What's the Best Chess Piece?

What's the Best Chess Piece?

Chess is a fascinating game, full of surprises, tactics, and strategy. Throughout the years, a question has been raised multiple times. What is the best chess piece? Some may say it is the king because you can’t play without it. Others say It’s the queen, being able to take on a majority of squares at once. One can argue that it is the knight, because of its ability to jump over pieces. In truth, all of those answers are correct, and you can say that any chess figure is the strongest. But one thing is for certain, two chess pieces can not be the best at the same thing. So in this blog, I will show you each piece's strengths and weaknesses in-depth, and maybe you will find your opinions swayed on some of the chessmen.

The King

The king is a very special piece, as it is unnamed in terms of material and cannot come in contact with the opposition’s king. Checkmating with a king is rare, as you would have to use it to reveal a piece. It can be considered the best chessmen because you can’t play without it. The king can move one square in any direction, and cannot expose himself to a check. Another ability of the king is being able to castle, moving the piece to safety. The king may not be the most powerful piece on the board, but it's unique abilities that many of the other pieces don't have, makes it one of the most interesting pieces on the board without a doubt.

The Queen

The queen is worth the most material on the board because the king's is unwritten. The queen can be considered the most powerful piece on the board because she can move in any direction as many squares as long as you do not pass over another piece. This means that the queen is most powerful at the center of an empty board. It is one of two pieces that can checkmate by itself with the aide of the king. The queen is also known for producing devastating stalemates, in which happens when the opposition has no move, but isn't being attacked. The game ends in a draw. The queen is a fan-favorite to many beginners, and a pawn promotion typically leads to a queen, meaning many love the queen.

The Knight

The knight has an odd way of moving, it moves in an L-shaped pattern. This pattern can give it many strengths though. For example, it is able to jump over pieces, like the pawns in the opening position. Due to this ability, the knight is considered to be a very strong piece. Another advantage the knight has is called a fork. A fork is when two pieces are attacked by the same piece at the same time. This can lead to many big captures, such as the opposition losing their queen. The knight can also deliver something called a smothered mate. This is when the opponent's king is trapped on a square and blocked in by it's own pieces. The knight jumps in delivering a checkmate without capturing any pieces. Because of it's ability to hop over pieces is in use, the king is in check and cannot move.

The Rook

The rook moves horizontally and vertically. Sometimes the rook is considered the best piece because is most often used in a stunning sacrifice! A sacrifice in chess is when you give up a piece, but it's all part of a trap. You always get the better end of the sacrifice if you play the right follow up moves. The rook meme was started by International Master Levy Rozman and is still one of the most popular chess memes to this day. The rook also has the ability to make the king safer by castling, moving the king two spaces to the right or left and moving next to the king. pieces can not be in the way and neither piece trying to castle can have moved so far I the game. While being a great piece, many would say that the queen is more powerful.

The Bishop

The bishop has the ability to move diagonally and starts next to the knight and queen in an opening position. Bishops' are best known for their sneaky movements, and many opponents blunder piece easily because the don't see the sly piece waiting for it's time to shine. Though being an incredible sneak attack piece and a staple to many openings, the bishop doesn't have extraordinary powers that rise it above all other pieces

The Pawn

Pawns are loyal pieces and start off weak, but a pawn promotion can turn the game around! The pawn can only move up one square (unless in it's original position, then it can move two), and attack diagonally one square forwards. The pawns are amazing at protecting other pieces, and pawn endgames are intense with tactics and strategy needed! Pawns can also fork pieces, when two pieces are ahead of them one square to the left and the right. Pawns can definitely be a contender for the best piece because of pawn promotions!

Conclusion

So in conclusion, which chessmen is actually the best? Well, the answer is actually opinionated! People's perspectives change how they view the pieces, and that means though I might not think so, you could possibly think the bishop is better than the queen! There are many valid arguments for all of the pieces, and none of them are wrong. So in truth, the answer is up to you! What do you think is the best chessmen?

(Please note that no sources where listed on this blog because it is an opinionated argument and changes based on perspective.)