Pocket Shuffle ChessHow does the knight move in chess?
How the knight moves in chess: an L-shape of two squares then one, jumping over anything in the way. Learn knight forks and where knights belong.
The knight moves in an L: two squares in one direction, then one square at a right angle. It is the only piece that jumps - anything standing in between is simply ignored, which is why a knight can still move on a completely blocked board.
The knight always changes colour
Every knight move lands on the opposite colour square from the one it left. That is a useful checking tool: if a knight is on a light square, it cannot possibly attack another light square this move.
Knight forks
Because the knight attacks in a shape no other piece can block, it is the best forking piece in chess. A knight landing where it attacks the king and the queen at once wins material outright - the king must move, and the queen falls. The famous version is the "family fork", hitting king, queen and rook together.
Where knights belong
Knights are short-range, so they need to be near the action. A knight in the centre reaches up to eight squares; a knight in the corner reaches two. Hence the old rule: a knight on the rim is dim.
On the Pocket Shuffle board
On a 5x6 board every piece is close together, which makes knight forks unusually common and unusually fast. Checking for enemy knight jumps before you move is the single most valuable habit here.
Open the interactive lesson to see every legal knight move highlighted on the board, then practise against the computer.