How chess pieces move
Stockfish 16.1 · runs in your browserPlay Ra4. White's rook moves up the a-file to a4.
Play on the board, or use Type a move below it.
Play a move by typing it, like e4, Nf3 or e7e8q, then press Enter.
Commentary
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Best move
Rooks move straight, bishops diagonally, and queens do both. A king moves one square; a knight jumps in an L shape. Pawns advance forward and capture diagonally. All moves must leave your own king safe.
Try the moves
Choose an example, play the suggested move, then reset to compare another legal move.
Rules and examples
The board positions are original teaching examples. Rule references and further practice are linked below.
Rules: FIDE Laws of Chess, effective 1 January 2023. https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/E012023
Rule replay: python-chess 1.11.2 (GPL-3.0-or-later). The shared browser engine retains its Stockfish GPL-3.0 notice. No engine score is claimed by these demonstrations.
Read the rulesA move on the board
7k/8/8/8/8/8/8/R3K3 w - - 0 1
7k/8/8/8/R7/8/8/4K3 b - - 1 1
- Ra4White's rook moves up the a-file to a4.
White's rook moves up the a-file to a4.
Original teaching example replayed with python-chess 1.11.2, 2026-10-18.
Analysis runs on Stockfish 16.1 in your browser, compiled to WebAssembly by stockfish.js. Stockfish is free software under the GNU General Public License v3; its source code is on GitHub.