Knight (chess) ♞) Knight (chess) The knight (♘ ♞) is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight (armored cavalry). It is normally represented by a horse's head and neck. Each player starts with two knights, which begin on the row closest to the player, between the rooks and bishops. Colloquially it is sometimes referred to as a "horse", which is also the translation of the piece's name in several languages. Some languages refer to it as the "jumper", reflecting the knight's ability to move over pieces in its way: Polish "skoczek", Danish/Norwegian "springer", German "Springer", Luxembourgish "Sprénger", Slovene "skakač".
White and Black in chess with an extra tempo. As late as the mid-to-late 19th century, the practice of White moving first had not yet become standard. George Walker in his popular treatise "The Art of Chess-Play: A New Treatise on the Game of Chess" (4th edition 1846), set forth the rules of London's St. George's Chess Club promulgated in June, 1841. "Law III" provided that the player who moved first had the choice of color; if the players played more games at the same sitting, the first move would alternate, but each player would continue to use the same colored pieces as he had