Learn how Queens move and capture in chess.
Starting Position of Queens
Each player starts with just one queen.
The queen is the piece wearing a crown. The white queen starts on d1 and the black queen on d8. If you need help to remember where Queens start on, remember that Queens like Diamonds (this will help you to remember the letter D):
How Queens Move
The Queen is the most powerful piece of all. It can move any numbers of squares vertically or horizontally (like a rook) or diagonally (like a bishop):
This allows the Queen to be much more flexible and powerful than a Rook or a Bishop.
The Queen is not allowed to jump over other pieces.
For example, the Queen in the chessboard below might move diagonally to d4 but not further on the same direction to b7 or a8, as it’s blocked by the Rook in c6:
How Queens Capture
The Queen captures the same way as it moves. Like Rooks and Bishops, the Queen captures by occupying the square on which an enemy piece sits. In the image below, the white Queen could take the Rook in b7, the Bishop in e6, the pawn in g6 or the Bishop in h4:
This is where the Queen lands on if she decides to take the Rook in the chessboard above:
