Chess queen movement: how the queen moves
The queen moves like a rook and a bishop at the same time: any number of squares in a straight line or along a diagonal. Eight directions, no limit on distance, and no jumping. Tap the white queen on d4 below and twenty-seven squares light up at once. The rest of the set is on chess pieces names and moves.
How does the queen move?
Pick one of the eight directions and go as far as you like in it. Up, down, left and right are the rook half of her move. The four diagonals are the bishop half. She only uses one direction per turn, so she cannot turn a corner in a single move.
She cannot jump either. Anything in the way stops her on the square before it, and if that piece belongs to the other player she may take it and stand where it stood. A queen boxed in by her own pieces has no moves at all.
How many squares does the queen cover?
Twenty-seven from the middle of an empty board, which is more than a third of the sixty-four. From a corner it drops to twenty-one, seven along the rank, seven up the file and seven along the long diagonal. Even her worst square beats every other piece's best one.
That reach is the whole reason she is worth about nine points, roughly a rook plus a bishop plus a pawn. Losing her for nothing loses most games on the spot, and the difference between a queen and no queen is bigger than any other single piece on the board.
The queen cannot move like a knight
She combines two pieces, not three. The L shape belongs to the knight alone, and it is the one move no queen can copy. That is also why a knight is the best piece to attack a queen with: a knight can hit her from a square she is not attacking back, so she simply has to move.
The same logic means a queen and a knight work well together, because between them they cover every kind of move in the game. A queen and a rook overlap instead, and overlap is wasted.
Do not bring the queen out too early
Because she is worth so much, the queen is the easiest piece in the game to chase. Any pawn, knight or bishop that attacks her forces her to move, and the player doing the chasing develops a piece for free every time. Three of your moves go on one queen while three of theirs go on three different pieces.
So leave her at home for the first few moves. Push a centre pawn, bring out a knight and a bishop, castle, and let the queen come out later when there are fewer pieces left to harass her. There is more on the first few moves in chess openings for beginners.
Checkmate with a queen
King and queen against a lone king is the first checkmate worth learning, and the method is the same every time. Use the queen to shrink the box the enemy king is living in, pushing him towards an edge, then bring your own king up to cover the squares she cannot. The mate only works when both of your pieces are involved.
The trap is stalemate. Take away every square without giving check and the game is a draw instead of a win, which is a genuinely common way to throw away a won position. Keep the enemy king one square of breathing room until your own king is close enough to finish, and check stalemate and draws if you are not sure what counts.
Getting a second queen
You are not limited to the one you start with. A pawn that reaches the far end of the board turns into any piece you choose, and almost everybody chooses a queen, so two or even three queens on one side is perfectly legal. On this site a promoting pawn becomes a queen automatically. The rest of it is on how pawns move in chess.
Frequently asked questions
Can the queen move like a knight?
No. The queen moves like a rook and a bishop combined, in straight lines and diagonals. The L shape is the knight's alone and no other piece can make it.
How many squares can the queen move?
Any number, in one of eight directions per turn, until something blocks her or the board ends. From the centre of an empty board she attacks twenty-seven squares, and twenty-one from a corner.
Can a queen jump pieces?
No. She stops at the first piece in her path and can go no further that move. Only the knight jumps.
Can you have two queens?
Yes. Every pawn that reaches the eighth rank can become a queen, so a player can end up with two, three or more of them at once. There is no rule capping the number.
Why is the queen the strongest piece?
Because she has every sliding move in the game. Twenty-seven squares from the centre is about double a rook and double a bishop, and she can attack several pieces at once from a single square.
Can a pawn become a queen?
Yes. A pawn reaching the last rank promotes, and it can become a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its own colour. The queen is the usual choice, and it can be done even if your original queen is still on the board.
Now play it
Play 2 player chess offline on one device or play chess online with a friend.