The Knight

The Knight is the most unusual piece on the board. It is the only piece that jumps over other pieces, moves in an L-shape, and always lands on the opposite colour from where it started. Unpredictable, tricky, and devastating in the right hands.

1. What is the Knight?

Each player starts with two Knights, placed on b1 and g1 for White, and b8 and g8 for Black — just inside the Rooks on the back rank. The Knight is represented by a horse head and is the only piece in chess that can leap over other pieces.

The Knight is worth approximately 3 pawns — the same as a Bishop. However, unlike the Bishop, a Knight can reach every single square on the board regardless of colour, making it uniquely flexible.

The Knight is the only piece that does not move in a straight line. Its unique movement pattern makes it both difficult to use well and difficult to defend against — it attacks squares that no other piece threatens from the same position.

2. The L-shape move

The Knight always moves in an L-shape: two squares in one direction (horizontally or vertically), then one square perpendicular. Or equivalently, one square in one direction then two squares perpendicular. The result is always the same eight possible landing squares from any central position.

There is no other way to describe it — the Knight simply moves to one of up to eight specific squares, and those squares form a characteristic pattern around it.

3. Jumping over pieces

The Knight is the only piece in chess that can jump over other pieces. It does not matter what is between the Knight and its destination — friendly pieces, enemy pieces, or a full back rank. The Knight simply leaps from its square to the destination square, ignoring everything in between.

This is what makes the Knight so valuable in the early game. While Bishops and Rooks are blocked in by pawns, the Knight can leap right out of the starting position on the very first move.

4. Colour alternation

Every time a Knight moves, it lands on the opposite colour from where it started. A Knight on a light square always moves to a dark square, and vice versa. This is guaranteed by the mathematics of the L-shape.

This means that if your Knight is currently on a light square, it will take an even number of moves to return to a light square, and an odd number to reach any dark square. This alternating pattern is something strong players keep in mind when planning sequences of Knight moves.

5. Interactive Knight demo

Click a scenario to explore the Knight’s movement. Watch how the landing squares always form the same L-shape pattern.

6. Outposts — the Knight’s throne

A Knight is at its most powerful when it occupies an outpost — a square deep in enemy territory that cannot be attacked by any enemy pawn. Once a Knight reaches such a square, it can be almost impossible to dislodge without sacrificing material.

The ideal outpost for a Knight is a central square on the 5th, 6th or even 7th rank where no enemy pawn can push it away. A Knight on d6 or e6 — sitting right in the middle of the opponent’s position — is often more powerful than a Rook.

7. The Knight fork

A fork is a tactic where one piece attacks two enemy pieces simultaneously. The Knight is the best forking piece in chess, because its unusual movement pattern means it can attack squares that no other piece threatens from the same position — and the opponent often doesn’t see it coming.

The Knight fork can attack any combination of pieces at once — two pawns, a King and a Queen, a Rook and a Bishop. When a Knight forks the King and another valuable piece, the opponent must move the King, leaving the other piece to be captured for free.

8. Knight vs. Bishop recap

We covered this in Lesson 4, but it bears repeating with the Knight’s perspective. The key principle is simple:

9. Quick quiz

Test what you’ve learned about the Knight.