What the Queen Can Do in Chess: 8 Directions and 27 Squares
Eight directions, 27 squares from the middle, zero jumping: the queen explained the way I'd walk a club beginner through her.
The queen in chess moves any number of squares in a straight line: up and down a file, side to side along a rank, or along a diagonal. She covers 8 directions, and parked on a central square like d4 she controls 27 squares at once, more than anything else on a 64-square board.
She's the piece beginners fall for, and I get it. She's also the piece that costs them games, usually somewhere around move 6, when she's out in the open with nothing behind her.
How the queen moves, square by square
The queen is a rook and a bishop in one body. Everything a rook can travel along, she travels; everything a bishop reaches on a diagonal, she reaches. The same limit applies to both: keep sliding until the edge of the board or a piece stops you, and 7 squares is the most you'll get in a single direction.
From d4 on an empty board, here's the full list:
| Direction from d4 | Squares reached | The squares |
|---|---|---|
| Up the d-file | 4 | d5, d6, d7, d8 |
| Down the d-file | 3 | d3, d2, d1 |
| Right along the 4th rank | 4 | e4, f4, g4, h4 |
| Left along the 4th rank | 3 | c4, b4, a4 |
| Up-right diagonal | 4 | e5, f6, g7, h8 |
| Up-left diagonal | 3 | c5, b6, a7 |
| Down-right diagonal | 3 | e3, f2, g1 |
| Down-left diagonal | 3 | c3, b2, a1 |
Twenty-seven squares, which is the ceiling for any queen. Shove her into a corner and she still covers 21, well past the 14 a rook manages from the middle. That mobility is why the chess pieces get ranked the way they do, and why nobody sane gives her up for a knight.
The queen can't jump, and blocking works exactly how you'd expect
Can the queen move over pieces? No. She's a slider. Put her on d4 with a friendly pawn on f4 and she has exactly one legal square to the right, e4, because that pawn is a wall. If the pawn on f4 were an enemy, she'd capture it and stop there. No passing through, no hopping over.
The knight is the only piece that ignores blockers, and it does it 8 diffrent ways. The queen does none of them. She never moves in an L, so if that's the question you arrived with, the answer is waiting in can the queen move in an L shape.
And she goes backwards as happily as forwards. Kids forget that constantly. A queen sitting on d4 still defends d1.
Where the queen stands at the start
White's queen begins on d1, Black's on d8. Count the files from White's left (a, b, c, d) and you land on the fourth one, right beside the king on e1. Two queens on the board at the start, out of the 32 pieces total that how many pieces in chess walks through, one per side.
The memory line is "queen on her own color." White queen, light square, d1. Black queen, dark square, d8. If your queens sit the other way around, the board is set wrong, and the quickest check is the corner nearest each player's right hand, which should always be light: h1 for White, a8 for Black.
Nine points of value, and the trades that follow from it
Standard counting gives the queen 9 points against 3 for a bishop or knight, 5 for a rook, and 1 for a pawn. The full chart lives in my chess piece values breakdown, but the queen line does most of the work.
A queen (9) against a rook plus a bishop (8) favors the queen's side on paper. Two rooks (10), though, tend to beat a lone queen in real play, because they double on an open file and she spends the endgame dodging. Points get you close. Position finishes the argument.
I'll concede that points are crude. A queen with nothing to attack is worth well under 9. But beginners need a number to hang onto, and 9 is the right one.
The other rule that comes with that number: don't develop her on move 3. Two knight moves and a bishop sortie can nudge her off her square, and every nudge costs a tempo you don't get back.
Forks, pins, and hitting two things at once
Eight directions makes her the best forking piece on the board. Queen on e4, clear e-file, clear 4th rank: that's check to a king on e8 and an attack on a rook at a4 in the same move. She does the same work with pins and skewers, which are the same geometry run in opposite directions.
Around a castled king she handles most of the attacking, but she almost never finishes alone. King and queen against a lone king is mate in 10 moves at most with correct technique, and it only works because the king in chess walks up and shields her. Queen alone against a bare king checks forever and never mates.
If you need a set to learn on
I haven't unboxed any of these, so read this as a careful pass over the listings, not a review.
Spin Master Games Cardinal Classics Chess Teacher
- Includes: Chessboard, 32 Chess Pieces, Instructions
The Cardinal Classics Chess Teacher prints the name, direction, and number of squares on all 32 pieces, which is precisely what a total beginner needs for week one, and the training wheels come off fast.
The HI-Q Classic from Point Games takes the plain route: standard flat-bottomed plastic pieces on a folding cardboard board, ages 6 and up, nothing printed on anything.
The AMEROUS 15 inch magnetic wooden set folds in half with slots for the pieces, and it ships with 2 extra queens, which you'll want the first time a pawn reaches the far rank.
Set up the board tonight and play king and queen against king, both directions, ten minutes a side. That one drill teaches her 8 directions faster than any diagram, and once it bores you, move on to learn chess from the opening move.
Questions people ask me
Can the queen jump over pieces in chess?
No. She slides in a straight line until a piece of either color blocks her, and her move ends on that square. She can capture an enemy piece there, but she can't pass through it, and a friendly piece stops her cold.
Where does the queen start on the board?
White's queen starts on d1 and Black's queen on d8, one file to the left of each king. That puts each queen on her own color, light for White and dark for Black, which is the fastest way to check a board that looks wrong.
How many points is a queen worth in chess?
Nine points in the standard counting system, against 5 for a rook and 3 for a bishop or knight. That's why a queen for two minor pieces (6 points) is a bad deal, while a queen for a rook plus a bishop (8 points) slightly favors the queen's side.