• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Howcast

Howcast

The best source for fun, free, and useful how-to videos and guides.

  • Arts & Crafts
  • Entertainment
  • Food & Drink
  • Health
  • Home & Garden
  • Relationships
  • Explore Guides
  • Contact
  • About
  • FAQs
  • Explore Guides
  • Arts & Crafts
  • Entertainment
  • Food & Drink
  • Health & Wellness
  • Love & Relationships
  • Home & Garden
EntertainmentHow to Play Chess

How to Use the King in Chess

Transcript

This is David from Chess NYC, here is the king. The King is a very simple but important piece. He moves 1 square in any direction, however, the king, because he’s the most important piece, always has to stay safe. So let’s say black has a rook here, on H4, the king cannot move to any square in line with the rook because then he would be in danger of the rook capturing the king. This is called moving into check.

If a piece attacks the king, he’s in check and has to get out check. The king is not allowed to voluntarily move into check. If, for instance, black had a rook here, and the queen here, this rook on B1 confines the white king, he cannot move out here because he’d be under attack from the rook. So let’s say he makes 1 of his moves, he can either go down 1 square or up 1 square, then black could bring the queen over here to A2, checkmating the white king, the queen is attacking the king. check, the king can’t go more than 1 square at a time, so he can’t go 4 squares at a time, capturing the queen, there’s nobody that can block this attack, if let’s say white had a rook, he can bring the rook over to block the queen’s attack on the king but he has no rook. If he tries running out here, to the B5, he’ll be under attack from this rook, so he can’t go out here. Game over, check mate.

Most important thing in chess, keep your king safe.


Lessons in this Guide

How to Play Chess with Chess NYC

Chess Etiquette

What Is Blitz Chess?

10 Golden Moves of Chess

Basics of The Italian Game in Chess

Basics of The Ruy Lopez in Chess

Basics of the Sicilian Defense in Chess

What Is Blackburne’s Mating Maneuver in Chess?

What Is a Ladder Checkmate?

What Is a Smothered Checkmate?

What Is Légal’s Pseudo-Sacrifice in Chess?

How to Achieve Checkmate with Only the King & Rook

How to Achieve Checkmate with Only the King & Queen

How to Achieve Checkmate in 4 Chess Moves

How to Achieve Checkmate in 3 Chess Moves

How to Achieve Checkmate in 2 Chess Moves

3 Things to Consider If You Get Stuck in Chess

3 Basic Opening Strategy Principles in Chess

Basic Principles of Attacking & Defending in Chess

Capturing Pieces vs. Pursuing Checkmate in Chess

How to Understand Pawn Structure in Chess

How to Understand Chess Combinations

What Is Zugzwang in Chess?

What Is a Gambit in Chess?

What Is Pawn Promotion in Chess?

What Is Handicapping in Chess?

Legal & Illegal Moves in Chess

What Is Tempo in Chess?

What Is Space in Chess?

What Is Centering in Chess?

What Is Calculation in Chess?

How to Use Chess Notation

How to Understand Chess Symbols

How to Use the King in Chess

How to Use the Queen in Chess

How to Use the Rook in Chess

Copyright © 2026 · Howcast · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Ventures with Springwire.ai

Privacy Manager