chessboard. Though King is the head of all chessmen, he is an old man. He cannot travel long distances at once. He can travel one square in any direction around him, as shown in the diagram.

Name: King ♔

Points: ∞ (infinite)

 

Saving the King is players’ first priority. When the King is in danger, one should make sure to get him to safety. Any other move is considered illegal. There are many ways to protect the King. One of those is Castling. It’ll be discussed in a different section.

King should not be moved to a square where he could be captured (diagram). King can only go to the green squares and cannot go to the squares marked with X.  If you do so then it’ll be an illegal move. You are not allowed to do that. You’ll be asked to choose a different move.

 

 Check

When one of your opponent’s pieces threatens to capture your King, then it is called a ‘Check‘. You should always deal with the check first before any move. If you cannot escape from a  check, then it is a Checkamate. Below diagram shows the king being checked by opponent’s Bishop. The possible escapes for the King are shown with green squares. You can deal with a check in three ways. A, B and C

A – Away (moving away)

B – Block (get your piece or pawn in between to block the check)

C – Capture (capture the piece giving check)

Below diagram also shows all the escapes King can use.

 

Here the King has 3 ways to avoid the check

1. Away – move the king  to d1, d2, e2 or f2.

2. Block – move the Bishop on g1 to f2, thus avoiding the check.

3. Capture – capture the black Bishop on h4 with your Rook on h1, thus eliminating the check.

Worksheet

I may have missed some points. Please let me know any suggestions in the comment section.