A Burdensome and Weak King in Chess
How most players wish that there were only queens in chess. The general feeling is that kings are only a pointless burden. But believe it to not, kings are the life of the game. We lose our king we lose the game. The first line of defense is the king's movement and positioning.
Kings move in any direction—horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, forward, backward, or sideward. But they can only move one step at a time. These short movements are what make them susceptible to attacks and traps. They may capture any enemy piece but they can only do so diagonally, right or left, with one step. They may capture even the enemy queen and king, although this rarely happens. They commonly capture pawns and minor pieces.
The key to successful king playing is defense—never leave the king all by itself. We may have all our strong pieces demolishing enemy fortress, and we may render the opponent outnumbered with only a king, a rook, and a knight remaining, for instance. But if we leave our king all alone, one check from the enemy may end our game in stunning defeat.
Rooks are often the king's bodyguards while all the rest of our pieces punish the enemy. A knight may also join the close-in security of the king in case a sudden assault penetrates our defense. In the beginning of a game, it may be a good idea to open the way for a castling by partially releasing a knight and bishop. After the castling, with a rook around and a knight and bishop somewhere near—plus a vanguard of 2 to 3 pawns—the queen can safely go on rampaging the enemy without worrying about the king.
Some players leave the queen with the king and leave the work of conquest to the rest of the pieces. This undermines the power of the queen to futility and sometimes exposes both pieces to the risk of double checking by the enemy. As long as the queen and king are together there are more risks to having to sacrifice the queen later to save the king's life.
Sometimes, by fortifying the position of the king, the enemy is demolished. When we have protected the king systematically the onslaught of the enemy will prove useless and enemy pieces get decimated by that. Here, a strong defense becomes the best offense. When we combine the best strategies for the king's movement and positioning the king's weakness will turn to potential.