Chess is made up of five types of pieces:
The chess pieces: The king ; The rook ; The bishop ; The queen ; The knight ; The pawn
Each side starts with 16 pieces: eight pawns, two bishops, two knights, two rooks, one queen, and one king.
Each player has 6 different types of pieces: 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, a queen and the most important one – the king!
At the beginning of the game, we find 32 pieces on the chess board, half of them are White and the other half Black.
The Five Types of Pieces
Different pieces have different powers. Learning how to coordinate their
movements effectively is one of the game’s primary challenges.
KING
The King is truly the most important piece because you lose the game if your King is attacked and cannot escape. Kings are abbreviated with the letter K
QUEEN
The Queen is considered the most powerful piece in terms of its ability to move around the board. Each player has one at the beginning of the game, though you will see, it’s possible to get more! Queens are abbreviated with the letter Q
BISHOP
Bishops usually have a nice, tapered appearance. At the beginning of the
game, each player starts with two Bishops. They are abbreviated with
the letter B.
KNIGHT
Knights, like the cavalry, can jump into action. Each player starts with
two Knights. They are abbreviated with the letter N.
ROOK
Rooks are sometimes called towers or castles because they resemble the
tower of a castle. Each player starts with two of them. They are abbreviated with the letter R
PAWN
The pawns are the smallest unit on the chessboard. Each player owns 8 pawns at the beginning of the game. They can seem small and unimportant, but they are often very useful in helping to control territory and to launch attacks on your opponent.