How to Move a Queen on a Chess Board

Place queens in the d1 and d8 positions on the chess board. The queen is placed either on the left or right of the king, depending on the side of the board. Unlike other pieces, the black queen is always placed on a dark square and the white queen is always placed on a light square.

Move a queen horizontally, vertically and diagonally. A queen may move anywhere along its row, anywhere along its column and anywhere diagonally provided it does not jump over other pieces. There is no maximum number of spaces a queen can move on a turn, as long as it moves in a straight line. The queens moving ability combines the movement ability of the rook and the bishop.

Capture your opponent's pieces with the queen by moving the queen into the square occupied by the piece you want to capture.

Protect a queen until the endgame. While it can be tempting to activate the queen early to capture opponents pieces, this will likely result in spending a lot of moves defending a vulnerable queen. In the early part of a game, there are many pieces on the chess board which can threaten a queen. Later in the game, when the chess board is nearly clear is the best time to move the queen.