Most beginner players fear knights as they are known to be very tricky pieces. They can jump over other pieces like a real horse would and create deadly forks between two or more pieces.
They can sometimes be referred to as the horse, squid, octopus, jumpers or neons. Whatever you may call them, knights are fearsome creatures and should be respected at all times. This characteristic make the knight indeed powerful.
Speaking of powerful, the queen is in fact the most powerful piece on the chess board because she governs a total of 28 squares from the center of the board. We’ve heard how powerful the queen can be and how she is able to move up and down like a rook and even diagonally like a bishop. This makes us wonder can a queen move like a knight?
Can A Queen Move Like A Knight
The Queen can NOT move like a knight despite her being the most powerful piece. The knight is the most unique piece as it moves three squares in total, two squares in one direction, and then one more box at a right angle.
The queen however can move like a bishop, rook, king and even pawn (the queen cannot en passant).
How Does The Queen Move
The queen moves in any direction in any number of squares in a straight line. This means it can move up, down, sideways and diagonally.
Notice how the queen control so many squares from the center of the board. The queen on the edge of the board will however control far less square and even less in the corner of the board.
When it comes to capturing, the queen will capture a piece on the square that it lands on.
Related Post: How does the queen move in chess
Let’s now look at how the knight moves
How Does The Knight Move
The knight moves in what is known as a “L” shape. It only controls a total of 8 squares from the center of the board, 4 squares on either edges of the board and only 2 in any 4 corners of the board.
Comparing The Queen And The Knight
Knight |
Queen |
| Moves in L shape direction | Move in any direction in any number of squares in a straight line |
| Can capture any piece except for the king | Can capture any piece except for the king |
| Has a special move | Has no special move |
| 2nd least powerful piece | Most powerful piece |
| Losing a knight is bad | Losing a queen is critical |
| Very tactical piece | Tactical piece |
| Can fork 2 or more pieces | Can fork two or more pieces |
