The King

The king is the most consequential piece on the chess board. It is the only piece that cannot be captured, but rather must be trapped in a manner known as checkmate. The king is the only piece that cannot move into the path of an opposing piece. (See check.)
drawing of the 3P3 board with king moves shown

A King can travel in any direction from its position through the sides or corners of the hexes, but is limited to traveling one hex per move. (See illustration.) The object of the game is to checkmate your opponents' kings while protecting your own king from checkmate. Each player begins the game with one king.