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Welcome back. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you'd like me to call you this lesson.
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Have you played and understood all the QUEEN games, kiddo?  Yes, I understand all the QUEEN games I don't understand all the QUEEN COMBAT games I keep on losing the CAPTURE THE FLAG queen games I'm no good at the TARGET PRACTICE quizzes |
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In that case you're ready to learn about a different piece in your army. In this lesson we're going to look at the KNIGHT. The KNIGHTS are the cavalry in your army. They are soldiers who ride horses into battle. You'll see that they are very different from the pieces you've seen so far. You'll really need to pay attention and concentrate to understand their move. 
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This is what a KNIGHT does. Its move is like the letter L. It moves two squares like a rook, then one square round the corner. In the middle of the board a KNIGHT can move to 8 squares, but in the corner it can only move to 2 squares. You'll see that the KNIGHT is on a white square and all the squares it can move to are black squares. Seeing how it always moves to a square of a different colour will help you learn the move.
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The other thing that's different about KNIGHTS is that they can JUMP over other pieces. In this position the KNIGHT on e4 can jump over everything in its way. It could CAPTURE the pawns on c3 and f6. It could also move to d2, d6, g3 or g5. But moving to g5 would not be safe because of the enemy pawn on f6.
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How many squares can the knight move to in this position?
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How many different pawns could the knight capture in this position?
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Which pawn can the knight capture this move?
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Which pawn can the knight capture SAFELY this move?
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The KNIGHT move takes a lot of getting used to. It's worth looking at it more closely. In this position it takes the KNIGHT two moves to get from c3 to f6. You can see that there are two routes: going through either d5 or e4. But how many moves would it take the KNIGHT to get from c3 to e5? Try to work it out for yourself before moving on.
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Although e5 looks nearer c3 than f6 it takes the KNIGHT four moves to get there. That's twice as long! There are quite a few different routes. On the board you can see three of them, marked in different colours. Now can you see how many moves it would take a KNIGHT to travel from a1 to h8? Again, try and work it out for yourself before moving on.
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In fact it takes the KNIGHT six moves to get from one corner to the other. There are lots of possible routes. Here's one of them, but you probably found a different one. Next question - can you get from a1 to h8 in SEVEN moves? Think about it!
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That was a trick question! The answer is that you can't do it in seven moves. You remember that the KNIGHT always moves to a different colour square? So if it starts on a black square it will reach white squares on moves 1,3,5,7,9 and so on. And it will reach black squares on moves 2,4,6,8,10 and so on.
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Like queens, KNIGHTS are good at doing FORKS. Can you see where White should move his KNIGHT to FORK the two black pawns in this position? The answer is that if White moves his KNIGHT to d5 he will FORK the two black pawns.
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Are you ready to answer some more questions, kiddo? Yes, I know all about KNIGHTS I'd like to see the last part of the lesson again I'm too dumb to understand the knight move |
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This is just the same as in the other lessons. For the next few questions you use the keypad to enter the square you want to move to. Remember: enter the letter of the square followed by the number, then press ENTER to get your answer marked. Take your time. Stop and think carefully before answering each question.
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It's White's move. Which square should he move his knight to?
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It's White's move. Which square should he move his knight to?
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Where should White move his knight to FORK Black's pawns?
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Where should White move his knight to FORK Black's pawns?
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How many moves does it take for the knight to go from d7 to g4?
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12 
