user845: I'm new to western chess and am still learning the rules and how the pieces perform.
What is generally considered the best chess piece?

user109: This question is subjective as the "best" piece depends on many factors such as how active a piece is.
The most important piece is your King.
In most cases, the Queen is the most powerful.
As an example, a knight might be more powerful than a Queen, possibly in a position where you are going to promote your pawn, promoting to a Queen might end in stalemate, whereas, promoting to a Knight, would end in checkmate.
I urge you to do a search on Chess Rules or something similar like Beginner Chess and you'll find countless material.

user791: The queen has the most squares available to land on, I recommend you get well acquainted with the rules of the game in the official FIDE Handbook

845: <p>I'm new to western chess and am still learning the rules and how the pieces perform.</p>

<p>What is generally considered the best chess piece?</p>
 109: <p>This question is subjective as the "best" piece depends on many factors such as how active a piece is.</p>

<p>The most important piece is your <code>King</code>.</p>

<p>In most cases, the <code>Queen</code> is the most powerful.</p>

<p>As an example, a <code>knight</code> might be more powerful than a <code>Queen</code>, possibly in a position where you are going to promote your pawn, promoting to a <code>Queen</code> might end in stalemate, whereas, promoting to a <code>Knight</code>, would end in checkmate.</p>

<p>I urge you to do a search on <code>Chess Rules</code> or something similar like <code>Beginner Chess</code> and you'll find countless material.</p>
 791: <p>The queen has the most squares available to land on, I recommend you get well acquainted with the rules of the game in the <a href="http://www.fide.com/component/handbook/?id=124&amp;view=article" rel="noreferrer" title="FIDE Handbook">official FIDE Handbook</a></p>
