How Does The Queen Move in Chess?

Chess Pieces Movement
May 22, 2022
Updated: January 23, 2024
How the queen moves in chess

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The queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard.

She can move any number of squares vertically, horizontally or diagonally. It’s like combining the powers of a rook and knight.

How the queen moves in chess
How the queen moves

The queen can go to any of the 64 squares of a chessboard in a straight line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, as long as those squares are unoccupied by its pieces.

The queen captures by occupying the square on which an enemy piece is standing, and then taking the enemy piece off the board.

The queen in chess can also be brought back to life after being captured or there could be an extra queen if the player still has their queen on the board.

This technique is called Promotion and it happens when a player’s pawn reaches the opponent’s last rank. For White, that’s the first rank, and for Black, that’s the eighth rank.

Pawn promotion to a queen is popularly called “queening” among chess players. 

Screenshot 20220522 153246 lichess
For example, the pawn on a7 is about to be promoted to a queen

So that’s it. The queen move is very simple and basic and doesn’t require much brain power.

We recommend these resources for further study:

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