The pawn looks modest, but it has ambition. It moves forward, captures diagonally, and can become a queen if it reaches the end.

The rook loves straight lines. Give it an open file or rank and it suddenly feels like it owns the place.

A bishop stays on one color forever and slides along diagonals. Quiet at first, dangerous when the board opens.

The queen is a rook and bishop rolled into one. Powerful, yes. A personal assistant for every problem, no.

The knight moves in an L and jumps over pieces. It is weird at first, then it becomes everyone’s favorite trick maker.

The king moves one square at a time, but the whole game revolves around him. Slow, important, and not allowed to be ignored.

Each piece has an approximate value: pawn 1 point, knight and bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. The king has no point value because losing it means the game is over.