King (chess) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chess pieces
	King
	Queen
	Rook
	Bishop
	Knight
	Pawn

The king is the most important chess piece in a game of chess. It can move in any direction: left, right, up, down, or diagonally. However, it can only move one square at a time. When chess games are written down, the king is often shortened to K.

The main goal of chess is to checkmate your opponent's king. This means trapping their king so it cannot escape an attack. If your king is attacked by an opponent's piece, it's called check. When your king is in check, you must make a move to get it out of danger. If you can't, your king is in checkmate, and you lose the game.

What is Castling?

Castling is a special move you can make with your king and one of your rooks. It's the only time in chess when you can move two pieces at once. To castle, the king moves two squares towards a rook, and then the rook jumps to the other side of the king.

There are a few rules for castling:

• Neither the king nor the rook you want to castle with can have moved before.
• There must be no pieces between the king and the rook.
• Your king cannot be in check.
• Your king cannot move across or land on a square that would put it in check.

How Do You Deal with Check?

When an opponent's piece attacks your king, your king is in check. You must immediately stop the attack. There are three main ways to get your king out of check:

• Move your king to a adjacent square that is safe.
• Place another one of your pieces between your king and the attacking piece. This blocks the attack.
• Capture the piece that is attacking your king.

What is Checkmate?

If your king is in check and you cannot do any of the three things listed above, then your king has been checkmated. This means your king is trapped and cannot escape the attack. When your king is checkmated, you lose the game.

What is Stalemate?

A stalemate happens when it's a player's turn to move, but they have no legal moves they can make. However, their king is not in check. In a stalemate, the game ends in a draw, meaning neither player wins.

How to Use Your King in a Game

In the beginning of a chess game (the opening) and the middle part (the middlegame), your king usually stays safe. Players often castle their king to the side of the board, behind their pawns, for protection.

However, in the endgame (the final part of the game), your king becomes much more active! It can come out of hiding to help attack opponent pieces or protect your own. The king is also very important for helping your remaining pawns reach the other side of the board to get a promotion.

Images for kids

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  The Indian chess King represented here by the Maharaja seated upon a tall Elephant in a Howdah

See also

In Spanish: Rey (ajedrez) para niños