“Squire! Fetch Me My Hello Kitty Underpants!”
Hey, it’s chess. If you want to pretend that your knights like wearing pink underpants with white cat faces on them, that’s your business.
The knight moves in an odd way. Have you ever played Tetris? Remember the “L” block? Do you remember stacking all of your blocks really high leaving a nice neat opening for a line piece to get a tetris but it only came after you were forced to block it off because you had no where else…sorry, got off topic for a minute. Tetris and I have a history.
Anyway, the knight moves in an “L” shaped pattern. Two spaces up, down, left, or right, then one space in the opposite direction. It can jump over pieces but does not capture the pieces it jumps over, only the one it lands on. Knights are a unique and strategic piece, seeing as how it is the only piece that can jump over others. It works best in the middle as do most pieces as it has a wider range of movement, though if you can plant it deep in enemy territory without much fear of capture all the better. The knight is notorious for being able to attack multiple pieces at once, making your opponent scramble to figure out which piece he doesn’t want to lose or how to escape your “fork” (more on forks later) completely. The knight also thrives in closed gamed, or games where the board is less open because pieces are cluttering up the board, most of which are being protected which makes advancing difficult. In closed games, knights can simply jump over the enemy line where he sees fit, something the other pieces cannot do.
The knight is worth three points. As I’ve said before, take that with a grain of salt. If your knights are dominating the board and your rooks are trapped and able to do nothing, then I’d say those knights are a bit more valuable at the moment. Use your best judgement before trading them off.
Thanks for tuning in, until next time!
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