Expert: Chuck Kinzie - 4/9/2009

Question
I am relearning chess after many years of not playing. Question: If the BLK king is in check, can a BLK piece (other than the king) capture the WHT piece that has the king in check (and remove the threat)? The posted rules (below)from an IBM/Deep Blue site seems to imply that the king has to do the capturing.

There are three ways that a king can respond to being in check:
The attacking piece may be captured
A piece may be moved in between the king and the attacking piece in order to block the attack
The king may simply move out of check itself  

Answer
Hello, Ben!

Thanks for your question.

If the Black King is in check, then there are three ways to get out of check:

1.  The Black King can move to a square that is not being attacked by a White piece.

2.  The White piece giving check can be captured, either by the King or ANY OTHER BLACK PIECE.

3.  A Black piece can come between the King and the checking piece.  (Of course, this is not a possible option if Black's in check to a knight.)

Hope that clears up any confusion.

Thanks again for writing, and enjoy your chess!

Your new chess friend,

Chuck