How to Play Chess

Chess Playing Rules and Tips on how to improve your chess game

The Setup of the Chess Board:

The chessboard is made up of eight rows and eight columns for a total of 64 squares of alternating colors. When the board is set up it should be positioned so that a light square is positioned on the extreme lower right hand side of the chess board (as you can see, this works for both players).

The diagram at left shows how the pieces should be initially situated. When you find out how all the pieces move you will notice that the front rank is fully supported by the rank behind.

When setting up, make sure that the light queen is positioned on a light square and the dark queen is situated on a dark square. The two armies should be mirror images of one another.

The light side always moves first. Each player's side of the chessboard is determined by chance. Usually by one player placing a pawn in each hand and closing his fists. Holding forth his fists the opposing player picks one. Whatever color the pawn he chooses is the side he shall command.

Object of Game: The object in chess is to checkmate your opponent's King. Checkmate, or just "mate" occurs when a king is attacked and the king cannot escape capture on the next move.

Movement of the Chess Pieces

Pawn Movement:

There are eight pawns situated on each side of the board. They are the least powerful piece on the chess board, but have the potential to become equal to the most powerful.

Pawns cannot move backward or sideways, but must move straight ahead unless they are taking another piece.

Generally pawns move only one square at a time. The exception is the first time a pawn is moved, it may move forward two squares as long as there are no obstructing pieces. A pawn cannot take a piece directly in front of him but only one at a forward angle. In the diagram above the green dots show where the pawn may move and the red dots show where the pawn may capture a piece. In the case of a capture the pawn replaces the captured piece and the captured piece is removed from play.

Should a pawn get all the way across the board to reach the opponent's edge of the table, it will be promoted. The pawn may now become any piece that the moving player desires (except a king or pawn). Thus a player may end up having more than one queen on the board. Under normal circumstances a player will want to promote his pawn to be a queen since that piece is the most powerful and flexible. The new piece is placed where the pawn ended its movement.

There is a separate rule regarding pawns called en passant that will be described separately further below.

Rook Movement:

The rook, shaped like a castle, is one of the more powerful pieces on the board. The rooks, grouped with the queen, are often thought of as the "major pieces". Rooks are worth a bishop or a knight plus two pawns.

The rook can move any number of squares in a straight line along any column or row. They CANNOT move diagonally. In the example shown in the diagram on the left, the rook can move or capture in any square that has a blue dot. The simplicity of the rook's movement is indeed what makes it powerful. It can cover a significant area of the board and there are no areas which an opponent's piece - moving one square at a time - can slip through.

The rook may also make a move in conjunction with the king. This maneuver will be explained in the section called castling.

Knight's Movement

The knight is the only piece on the board that may jump over other pieces. This gives it a degree of flexibility that makes it a powerful piece.

Since obstructions are not a bar to movement (unless there is a friendly piece on the square where the knight would move) the knight's path of movement has never been well defined.

The knight can be thought of as moving one square along any rank or file and then at an angle, as defined in the diagram at left. (The yellow dot is the square being passed over and the blue dot is the space where the knight may move and may also capture opposition pieces.) The knight's movement can also be viewed as an "L" laid out at any horizontal or vertical angle.

Note that the squares to where the knight can move are all of the opposite colored squares two steps away from his starting square. This may help you visualize the knights range of influence on the board.

Bishop's Movement

The bishop may move any number of squares in a diagonal direction until it is prevented from continuing by another piece.

Each player begins with two bishops, one originally situated on a light square, the other on a dark square. Because of the nature of their movement, the bishops always remain on the same colored squares.

Bishops are a powerful piece (though less so than the queen or rooks). It is roughly equal in power to a knight or three pawns. Nevertheless, the bishop is a great piece to have in open situations when it can range the board. The knight is better in cluttered situations where it can utilize its ability to jump over other pieces.

Queen Movement

The queen combines the powers of both the rook and the bishop. As such, it can move horizontally, vertically, or on the diagonal. In a sense, it's like the king in that it can move in any direction. Unlike the king, however, it can move far in one direction so long as there are no pieces in its path.

In the diagram, the queen can move to any of the squares marked with an "X" Like the rook and the bishop, the queen captures as it moves. In this position, the queen can capture the enemy rook, knight, or bishop, but it may not jump over any of the pieces on the board.

The diagram shows clearly how powerful the queen is. Use it carefully. As you will learn, it is very risky to bring the queen out early because, if you lose your queen, you are likely to lose the game!

King Movement

The king can move one square in any direction. The king can also capture an opponent's piece if it is on one of those squares... assuming of course that the opponent is not defending this piece! The king can NEVER move on to a square that the opponent controls. Doing so would move the king into check.

Finally, it is important to add that if the king is under attack (in check), the next move MUST make sure that the attack has been stopped. There are three possibilities. The king must move out of check. Or... the attacking piece must be captured. Or... a piece must be moved between the attacker and the king in order to eliminate the direct attack. If the king is under attack AND there is no immediate way to end the attack, the game is over. CHECKMATE!

Chess Strategies:

Castling (short OO or long OOO)

Castling is an important move in chess. It allows a player to quickly move both the King to safety and the Rook to the center for battle. For this reason, wise players carefully guard their ability to castle and usually castle early in the game. Likewise, clever players will attempt to prevent their opponent from castling.

When castling the player moves his King two squares toward one of the player's Rooks and moves that Rook to the opposite side of the King. A player may not castle if either the King or the Rook involved have already moved. Also, the King may not castle out of, through, or into check. There must be no pieces between the King and Rook when castling.

Capturing En Passant (EP)

A player may capture another player's pawn in passing (En Passant) under very specific circumstances. This move is designed to prevent a player from taking advantage of the two-square first-move rule for pawns which might allow them to pass their opponent's pawn(s) without a chance to capture.

The capture is made exactly as if the pawn moved only one square on the first move. In the picture, Black's pawn moved up two squares as is its right. White captured the pawn by removing it from the board and placing the passed white pawn on the square marked ep before playing another move. This move, like any other, is optional and can occur as often as a similar situation arises between pawns.

The End of the Game; Checkmate (Mate), Stalemate, Draw

With a Checkmate the game is decided, but not every game ends with a Mate.

If he whose turn it is to move can make no legal move and yet his King is not checked he is not checkmated though the game necessarily is at an end. Such a conclusion of the game is called a Stalemate, a useless, a false, an unproductive Mate, briefly "Stalemate." He who is Stalemated does not lose the game nor win it either, because loss of the game is suffered only by him who is, "Checkmated" and an essential condition therefore is that the King should be in Check, whereas in a Stalemating position the King is not in Check.

Again when neither of the opponents believes he has the power to end the game by administering Checkmate, the game is undecided, "drawn", by mutual agreement. This agreement may be voluntary or compulsory. Compulsory when the two opponents repeat their moves, going backwards and forwards without changing their position, compulsory also when for fifty moves in succession no essential changes, no advance towards the final goal can be demonstrated, by either player. This demonstration, such is the accepted law, is achieved when during these fifty moves no capture nor the advance of a Pawn has been performed, for these are, by common consent, the outward, the visible signs of an essential change.

Here White is to move, Black menaces Checkmate in two ways, either by Qh3 captures h2 or plays to g2. White cannot defend the threat, he therefore tries to attack the opponent by giving Check with Qb6 to a6. Black is forced to reply Ka8 to b8. Now Qa6 to b6 again checking. The pinned Pawn cannot capture, hence Kb8, -c8 or -a8. Again Qb6-a6, Ka8 (c8)-b8. And the Checks have no end, the game is drawn by Perpetual Check.