Cada ficha del ajedrez tiene un movimiento diferente en el tablero.

Ficha is a general word for a game token or counter, like:

• a checker piece
• a token in a board game (Ludo, Parcheesi, etc.)
• a casino chip

In chess, though, many speakers (and most instructional materials) prefer pieza for chess piece.

So:

• Cada ficha del ajedrez… – understandable, a bit more colloquial / generic
• Cada pieza de ajedrez… – more standard and “chess-specific”

In Latin America you will hear both, but if you want to sound closer to “textbook chess language,” pieza de ajedrez is usually the best choice.

Del is the mandatory contraction of de + el:

• de + el ajedrez → del ajedrez

So literally, del ajedrez means “of the chess (game)”.

Grammatically:

• de el ajedrez – incorrect in standard Spanish
• del ajedrez – correct

Stylistically, for this kind of generic statement, many native speakers would more naturally say:

• Cada pieza de ajedrez tiene un movimiento diferente en el tablero.

Here de ajedrez works like “chess-” as a descriptor, not “of the chess.” Both de ajedrez and del ajedrez are grammatically possible, but de ajedrez is more common when you’re talking about types of pieces in general.

In Spanish, names of games are treated as common nouns, not proper nouns, so they are written in lowercase:

• el ajedrez – chess
• el póker – poker
• el dominó – dominoes

So ajedrez stays lowercase even in titles or at the beginning of a sentence (only the first word of the sentence is capitalized, not the game name specifically).

Diferente is agreeing with un movimiento, which is singular:

• un movimiento diferente – one different move

If you changed the noun to plural, then the adjective would also change:

• unos movimientos diferentes – some different moves

So in the original sentence:

• Cada ficha del ajedrez tiene un movimiento diferente…

the structure is:

• subject: Cada ficha (singular)
• object: un movimiento diferente (singular)

That’s why diferente is singular, not diferentes.

Yes, you could, but the meaning changes slightly.

• tiene un movimiento diferente – it has a single characteristic way of moving (each piece has its own specific pattern)
• tiene movimientos diferentes – it has several different types of moves (for example, one move in the opening, another in the endgame, or different movement options)

In normal explanations of chess rules, the idea is that each piece has its own unique way of moving, so the singular un movimiento diferente (or more idiomatically, se mueve de manera diferente) is what you usually want.

Spanish allows both patterns:

1. Tener + un movimiento

   • Cada ficha del ajedrez tiene un movimiento diferente.
     Literally: each piece has a different move.

2. Moverse + de (manera) diferente

   • Cada pieza de ajedrez se mueve de manera diferente.
     Literally: each chess piece moves in a different way.

For teaching chess, many natives would actually find se mueve de manera diferente a bit more natural and close to how they explain rules. The original sentence with tiene un movimiento diferente is correct and clear, just a slightly different way of expressing the same idea.

All three prepositions exist, but their typical uses differ:

• en el tablero – on/in the board (default way to say where the game takes place)

  • Las fichas están en el tablero. – The pieces are on the board.

• sobre el tablero – literally on top of the board (more physical/positional)

  • Could be used, but sounds a bit more descriptive or literal than necessary here.

• por el tablero – across / around the board (emphasizes movement through space)

  • Las fichas se mueven por el tablero. – The pieces move around the board.

In this sentence, we’re just specifying the area where the moves happen, so en el tablero is the most natural and common choice.

You can absolutely drop it if the context is clear:

• Cada ficha tiene un movimiento diferente en el tablero.

This would mean:

• “Each piece has a different move on the board.”

Without del ajedrez / de ajedrez, it could refer to any board game, not necessarily chess. The original phrase adds del ajedrez to clarify that we’re specifically talking about chess pieces, not just any game pieces.

So:

• With del ajedrez / de ajedrez – explicitly chess
• Without it – potentially any board game, depending on context

Yes. Cada is always used with a singular noun:

• cada ficha – each piece
• cada jugador – each player
• cada movimiento – each move

If you want a plural form like “all the pieces,” you use a different structure:

• todas las fichas – all the pieces
• todos los jugadores – all the players

So you say:

• Cada ficha tiene un movimiento diferente. – correct
• Cada fichas tienen… – incorrect

You have some flexibility, but not every position is natural.

These are acceptable:

• Cada ficha del ajedrez tiene un movimiento diferente en el tablero.
• Cada ficha tiene un movimiento diferente en el tablero del ajedrez. (less common; sounds a bit heavy)
• En el ajedrez, cada ficha tiene un movimiento diferente en el tablero. (adding En el ajedrez at the start)

Avoid versions like:

• Cada ficha tiene un movimiento diferente del ajedrez en el tablero.

That last one sounds wrong because del ajedrez would seem to modify diferente or movimiento in a confusing way, almost like “a different move of the chess,” which doesn’t match how natives express this idea.

You could, but you’d usually adjust it slightly to sound natural:

• Cada pieza de ajedrez tiene su propio movimiento. – very natural
• Cada pieza de ajedrez tiene su propio modo de moverse.

Using su plus diferente together can feel a bit redundant:

• su movimiento diferente – literally “its different move”
  Natives would more often choose su propio movimiento (its own move) or just un movimiento diferente (a different move), not both.

So the most idiomatic versions are:

• Cada pieza de ajedrez tiene su propio movimiento.
• Cada pieza de ajedrez tiene un movimiento diferente.

Spanish is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns are usually omitted when the subject is clear from context or already mentioned.

Here the subject is written explicitly:

• Cada ficha del ajedrez tiene un movimiento diferente…

Because cada ficha is the subject, there’s no need (and it would be wrong) to add a separate pronoun:

• Cada ficha del ajedrez ella tiene… – incorrect / very unnatural
• Cada ficha del ajedrez tiene… – correct

In Spanish, you only add pronouns like él / ella / ellos for emphasis, contrast, or clarity when the subject is not otherwise stated. Here, the noun cada ficha is already doing that job.