Can the knight move in any direction?

the Knight moves in an "L" shape be moving two squares vertically and one square horizontally or two squares horizontally and one square vertically, and can jump pieces to get to its destination,

The knight is arguably the chess piece with the most unconventional movement pattern of them all. Before you can master the king’s game, you’ll have to learn the abilities and movement of all the pieces. So, in this guide, we’ll have a closer look at how exactly the knight moves on the chess board. Let’s start!

The rules of chess allow the knight to move in a very distinct way, often called the “L-Shape” or “L-Pattern”. Why is that?

The knight can move either two squares in a horizontal direction, followed by one square in a vertical direction, or two squares in a vertical direction, followed by one square in a horizontal direction.

This sounds horribly complicated, but really isn’t. Have a look at this animation and see, if you can spot the distinct L-shape and match the knights movement with the explanation above:

Fun Fact

Due to its unique movement, the knight is the only piece that always lands on a different color square from where it started. Try it out!

This is how a knight moves along an empty chess board. However, the knight has another trick up its sleeve: jumping over other pieces. Let’s go into detail.

Knights Can Jump Over Other Pieces

The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces. Because of this special ability, the knight behaves quite differently in battle, compared to all other pieces. Here you can see the knight jumping over other pieces in action:

As you might have guessed, that makes the knight the only piece, besides the pawns, that can make the first move in a game of chess.

Since the knight can jump over other pieces, it only attacks the exact squares it can jump to, not the ones in between. This is in contrast to pieces like the rook, bishop, or queen. These three attack all squares between their current position and the furthest square they can move to.

Just like all other pieces (except the pawn), the knight also attacks in the same way it moves across the chess board. Meaning, each square the knight could move to within the next move is being attacked by it.

In this example you can see a knight attacking two enemy rooks in a fork.

Knights Love Attacking With Forks

Knights are notorious for forking pieces, meaning they attack two (or more) enemy pieces at once, making it impossible for the opponent to defend them all. Forks are powerful strategic attacking tools, as they are often hard to spot, especially for beginners.

The Knights Movement is Hard to Calculate

The knight can be a deadly attacking piece, even more so if your opponent is in time trouble. As said, the knight is known for its excellent forking abilities, which really come into play once your opponent lacks the time to calculate all of your knight’s moves. So, be on the look out for nifty knight forks during endgames!

As with all chess pieces, the knight also faces some restrictions on what it can do on the chess board. We split this section up into moves that chess pieces are not allowed to do altogether, and moves that are forbidden for the knight in particular.

The knight is the trickiest piece on the chessboard. Knight jumps have saved many losing positions and caused facepalming experiences for amateur players.

The reason for this is because it moves in a special way; it is the only chess piece capable of jumping over its counterparts. Figuring out good knight moves can win you a lot of games!

Here is how a knight moves and what are good moves to make with the piece.

How does the knight move?

Knights move in an L-shape on the chessboard, meaning it moves two squares in any direction vertically and one square horizontally, or vice versa. It is the only chess piece that isn’t blocked by its counterpart when making a move, allowing for unique possibilities.

Another way to think of knight moves apart from the “L-shape” mnemonic is to map all possible moves and think of it as a circle or octagon. A visual representation is below.

The nature of knight moves means the piece will keep moving back and forth from light squares to dark squares. When a knight is on a dark square, it can only move to a light square on its next move.

How to make good knight moves

Knights have the same relative value as bishops or three pawns, according to the basic chess metrics. But knights excel in very different positions and situations since they can jump over other pieces in closed positions, while many pawns are facing off against each other and there is little mobility on the board otherwise.

Sometimes, short distances can take a long time to cover with a knight. Due to the unique directions it travels in, moving two squares forward on a diagonal (which would be a straightforward move with a bishop) takes a whole four moves with the noble steed. Moving three squares forward in a straight line is also a time-consuming affair, eating up three moves.

The best way to make use of your knights is to put them in the middle of the board. Knights in the corner only cover two squares and knights on the side of the board only reach four–hence the saying “the knight on the rim is dim”.

On lower levels of play (and in time trouble), the tricky nature of the knight also gets added value. Knight forks (moves where you attack multiple pieces at the same time) are the leading cause of unexpected losses in fast-paced online chess games.

How many directions can a knight move?

How does the knight's move?

Why does the knight move the way it does?

When can a knight not move?