Gold, silver and lance: the three with no chess name

Try it on the board

The gold general (金): the defender

One square in any direction except the two backward diagonals - six squares in all. Think of a king that cannot retreat sideways-and-back.

It is worth learning first because it is the shape almost every promotion produces: promoted silver, knight, lance and pawn all move exactly like a gold. Learn one piece, and you have learned five. It also never promotes itself, and neither does the king.

The silver general (銀): the attacker

One square straight forward, or one square on any of the four diagonals - five squares. It cannot move sideways and it cannot move straight back.

That asymmetry is the whole point. A silver advances well and defends badly on its own, which is why silvers go forward into the attack and golds stay behind guarding the king. When a silver promotes it becomes a gold, trading its two backward diagonals for the ability to hold ground.

The lance (香): a rook that only goes forward

Any number of empty squares straight ahead. Never sideways, never back. It starts in the corner and, like the knight, is committed the moment it moves - on the last rank it must promote, because a lance there would have no move left.

In practice the lance is a long-range threat down a single file and a cheap piece to hand over for a stronger one. Once you meet the drop rule you will also see lances dropped behind an enemy piece to attack it from underneath, which is a tactic with no chess analogue at all.