I don't understand how the knight moves and need advice

I have learning disabilities, and my brain can't make sense of how the knight moves, I solved this issue as a player by turning the legal moves option on, but it don't show it for the opposition still and also as a player its even hard to think ahead with the legal moves on. 

I have tried to memorise the knights movements but it don't help.

What exactly happens is, when I start thinking where a knight is going to move by the opposition or I will move one myself (say without legal moves on for this explanation) my brain and eyes will try and work out the movements, then the squares kind of merge into one.

It would be great if this site had more accessibility options to that effect, but a lot of sites leave complex accessibility features out.

Anyway any beginner advice on how to 'easily' remember how the knight moves would be much appericiated.

It moves in an "L" shape.

That's not something mortal men can fix.

I guess I'll add that... no one sees future positions perfectly, not even pros, and everyone slowly gets better over time, with lots of practice.

When you say moves in an L shape that confuses me even more and I can't even see the L shape haha. I need some way of doing this, or better diagram or something.

The Knight move -

One square along a rank or file (horizontal or vertical) and then one square diagonally away from its starting square.

The Knight move combines the Rook move (ranks and files) along with the Bishop move (diagonally)

The Knight’s move always results in the Knight landing on the opposite color of its original square.

 

If you think of a knight as moving in an L shape pattern, put the knight in the middle of the board and draw all the Ls then the shape will resemble the German iron cross.

Other shapes:

pawn: Crab claws facing up

bishop: X

rook: add sign

queen: six point star

lol the "L shape" doesn't go with how I think either. I get where the "L" comes from, but I don't like it much. 

to the op, I think "Up 2 over 1" then you can also remember it is any two (horizontally or vertically) and then any one (for the other)

So for a Knight on d4 (diagram above), you can move Up two and over 1 to the right (lands on e6) or over two left and down one (lands on b3) etc. 

You'll figure out all 8 legal Knight moves this way; then after a lot of chess, you'll figure it out almost instantly from intuition (learning disability or not, once it is in your intuition for patterns, it didn't matter how long it took to get it there xD)

FIDE

3.6 The knight may move to one of the squares nearest to that on which it stands but not on the same rank, file or diagonal.

Makes description of a legal move - but does not describe how the Knight moves

The pattern of “up two - over one” is taught by Western thought. The L shape.

It is also visualized as “up one - diagonally one”. This approach is seen outside Western Countries.

Also... two distinct concepts exist - that of the Knight “jumping over a square” as compared to the Knight “moving through a square” (no jumping).

Maybe try practicing on a real chessboard to understand its movement or have a cheap chessboard by your side while you play on here. Are you more of a kinaesthetic type learner? 

I like to think of it's movement as a semi-diagonal. It also helps to realize that he always moves to a square with a different color. And you can draw a virtual circle around the knight to see instantly all the squares he can move to 

Your profile says "Artificial Intelligence Post Graduate Student". Amazing. 

I'm surprised a few people said 2 then 1.

When I was a kid I learned it could be either way... 2 then 1 or 1 then 2.

It's the same result of course, I guess it's just interesting people seem to list 2 first all the time.

Just visualize this, a circle two squares, a star, 24 numbers... see, it's easy

That's very nice

Here's an interesting exercise. On an empty board, place a knight on one of the 4 center squares... which squares can it attack in two moves or less?

For a knight that isn't in the center, this is the pattern you'll get (squares it can't attack in 2 moves or less marked in green)

-

-

-
Which is useful to know, because white to move can't prevent the black pawn from queening.

But if the knight were "farther away" on a square like g6, it could stop the pawn!

You could make some drills that I found in a chess book.

Take a physical board. Now you place a knight on a1. Your task is to tip with your finger the squares where the knight can jump to. From a1 the knight goes to b3 and c2. It makes it easier to find those squares if you you know that a knight always jumps to a square of opposite color. In this case a1 is dark, and the white squares close to it are a2, b1, b3 and c2. The squares a2 and b1 you exclude immediately, as they are too close to a1.
Now you move the knight to a2 and repeat the exercise. You touch with your finger b4, c3 and c1. After you finish the a line you move the knight to b8 and repeat the exercise until b1, and so on until you finish them whole board.
You should do this exercise several times, until you think you know pretty well how the knight moves. Good luck!

The question is - How does the Knight move ?

Legal moves are simply explained.... but -

How is the move visualized?

In the diagram two methods can be made.

1. The Knight “jumps” over the square in front (d5) and lands on the d6 square. The Knight then moves sideways (along the rank) in either direction capturing the pawn.

Or -

The Knight moves forward 1 square (d5) and then moves diagonally one square (away from its starting position to capture the pawn.

I learned by the 1st method- the L shape but long ago adapted to the 2nd method. The Knight moves “through “ the d5 square instead of “jumping” over it.