Chapter 1
Chapter 1 - Kings, Queens and Captures

The object in chess is to capture your opponent's king using pieces that move in their own unique ways. We start by looking at how the king and queen move. You will learn about "checkmate" as early as Chapter 2. We'll be using chess notation such as 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 etc. To understand the notation, you may like to print a copy of Recording Chess moves and have it handy before continuing.
The first thing to do in all our lessons is to take out your chess board. Follow the moves on your board as you study each lesson. The King The king is the big bit with a small cross on his crown. The king may move one square in any direction. So the black king in Diagram 1.1 could move to any one of the eight squares marked with a dot. We say the king "attacks" each of the squares to which it may move. The white king is less mobile because he is on the edge of the board. He may move to any one of only five squares.
	The Queen The queen is the other big bit, with no cross on her crown. She is the most powerful piece on the board. The queen may move any number of unoccupied squares along the file, rank or diagonals on which she sits, but cannot jump over other pieces. The white queen in Diagram 1.2 can move to any of the squares marked with a dot. She cannot move to c3 because the white king is there and in chess only one piece may be placed on each square. She cannot move to a1 or b2 because she cannot jump over the king.
The Capture When a capture is made in chess, the capturing piece is placed on the square of the captured piece and the captured piece is removed from the board (with the same hand). In Diagram 1.3 the black king can move its one square to capture the white queen. Diagram 1.4 shows the position after the capture. The black king has occupied the square on which the queen sat and the queen has been removed from the board.
The "Golden Rule" The most important chess rule about kings is that you may never make a move that leaves your king on a square that is attacked by an opponent's piece. In Diagram 1.4 the black king has just captured the white queen and now it White's turn to move. The "golden rule" tells us that the white king is not allowed to move to the squares marked with a cross, because each of those squares is attacked by the black king. If it was Black's turn to move, it would also be illegal for the black king to move to the crossed squares because each of those squares is attacked by the white king.<
	In Diagram 1.5, the black king cannot capture the white queen because the move would leave the king on c3, which is a square attacked by the white king. This would break the golden rule. But the black queen could capture the white queen. If in Diagram 1.5 it was White's turn to move, the white queen could capture the black queen. Take a look at the exercises below and on the next page. Then it's time for a break. You've earned one. In the next chapter we'll learn about check and checkmate.

Exercise 1.1(try it with a friend) Here's a little side-game, starting with the position in the diagram at right, that teaches an important lesson about kings. In this made-up game White wins if their king can get to any square on the 8th rank. You will find that Black can block the white king if White moves first, but not if Black moves first. Example: White to move: 1 Ke3 Ke5 2 Kf3 Kf5 3 Kg3 Kg5 4 Kf3 Kf5 and so on. The white king will never move forward. Now try your own moves with Black to move first. Click on the board if you need some Help.

More Exercises
Exercise 1.2 The white king may legally move to any one of how many squares? Name the adjacent squares to which the white king cannot legally move.	Exercise 1.3 Can the black king capture the white queen?
Exercise 1.4 Can the White queen capture the black queen?	Exercise 1.5 Can Black capture the white queen? If so, how many ways can the capture be made?