How to Play Chess: Rules and Basics - Chess.com Chess.com Forums Learn to Play Chess It's never too late to learn how to play chess - the most popular game in the world! If you are totally new to the game or even want to learn all of the rules and strategies, read on! Getting Better at Chess History of Chess The origins of chess are not exactly clear, though most believe it evolved from earlier chess-like games played in India almost two thousand years ago.The game of chess we know today has been around since the 15th century where it became popular in Europe. The Goal of Chess Chess is a game played between two opponents on opposite sides of a board containing 64 squares of alternating colors. Each player has 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns. The goal of the game is to checkmate the other king. Checkmate happens when the king is in a position to be captured (in check) and cannot escape from capture. Starting a Game At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has the white (or light) color square in the bottom right-hand side.

The chess pieces are then arranged the same way each time. The second row (or rank) is filled with pawns. The rooks go in the corners, then the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who always goes on her own matching color (white queen on white, black queen on black), and the king on the remaining square. The player with the white pieces always moves first. Therefore, players generally decide who will get to be white by chance or luck such as flipping a coin or having one player guess the color of the hidden pawn in the other player's hand. White then makes a move, followed by black, then white again, then black and so on until the end of the game. How the Pieces Move Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces moves differently. Pieces cannot move through other pieces (though the knight can jump over other pieces), and can never move onto a square with one of their own pieces. However, they can be moved to take the place of an opponent's piece which is then captured.

Pieces are generally moved into positions where they can capture other pieces (by landing on their square and then replacing them), defend their own pieces in case of capture, or control important squares in the game. The King The king is the most important piece, but is one of the weakest. The king can only move one square in any direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally. Click on the '>' button in the diagram below to see how the king can move around the board. The king may never move himself into check (where he could be captured). The Queen The queen is the most powerful piece. She can move in any one straight direction - forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - as far as possible as long as she does not move through any of her own pieces. And, like with all pieces, if the queen captures an opponent's piece her move is over. Click through the diagram below to see how the queens move. Notice how the white queen captures the black queen and then the black king is forced to move. The Rook The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides. The rooks are particularly powerful pieces when they are protecting each other and working together!

The Bishop The bishop may move as far as it wants, but only diagonally. Each bishop starts on one color (light or dark) and must always stay on that color. Bishops work well together because they cover up each other’s weaknesses. The Knight Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces – going two squares in one direction, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an “L”. Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces. The Pawn Pawns are unusual because they move and capture in different ways: they move forward, but capture diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares. Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in front of them. They can never move or capture backwards. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture that piece. Promotion Pawns have another special ability and that is that if a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can become any other chess piece (called promotion). A pawn may be promoted to any piece.

[NOTE: A common misconception is that pawns may only be exchanged for a piece that has been captured. That is NOT true.] A pawn is usually promoted to a queen. Only pawns may be promoted. En Passant The last rule about pawns is called “en passant,” which is French for “in passing”. If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent’s pawn (effectively jumping past the other pawn’s ability to capture it), that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as it passes by. This special move must be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available. Click through the example below to better understand this odd, but important rule. Castling One other special rule is called castling. This move allows you to do two important things all in one move: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a player’s turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook from that side’s corner to right next to the king on the opposite side.

(See the example below.) However, in order to castle, the following conditions must be met: it must be that king’s very first move it must be that rook’s very first move there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move the king may not be in check or pass through check Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called castling kingside. Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling queenside. Regardless of which side, the king always moves only two squares when castling. Check & Checkmate As stated before, the purpose of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king. This happens when the king is put into check and cannot get out of check. There are only three ways a king can get out of check: move out of the way (though he cannot castle!), block the check with another piece, or capture the piece threatening the king. If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game is over. Customarily the king is not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over. Draws Occasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw.

There are 5 reasons why a chess game may end in a draw: The position reaches a stalemate where it is one player’s turn to move, but his king is NOT in check and yet he does not have another legal move The players may simply agree to a draw and stop playing There are not enough pieces on the board to force a checkmate (example: a king and a bishop vs.a king) A player declares a draw if the same exact position is repeated three times (though not necessarily three times in a row) Fifty consecutive moves have been played where neither player has moved a pawn or captured a piece Chess 960 Chess960 follows all the rules of standard chess, except for the starting position of pieces on the back rank, which are placed randomly in one of 960 possible positions. Castling is done just like in standard chess, with the King and Rook landing on their normal castled squares (g1 and f1, or c1 and d1). 960 plays just like standard chess, but with more variety in the opening. Some Tournament Rules Many tournaments follow a set of common, similar rules.

These rules do not necessarily apply to play at home or online Touch-move If a player touches one of their own pieces they must move that piece as long as it is a legal move. If a player touches an opponent’s piece, they must capture that piece. A player who wishes to touch a piece only to adjust it on the board must first announce the intention, usually by saying “adjust”. Introduction to Clocks and Timers Most tournaments use timers to regulate the time spent on each game, not on each move. Each player gets the same amount of time to use for their entire game and can decide how to spend that time. Once a player makes a move they then touch a button or hit a lever to start the opponent’s clock. If a player runs out of time and the opponent calls the time, then the player who ran out of time loses the game (unless the opponent does not have enough pieces to checkmate, in which case it is a draw). Basic Strategy There are four simple things that every chess player should know: #1 Protect your king Get your king to the corner of the board where he is usually safer. Don’t put off castling. You should usually castle as quickly as possible.

Remember, it doesn’t matter how close you are to checkmating your opponent if your own king is checkmated first! #2 Don’t give pieces away Don’t carelessly lose your pieces! Each piece is valuable and you can’t win a game without pieces to checkmate. There is an easy system that most players use to keep track of the relative value of each chess piece: A pawn is worth 1 A knight is worth 3 A bishop is worth 3 A rook is worth 5 A queen is worth 9 The king is infinitely valuable At the end of the game these points don’t mean anything – it is simply a system you can use to make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture, exchange, or make other moves. #3 Control the center You should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. If you control the center, you will have more room to move your pieces and will make it harder for your opponent to find good squares for his pieces. In the example above white makes good moves to control the center while black plays bad moves. #4 Use all of your pieces In the example above white got all of his pieces in the game!

Your pieces don’t do any good when they are sitting back on the first row. Try and develop all of your pieces so that you have more to use when you attack the king. Using one or two pieces to attack will not work against any decent opponent. Getting Better at Chess Knowing the rules and basic strategies is only the beginning - there is so much to learn in chess that you can never learn it all in a lifetime! To improve you need to do three things: #1 – Play Just keep playing! Play as much as possible. You should learn from each game – those you win and those you lose. #2 – Study If you really want to improve quickly then pick up a recommended chess book. There are many resources on Chess.com to help you study and improve. #3 - Have fun Don’t get discouraged if you don’t win all of your games right away. Everyone loses – even world champions. As long as you continue to have fun and learn from the games you lose then you can enjoy chess forever! Your Move Chess & Games: A Quick Summary of the Rules of Chess A Quick Summary of the Rules of Chess (How do I use this chess set, anyway?) So you now have your chess set and you're ready to go.

One Problem: You don't know the rules yet! Never fear, we have included the basics of the gameplay below. No Purchase Necessary, of course. Now you'll know what to do with those chess serts that have been collecting dust in the closet. The Rules of Chess Chess is one of the oldest and most popular board games in the world. Most Believe the origins of chess begin in either India or Asia many thousands of years ago. While chess sets have sometimes become fanciful pieces of artwork and decoration bringing elegance to most any home, chess endures first and foremost as a classic game of skill and strategy, with nearly limitless combinations and possibilities. Chess is surprisingly easy to learn, yet can take a lifetime of hard work to master! Part 1: The Chess Pieces The King The King is the most important chess piece on the chessboard. If he is checkmated (see objectives, below) the game is over! The King can move one space in any direction (see the diagram). He can never move in to "check" (where he is threatened by another piece). This means the king can never be in the space adjacent to the opposing King. The king can also castle. "Castling" is described in the special moves section below.

The Queen The Queen is often considered the most powerful chess piece on the chessboard. She is placed next to the king, on her own color. The game is not over when she is lost, but if your opponent has a Queen and you do not, you may find yourself at a considerable disadvantage! Like the King, the Queen can move in any direction. However, she is not limited to just one space - she can move any number of spaces in any direction, as long as she is not obstructed by another chess piece (see the diagram) Of course, if that obstruction is an opposing chess piece, she is free to capture it! The Bishop There are two Bishops for each player on the chessboard, situated next to Queen and the King, respectively. These chess pieces move along the diagonals of the chessboard. You can see that this means that the Bishop is bound to the color square it starts on. One Bishop starts on a white square, and one starts on a black square. They can move any number of spaces on the diagonals as long as they are not obstructed by another chess piece(see the diagram). Of course, if that obstruction is an opposing chess piece, they are free to capture it!

The Knight There are two Knights for each player on the chessboard, situated between the Bishop and the Rook. These chess pieces have the unique trait of being able to 'leap' over other chess pieces. They move in an "L" shape (see the diagram). If they land on an opposing chess piece, it is captured. The Rook (sometimes known as The Castle) There are two Rooks for each player on the chessboard, situated on the corners, next to the Knight. These chess pieces move up and down the rank and file of the chessboard, and can move any number of spaces as long as they are not obstructed by another chess piece (see the diagram). If the obstructing chess piece belong to their opponent, they are free to capture it. The Pawn Each player has eight Pawns, providing the first line of defense for their King. The Pawn has several unique attributes. In their first move, each pawn has the option to move forward one space or two spaces. After this move, they can only move one space forward. However, they are also the only chess piece that captures in a method different from how they move. To capture, the Pawn moves diagonally one space (see the diagram).

The Pawn can never move backwards. The Pawn also has a special move called "En Passant", which you can read about in special moves section below. If the Pawn reaches the opposite side of the chessboard, it has the unique ability to promote to another chess piece. The pawn can become a Queen, Bishop, Rook, or Knight. There are no restrictions to how many pieces of a given type you can have via promotion. Part 2: The Chess Board and how to set up your Chess Set A chessboard consists of 64 squares in a checkerboard pattern. There are light colored squares (referred to as white) and dark colored squares (referred to as black). There are 8 rows and columns, referred to as the "rank" and "file", respectively. The bottom right corner should be a white square. Setting up chess sets is fairly straightforward. The chess pieces are set up in an identical manner for both players. The Rooks are at the corners, the Knights are next, and then the Bishops. the middle two pieces are the King and the Queen. Remember, the Queen goes on her color. The entire second rank for each player is occupied by their Pawns.

Part 3: The Objective of Chess The objective in chess is to checkmate your opponents King, and there are three potential ways the game can end: First, you can checkmate your opponent. This means that the King is in check (under potential attack from an opposing chess piece) and the player can not make any legal move to remove the King from check. At this point, the game is over and the checkmated player loses. The amount of material on the chessboard is of no concern. Second, you and your opponent can reach a stalemate - the opponents King is not currently in check, but would be force to move in to check with their next move. Because you can never put your own King in check, you would have no legal moves to make. A stalemate does not mean the attacking player has won. Instead, it is a draw - neither player is victorious. In timed games, each player has a specific amount of time to make their moves. Once their time runs out, they lose, regardless of the material on the board.

That means that you could have only your King legt and deftly avoid mate attempts from an opponent with most of their chess pieces still on the chess board and still win the game if your opponent were to run out of time. Part 4: Special Moves Castling Castling is a special move in chess that involves the King and the Rook. This is the only situation in which you would move two of your own chess pieces in the same move. The King and the Rook move towards each other and swap places. To do this, move your King not one, but two spaces towards the Rook you are castling with. Then place the Rook on the opposite side of the King (shown in the diagram to the right). This can be done on either the King side or Queen side, however there are several prerequisites: The king and rook may not have moved, there must not be any obstructing pieces between them, and the King must not move through check in order to complete the move. En Passant This special move involves the Pawn. As mentioned earlier, this chess piece has the unique ability to move two spaces for its first move on the chessboard.

Some may use this as an opportunity to avoid capture from an approaching pawn by passing the opposing chess piece with that double move. If this is done, the other player may make an "en passant", or "in passing" capture. Although the pawn has passed the capture square of the opposing side, that player can move his or her chess piece diagonally, as it does in capture, to the square that the other player had skipped. The pawn that made the double move has been considered captured in passing, and is removed from the chessboard. Moving two pawns in the opening - Chess.com Chess.com Moving two pawns in the opening Previous #1 Dec 5, 2007 A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, my grandfather and I were playing a game of chess. He was playing white and opened by pushing the two rook pawns one square forward at the same time. I question the move, but he did say it was a legal move. I was six at the time. Was this ever a legal move in chess history or was my grandpa full of ..... I have not seen such opening ever since.

#2 Dec 5, 2007 Moving both pawns at the same time, to my knowledge, is not now, nor has ever been a legal move in Chess. #3 Dec 5, 2007 My friend tried that as well according to him that is how they play in Kosovo (he is a Kosovor) previously Serbia I believe. I doubt this is true and I attribute it to being a local thing. I don't think it was ever a legal move. #4 Dec 5, 2007 i've never heard anything so ridiculious in all of my life! Your grandfather was pulling your leg and your mate is trying the other one because it has bells on #5 Dec 5, 2007 When playing newcomers, me and my friend used to make up a few rules for a laugh. You know how beginners dont know en passant or castling? Likewise they dont know this moving both rooks pawn thing. One of my favourites was the 'Bishop's Privelege' whereby your King Bishop could do a jump over a blocked pawn centre on its first move.

Another comes from a chess variant called 'Knighted Chess' (this actually exists by the way) where you can move pieces within a Knights move of a Knight like a Knight. Can anybody think of some more? Of course, you tell them immediately afterwards and offer a bit of proper advice!! It's not funny to let someone suffer. #6 Dec 5, 2007 I guess it was mean of my grandpa not to tell me afterwards it was not really a legal move, unless he himself did not know it wasn't. I really do not remember him being really good a chess. #7 Dec 5, 2007 Shortly after teaching the en-passant rule, you can teach the en-horsant rule. Just make up some illegal knight capture that is beneficial to you at the moment and call it en-horsant. #8 Dec 5, 2007 Loomis wrote: Shortly after teaching the en-passant rule, you can teach the en-horsant rule. Just make up some illegal knight capture that is beneficial to you at the moment and call it en-horsant.

LOL #9 Dec 5, 2007 StacyBearden wrote: Loomis wrote: Shortly after teaching the en-passant rule, you can teach the en-horsant rule. Just make up some illegal knight capture that is beneficial to you at the moment and call it en-horsant. LOL #10 Dec 7, 2007 This reminded me of the old days when I played a lot of one minute chess on the internet. One minute translates to sloppy games when played over the board and you can get away with some sleight of hand. For example, when you castle short, bring the rook all the way to the e-file since that's likely to be an open file at some point. Or, instead of playing h3, play h3 3/4 -- get that pawn up on the line between the squares! This way it's ready to capture anything on g4 or go to h5 to start your attack. Basically keep those pieces on ambigous squares, your opponent will be too obsessed with the clock to know the difference!

#13 Dec 7, 2007 Seriously, there are many local variations of chess rules, particularly in central Asia, and it is possible the rook-pawns-move on first move could derive from one of them. The Arabs used to play a form of chess which allowed each side to set up its pieces in any set configuration they liked on their own side of the board at the start of the game. These configurations were called -- I forget. Batgirl, help me out here. #14 Dec 7, 2007 ACCORDING TO MXDPLAY4, HIM AND HIS FRIEND MAKE UP A NEW RULES IN CHESS FOR FUN. HOW ABOUT IF WE ADD MORE RULE LIFE FOR EXAMPLE, LETS MAKE THE KNIGHT AS A SUPER KNIGHT, THAT HE CAN MOVE LIKE A BISHOP, ROOK, AND A QUEEN. INCLUDING HIS ORIGINAL MOVE. I THINK THAT'S REALLY A COMEDY AND A LOTS OF FUN. #15 Jul 12, 2008 In my childhood, it was common to hear people that Moving two pawns in the opening was legal movement #16 Aug 6, 2009 I am from Cyprus.

Moving 2 pawns in the opening is very common among players that haven't played chess since their childhood. I thought it was some kind of misbelief only on the island, but then when I went vacation to Rome I saw an amateur chess player trying to make this kind of move... Chess Rules Chess Rules 3.3. Game Draw 3.1. The Rules of Chess Chess is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks and denoted with numbers 1 to 8) and eight columns (called files and denoted with letters a to h) of squares. The colors of the sixty-four squares alternate between light and dark, and are referred to as "light squares" and "dark squares". The chessboard is placed so that each player has a white square in the near right hand corner, and the pieces are set out as shown in the diagram, with each queen on a square that matches its color. Each player begins the game with sixteen pieces: each player's pieces comprise one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.

One player, referred to as White, controls the white pieces and the other player, Black, controls the black pieces; White is always the first player to move. The colors are chosen either by a friendly agreement, by a game of chance or by a tournament director. The players alternate moving one piece at a time (with the exception of castling, when two pieces are moved at the same time). Pieces are moved to either an unoccupied square, or one occupied by an opponent's piece, capturing it and removing it from play. With one exception (en passant), all pieces capture opponent's pieces by moving to the square that the opponent's piece occupies. The queen can move any number of vacant squares diagonally, horizontally, or vertically. 3.1.5. Knight The knight can jump over occupied squares and moves two spaces horizontally and one space vertically or vice versa, making an "L" shape. A knight in the middle of the board has eight squares to which it can move. Note that every time a knight moves, it changes square color. 3.1.6. Pawns Pawns have the most complex rules of movement: A pawn can move forward one square, if that square is unoccupied.

If it has not moved yet, the pawn has the option of moving two squares forward, if both squares in front of the pawn are unoccupied. A pawn cannot move backward. When such an initial two square advance is made that puts that pawn horizontally adjacent to an opponent's pawn, the opponent's pawn can capture that pawn "en passant" as if it moved forward only one square rather than two, but only on the immediately subsequent move. Pawns are the only pieces that capture differently than they move. They can capture an enemy piece on either of the two spaces adjacent to the space in front of them (i.e., the two squares diagonally in front of them), but cannot move to these spaces if they are vacant. If a pawn advances all the way to its eighth rank, it is then promoted (converted) to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color. In practice, the pawn is almost always promoted to a queen. 3.1.7. Remaining movement rules With the exception of the knight, pieces cannot jump over each other. One's own pieces ("friendly pieces") cannot be passed if they are in the line of movement, and a friendly piece can never replace another friendly piece.

Enemy pieces cannot be passed, but they can be "captured". When a piece is captured (or taken), the attacking piece replaces the enemy piece on its square (en passant being the only exception). The captured piece is thus removed from the game and may not be returned to play for the remainder of the game. The king cannot be captured, only put in check. If a player is unable to get the king out of check, checkmate results, with the loss of the game. Chess games do not have to end in checkmate — either player may resign if the situation looks hopeless. Games also may end in a draw (tie). A draw can occur in several situations, including draw by agreement, stalemate, threefold repetition of a position, the fifty move rule, or a draw by impossibility of checkmate (usually because of insufficient material to checkmate). 3.2. Timed Games Games can be played with a time-limit by setting a move time when creating a new game. In timed games each player has a certain amount of time available for deciding which moves to make, and the time remaining for each player decreases only when it is their turn to move. 3.3. Game Draw A game that ends without victory for either player.

Most drawn games are draws by agreement based upon the rules. The other ways that a game can end in a draw are stalemate, three-fold repetition, the fifty-move rule, and insufficient material. A position is said to be a draw (or a drawn position) if either player can, through correct play, eventually force the game into a position where the game must end in a draw, regardless of the moves made by the other player. Teach Kids to Play Chess - ChessKid.com Learn to Play Chess History of Chess The origins of chess are not exactly clear, though most believe it evolved from earlier chess-like games played in India almost two thousand years ago. The game of chess we know today has been around for more than 500 years! The Goal of Chess You and your opponent are each in charge of an army. Your goal: to catch the other army's king (before they catch yours)! When you have him attacked and he can no longer escape, it's called "checkmate," and you win! You each start with a trusty army of 16: the King, Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and eight Pawns.

Starting a Game At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has the white (or light) color square in the bottom right-hand side. The chess pieces are then arranged the same way each time. The second row (or rank) is filled with pawns. The rooks go in the corners, then the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who always goes on her own matching color (white queen on white, black queen on black), and the king on the remaining square. The player with the white pieces always moves first, so it's only fair to take turns playing white and black. On each turn you get to move one of your pieces (except for one special move). Then it's your opponent's turn. And back and forth, you take turns until one of the kings is cornered... or your whole army is tired out! How the Chess Pieces Move Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces has its own shape for moving. Most pieces cannot move through other pieces-- only the knight can jump over anyone who gets in his way! Also no piece can ever move onto a square with one of their own pieces.

However, they can be moved to take the place of an opponent's piece: that's how you capture the enemies! The King The king is the most important piece, since losing him means the end of the game. But he is also one of the weakest. So very often he needs his friends to protect him. The king can move one square in any direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally. The king may never move himself onto a square where he could be captured (no losing on purpose). If your opponent ever moves their king onto a square where you can take it, don't grab the king and laugh "hahahaha, I win!" Instead, you should explain why they can't move there. Then your opponent can put the king back where it was, and choose a different move. Click on the ">" button in the diagram below to see how the king can move around the board. Check and Checkmate When another piece threatens to capture the king, it is called 'check.' When there is no way for the king to escape check, it is called 'checkmate.' As stated before, that is how you win.

There are only three ways a king can get out of check: move out of the way, block the check with another piece, or capture the piece threatening the king. If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game is over. Customarily the king is not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over. The Queen The queen is the most powerful piece. Like the king, she can move in any one straight direction - forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - but unlike him, she's very speedy. In fact, she can move as far as you like as long as she does not move through any other pieces. And, like with all pieces, if the queen captures an opponent's piece, that's the square she stops on. Click through the diagram below to see how the queens move. Notice how the white queen captures the black queen and then the black king is forced to move. The Rook The rook moves much like the queen: as far as it wants along straight lines, but only forward, backward, and to the sides (not diagonally). The Bishop The bishop is the "other half" of the queen. It moves as far as it wants, but only diagonally.

You start with one bishop on a light square and one bishop on a dark square, and you will notice, only moving on diagonals, each one is stuck on the color it starts on. Bishops work well together because each covers the squares the other one can't. The Knight Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces - going two squares in one direction, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an "L". Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces. People often say knights "hop" because of that special ability. Check out these knight hops: The Pawn Half of your starting team is pawns, so it's very important to understand how to use these little guys, even though they are not very strong. Pawns are unusual because they move in one way, but capture in a different way. When they move, they just go forward, but when they capture they go diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares or one. Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in front of them. They can never move or capture backwards.

Because they move and capture differently, the pawn is the only piece that can get blocked by enemy pieces: if there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture that piece. Promotion Now pawns may be small and weak, moving slowly and having trouble fighting against the faster guys on the board. But pawns still have big dreams! They want to be the hero who rules the chessboard and brings you victory. And pawns have one more special ability that can help make their dreams come true. If a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can become any other chess piece (called promotion), except a pawn or king. [NOTE: A common misconception is that pawns may only be exchanged for a piece that has been captured. That is NOT true.] A pawn is usually promoted to a queen, because she is the most powerful piece. Only pawns may be promoted; no other piece can do this!

En Passant The last rule about pawns is called "en passant", which is French, meaning "in passing." If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent's pawn (effectively running past the other pawn's ability to capture it), that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as if it only moved one space. This special move must be done on the very next move after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available. Click through the example below to better understand this odd, but important rule. Castling One other special rule is called castling, the only time you can move two pieces in one move. This combination move allows you to do two important things all in one turn: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a player's turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook to the other side of his king.

(See the example below.) In order to castle, however, the following conditions must be met: it must be that king’s very first move it must be that rook’s very first move there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move the king may not be in check or pass through check Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called kingside. Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling queenside. Regardless of which side, the king always moves exactly two squares when castling. Draws Occasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw. There are 5 reasons why a chess game may end in a draw: The position reaches a stalemate where it is one player’s turn to move, but his king is NOT in check and yet he does not have another legal move The players may simply agree to a draw and stop playing There are not enough pieces on the board to force a checkmate (example: a king and a bishop vs a king). Draw by exhaustion!

A player declares a draw if the same exact position is repeated three times (though not necessarily three times in a row) Fifty moves in a row have been played by each player, without anyone moving a pawn or capturing a piece. This means no progress is being made! If you've made it this far, you are ready to play! After this come extra rules for tournaments, variants, and some first advice for how to play chess well. Chess960 Chess960 (also called Fischer Random) is a chess variant that follows all of the normal rules of chess, except that the starting position of the pieces is randomly chosen at the start of each game. There are two rules for placing the pieces: the bishops must be on opposite colors, and there must be one rook on each side of the king. The black and white pieces are in a mirrored position. There are exactly 960 possible starting scenarios that follow these rules (thus the name "960").

The only odd rule is with castling: the rules are mostly the same (king and rook cannot have moved and cannot castle through check or in check), with the additional rule that the squares between where the king and castled rook will end up must be vacant from all pieces except the king and rook. And instead of moving exactly 2 steps towards your rook, you always castle so that it looks like in normal chess: King goes to g1 when you castle "kingside" and to c1 when you castle "queenside." Some Tournament Rules Many tournaments follow a set of common, similar rules. These rules do not necessarily apply to play at home or online Touch-move If a player touches one of their own pieces they must move that piece as long as it is a legal move. (of course you can't "touch" a piece online, so this is a tournament rule which does not matter on our website). If a player touches an opponent's piece, they must capture that piece.

A player who wishes to touch a piece only to adjust it on the board must first announce what they are doing, usually by saying "adjust." Introduction to Clocks and Timers Most tournaments use timers to regulate the time spent on each game, not on each move. That's because when they first started having chess tournaments in the 1800s, some guys would just sit there and not move if they were in a losing position. This perfect strategy kept them from ever losing... and the tournament from ever finishing! Then they invented the chess clock, and it became normal at most tournaments. Each player gets the same amount of time to use for their entire game and can decide how to spend that time. Once a player makes a move they then touch a button or hit a lever to stop their clock from running and start the opponent's clock. If a player runs out of time and the opponent calls the time, then the player who ran out of time loses the game (unless the opponent does not have enough pieces to checkmate, in which case it is a draw). Click here to watch two players quickly playing a timed game of chess!

Basic Strategy There are four simple things that every chess player should know: #1 Protect your king Get your king to the corner of the board where he is usually safer. Don't put off castling. You should usually castle as quickly as possible. Remember, it doesn't matter how close you are to checkmating your opponent if your own king is checkmated first! #2 Don’t give pieces away Don’t carelessly lose your pieces! Each piece is valuable and you can’t win a game without pieces to checkmate. There is an easy system that most players use to keep track of the relative value of each chess piece: A pawn is worth 1 A knight is worth 3 A bishop is worth 3 A rook is worth 5 A queen is worth 9 The king is infinitely valuable At the end of the game these points don’t mean anything – it is simply a system you can use to make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture, exchange, or make other moves. #3 Control the center You should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns.

If you control the center, you will have more room to move your pieces and will make it harder for your opponent to find good squares for his pieces. In the example below white makes good moves to control the center while black plays bad moves. #4 Use all of your pieces In the example above white got all of his pieces in the game! Your pieces don’t do any good when they are sitting back on the first row. Try and develop all of your pieces so that you have more to use when you attack the king. Using one or two pieces to attack will not work against any decent opponent. Getting Better at Chess Knowing the rules and basic strategies is only the beginning - there is so much to learn in chess that you can never learn it all in a lifetime! To improve you need to do three things: #1 – Play Just keep playing! Play as much as possible. You should learn from each game – those you win and those you lose. #2 – Study Check out our list of recommended books for beginners . There are also many resources on ChessKid.com to help you study and improve. #3 - Have fun Don’t get discouraged if you don’t win all of your games right away. Everyone loses – even world champions.

As long as you continue to have fun and learn from the games you lose then you can enjoy chess forever! Castles in Chess: Chess Rooks Originally, the rook symbolized a chariot. The word rook comes from the Persian word rukh meaning chariot. Persian War Chariots were heavily armoured, carrying a driver and at least one ranged-weapon bearer, such as an archer. The sides of the chariot were built to resemble fortified stone work, giving the impression of small, mobile buildings, causing terror on the battlefield. In the West, the rook is almost universally represented as a crenellated turret. One possible explanation is that when the game was imported to Italy, the Persian rukh was confused with the Italian word rocca, meaning fortress. Another possible explanation is that rooks wewre thought to represent siege towers (the piece is called "torre", meaning tower, in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, "tour" in French and "toren" in Dutch). Curiously, the Russian name for the rook ("ladya") means a ship or boat.

In the opening, the castles are undefended by other pieces, so it is desirable to connect one's rooks on the first rank by clearing all pieces except the king and rooks from the first rank and castling. In that position, the rooks protect each other, and can easily move to threaten the most favourable files. Castles are most powerful towards the end of a game where they can move unobstructed by pawns and can control large numbers of squares. Castling is a special defensive manoeuvre. It is the only time in the game when more than one piece may be moved during a turn. Castling was invented in the 1500's to help speed up the game and to help balance the offence and defence. Castling Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same colour. It is the only move in chess (leaving aside promotion) in which a player moves two pieces at the same time. Castling consists of moving the king two squares towards a rook on the player's first rank, then moving the rook onto the square over which the king crossed.

Castling can only be done if the king has never moved, the rook involved has never moved, the squares between the king and the rook involved are not occupied, the king is not in check, and the king does not cross over or end on a square in which it would be in check. The notation for castling, in both the descriptive and the algebraic systems, is 0-0 with the kingside rook and 0-0-0 with the queenside rook. In PGN, O-O and O-O-O are used instead. Castling on the kingside is sometimes called castling short and castling on the queenside is called castling long; the difference being based on whether the rook moves a short distance (two squares) or a long distance (three squares). Castling is in most European languages other than English known as 'rochieren / rochada / roque' or some other derivative of the same Persian root from which also the English word 'rook' is derived, while the local adjectives meaning 'long' and 'short' are used in those countries to refer to 'queenside/kingside castling'.

Castling was added to European chess in the 14th or 15th century and did not develop into its present form until the 17th century. Asian versions of chess do not have such a move. Castling is permissible only if all of the following conditions hold: The king has not previously moved; The chosen rook has not previously moved; There must be no pieces between the king and the chosen rook; The king is not currently in check. The king must not pass through a square that is under attack by enemy pieces. The king must not end up in check The king and the chosen rook must be on the same rank. (This rule was added to allow for the possibility of a pawn being promoted to a rook, which then castles!) Castling is an important goal in the early part of a game. It serves two purposes: it moves the king into a safer position away from the centre of the board, and it moves the castle to a more active position in the centre of the board (it is even possible to checkmate by castling). Castling on the King's Side The choice as to which side to castle depends on an assessment of the trade-off between king safety and activity of the rook.

Kingside castling is generally safer, because the king ends up closer to the edge of the board and all the pawns on the castled side are defended by the king. In queenside castling, the king is placed closer to the centre and the pawn on the a-file is undefended; the king is thus often moved to the b-file to defend the a-pawn and to move the king away from the centre of the board. In addition, queenside castling requires moving the queen first; therefore, it may take slightly longer to achieve than kingside castling. Queenside castling places the rook more effectively. It is often immediately active, whereas with kingside castling a tempo may be required to move the rook to a more effective square. It is common for both players to castle kingside, and rare for both players to castle queenside. Castling on opposite sides usually results in a fierce fight as both players' pawns are free to advance to attack the opposing king's castled position without exposing the player's own castled king.

Castling on the Queen's Side If the king is forced to move before it has the opportunity to castle, the player may still wish to manoeuvre the king towards the edge of the board and the corresponding rook towards the centre. When a player takes three or four moves to accomplish what castling would have accomplished in one move, it is sometimes called artificial castling, or castling by hand. Under the strict touch-move rules enforced in most tournaments, castling is considered a king move. A player who intends to castle but touches the rook first would be committed to make a rook move, and thus will not be permitted to castle. The correct way to castle is to first move the king. As usual, the player's mind may change between all legal destination squares for the king until it is released. When the two-square king move is completed however, the player has formally chosen to castle, and the rook must be moved accordingly. A player who performs a forbidden castling must return the king and the rook to their original places and then move the king, if there is another legal king move, including castling on the other side. If there is no legal king move, the touch-move rule does not apply to the rook.

The official rules require that the entire move be completed using only a single hand. Neither of these two rules is commonly enforced in casual play, nor commonly known by non-competitive players. The right to castle must be the same in all three positions for a valid draw claim under the threefold repetition rule. Heraldry distinguishes between a castle, a tour and an heraldic rook. A castle is a representation of a real castle, often with front gate, arrow loops, towers and battlements. (see right) A tower is a representation of a real tower, generally circular in plan often with front gate, arrow loops and battlements. (see right) An heraldic rook is like a tower but shown with two large outward-curving horns (see left). This charge is always blazoned "chess rook" so as not to be confused with the bird of that name; it is also not to be confused with the zule, a similar-looking object with two outward-curving horns at both top and bottom. The United States Chess Federation - Learn to Play Chess The United States Chess Federation II. Piece Movements Part 1 - The King and the Rook III. Check and three ways to get out of check IV.

Piece Movements Part 2 - The Bishop and the Queen V. Piece Movements Part 3 - The Pawn and the Knight VI. Special Moves- Castling, Pawn Promotion, and En Passant VII. Scoring and Drawing VIII. Tournament Rules I. Setting up the pieces Chess is played on an 8x8 board. White moves first. When you set up the board, remember the following things: a. "White is right!" Make sure the right corner of the board is on a White square. Many movies, T.V shows, and even art exhibits with chess sets get this wrong. b. Queen on her color! If you are White the queen should be on a White square. If you are Black, the queen should be on a Black square. The letters on the bottom (a-h) of the board correspond to files. The numbers on the side of the board refer to ranks (1-8). Each square has a name. The red square is called e5. Question 1: What is the green square called? Using these names to record your chess moves is called "Algebraic Chess Notation" Strong players invariably do this, so that they can learn from their games. II.

Piece movements Part I- The Rook and The King 1. The Rook: Let's start with the moststraightforward piece. The rook can move horizontally and vertically as many squares as it wants. The rook can move to any of the starred squares. The rook captures in the same way that it moves. If it's White's turn, he can take any of the three rooks. If it's Black's move, Black can use any of her rooks to take the White rook. The king has little mobility. But the king's value is unquantifiable, because it entrapment ends the game. It moves one square in every direction. The White king can move to any of the three starred score in the corner. The Black king can move to any of the eight starred squares. The king captures in the same way it moves, but unlike any other piece, the king cannot be captured. III. Check and three ways to get out of check Check is the heart and soul of the game, so let's go over it now- and then we can review it with each new piece we learn to move! When a piece threatens the king with capture (attacks), the king is in check.

The White rook checks the Black king. A checked king must escape check in one of three ways. Here, the Black king can get out of check by moving to any of the starred squares. Fleeing is the first way to get out of check. Question: Why can't he move to e6 or e4? The White king can simply capture the Black rook to get out of check. Question: How many squares can the White king flee to? Is it better to capture or flee here? Blocking is the third way to get out of check. Think of this as the king throwing one of his bodyguards in front of himself, to shield himself from injury. The Black rook on h5 can block the check by moving to e5. The king is never allowed to put himself in check. Two kings cannot touch. In other words, they can't be on adjacent squares. Diagram 1 (left) is NOT ALLOWED because kings move one square in each direction, and therefore would be putting themselves in check if standing right next to each other. You will never see this position in a real game of chess.

In Diagram 2, the Black king may not move to g5, g6 or g7, because he would be putting himself in check. IV. Piece Movements Part II. The Bishop and The Queen The bishop moves diagonally as many squares as it wants. Bishops remain on the same color all game. Explaining his divorce, World Champion Boris Spassky said, "We were like bishops of opposite colors." An apt analogy: Bishops of the opposite color live on the same board but never, ever have contact. The bishop on e4 can never have a rendezvous with the one on e5. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board. She moves like the rook and bishop combined: diagonally, horizontally and laterally as many squares as she wants. Like the rook and bishop, she captures in the same way that she moves. The queen can move to any of the starred squares. The queen can capture any of the Black pieces with her next move. Let's review check with the bishop and queen. The Black bishop is checking the White king.

White can use any of the three methods to get out of check: Fleeing with the king, to f8, d8, e7 or f7. Blocking with the White bishop, by moving to d7. Using the queen to capture the bishop on c6. Let's say White is hungry and goes for the third choice. Now we have this position: Black can only flee here. His three choices are to flee to g7, g5 or h5. Checkmate- Checkmate is when a king has no way to escape from a check. (There are no squares to flee to, no way to block or capture the checking piece.) Checkmate is the goal of chess and ends the game. Many chess lovers are drawn to the game by checkmate- it's a clear competitive purpose and to many, aesthetically pleasing. The Black king cannot capture the White queen, because the White bishop backs her up. The king cannot flee nor block. The Black king cannot escape from the rook check and move to g5,g3 or g4, because the White king is covering all thosesquares. Question: What do checkmated kings in diagram 1 +2have in common? V.

Piece Movements Part 3 The Pawn and the Knight The pawn is the weakest piece on the board, but don't underestimate their importance. Philidor, the 18th century French chess champion, called pawns the "soul of chess." Learning the pawn's move is tricky. The pawn is the only piece on the board that does not move backward. A decision to barge ahead with a pawn is final, which is why such precision is required with pawns. On their first move, the pawns can move forward one or two squares. Think of the two square push as the pawn's morning cup! After each pawn has moved, it can only move one square forward at a time. Either e3 or e4, the morning coffee jump is allowed! Tip: Most top players serve their pawns morning coffee. Once the pawn has already moved, it cannot move two squares. The e4 pawn may move to the green square e5 but it cannot have another cup of coffee and move to e6, nor can it move backwards, to e3. The pawn captures diagonally only. The pawn is the only piece that does not capture in the same way that it moves.

In Diagram 1, the pawn on e5 can capture the knight on f6. The pawn cannot capture the pawn on e6. Diagram 2 shows the position after the pawn captures the knight. Now Black can take the f6 pawn with his g7 pawn. The knight is the trickiest piece to learn. Newcomers to chess often find the knight so hard to remember that they keep the knights in the back row. Such a scorned knight feels sad and depressed. Don't let it happen to yours, because knights are the most special piece in chess. Author-philosophy-grandmaster Jonathan Rowson writes: "They are the curvy pieces that bring a circular aspect to an essentially linear game." The knight moves two squares one way, and then one square the other, in the shape of an L. The knight captures in the same way as it moves. The Black knight can go to any of the starred squares. The White knight can capture any of the three Black pawns. Notice that knights always switch the color of square they rest on- they're on a constant rotation between day and night shifts.Knights are the only piece that can jump over other pieces. However, they do not capture any pieces that they jump over.

At the start of a chess game, the knights can jump out immediately over his own pawns, like in the diagram above. All the other pieces must wait for the pawns to free up space for them to move along diagonals, files and ranks. The knight in Diagram 1 can jump over the rook and bishop to capture the pawn on d5. The only piece the knight takes in the process is the d5 pawn (Diagram 2), which was on its destination square. Part VI: Special Moves- Castling, Pawn Promotion and En Passant. Castling is a special move using one rook and the king. Castling is the only time in chess in which you can move two pieces at once. There are two varieties, queenside and kingside. . In this diagram, both White and Black can castle to reach the position below. White castled kingside and Black castled queenside. Remember that the King always moves two squares when castling. Many players forget this and move the king an extra square (to b8) when castling queenside. TIP: Top players castle nearly every game. It makes the king safer, and also gets the powerful rook out of the corner. Is Castling allowed?

You can only castle, if all of the following are true #1- Your king has not moved yet #2- The rook you want to castle with has not moved yet #3- There are no pieces between the rook and the king #4- You are not being checked. (You can't castle out of check!) #5- The process of castling will not put or land the king in check. Rule 5 is the trickiest: Even masters have asked questions about whether or not a king is moving through check while castling. Even if White has met the conditions of the first four rules, he cannot castle in the positive above, because on his way to g1, the bishop on b5 would check the king. Black on the other hand, is free to castle. The bishop on g3 hits b8, but the Black king does not have to go through this square to castle. Special move #2- Pawn Promotion Pawns cannot move backwards, so you might wonder what happens when they reach the last rank. They turn into any piece that you want, except the king. 99% of the time, players choose the most powerful piece on the board, the queen.

For this reason, "queening" is just as popular a phrase as "promoting." In Diagram 1, both players can promote to make a queen in Diagram 2. White can promote by playing d8=Q. The Black pawn on e2 can capture the knight on f1, or advance to e1, in both cases making a queen. You can promote to a queen even if you already have a queen. Some high-end chess sets even come with an extra queen. Special Move #3- En Passant En passant is French for "in passing". This rule can only be used in a very specific situation. If a pawn has reached the fifth rank as in diagram 1, (or the fourth rank for Black) and a neighbor enemy pawn takes a morning coffee jump (in diagram 2), the White pawn can capture the zealous enemy pawn (diagram 3) as if it had only moved one square. Part VII.- Scoring and Drawing. What's a chess point? In competitive chess every game is worth one point. Checkmate is one way to win the whole point, but you can also win if your opponent resigns or runs out of time. Draws A game can also end in a draw.

Nobody wins or loses, and each player gets 1/2 a point. There are many paths that end in a draw. 1. Agreement- both players agree that the game is likely to be a draw. 2. Insufficient mating material. 5. Both players run out of time 6. 50 Move rule Let's look at examples of each. Draw #1- Agreement Each side has a rook and a king. This is a perfect example of what's known in competitive chess circles as a "dead draw". If both players are confident that their opponents will not give up their rook, they'll agree and shake hands immediately. Draw #2-Insufficient Mating Material- A knight and a king or a bishop and a king are unable to checkmate a lone enemy king. Even after hours of play, the knight in Diagram 1 or the bishop in Diagram 2 will never mate the Black king. In either position, Black can claim a draw by insufficient mating material. Queens and rooks however, can mate a lone king. If there is a pawn on the board, you cannot claim insufficient mating material because that pawn can transform into a queen or a rook.

Draw #3- Stalemate is a very important rule. If an opponent cannot move any of his pieces, including the king, the position is a stalemate and is scored as a draw. Both positions are stalemate because Black has no legal moves. Notice that in Diagram 2 Black has several pawns, but it's still stalemate because he cannot move any of them. Who do you think is happy in each position? These positions are not stalemate: In Diagram 1, Black can move the pawn on a5. In Diagram 2, Black can move the king to h7. Draw #4- Repetition of Position- When a chess position is repeated three times, either player can claim a draw by repetition. The most common way to achieve three-move repetition is via perpetual check, as in the example below. In Diagram 2, The White queen lands on g6, delivering check to the g8 king. The Black king escapes to the only possible square-h8, and the White queen checks again on h6. The king moves back to g8, and White checks again on g6 forcing Black to return to h8. After three times, either player may claim a three-move repetition.

Draw #5- Double Time Forfeit If both players run out of time, it's a draw. If both players have run out of time, but there's checkmate on the board, the checkmater wins the game. Position takes precedence over the clock. Draw #6- 50 Move Rule- If no pawns or pieces have been traded for more than 50 moves, a game is determined to be a draw. This rule requires that the player who makes the claim write down his moves. For instance, in this position: White has two knights, and has been hopping around for hours, unable to checkmate you. If you'd been recording the moves, you can claim a draw after 50 moves. Chess Notation: When you become a member of the USCF, you'll see that a lot of thrilling chess games and stories are filled with chess notation. You also are required to take notation in most official chess tournaments, so it's great to get a firm handle on it as you start to play. Impress your friends by telling them that you're learning an ancient language called Aracaissaic.

The pieces are abbreviated to the following letters: King- K Rules of Chess Rules of Chess Rules of Chess Rules of Chess Here are the rules of chess, in our own words (as you'll be able to tell). Please keep in mind these are not the official chess rules. These chess rules are intended to help our visitors and customers new to the chess game, get the chessboard setup correctly along with enough instruction and knowledge of the chess rules to have a legitimate and enjoyable game. We hope you find them useful. Object of the Chess Game It's rather simple, there are two players with one player having 16 black or dark color chess pieces and the other player having 16 white or light color chess pieces. The chess players move on a square chessboard made up of 64 individual squares consisting of 32 dark squares and 32 light squares. Each chess piece has a defined starting point or square with the dark chess pieces aligned on one side of the board and the light pieces on the other. There are 6 different types of chess pieces, each with it's own unique method to move on the chessboard. The chess pieces are used to both attack and defend from attack, against the other players chessmen.

Each player has one chess piece called the king. The ultimate objective of the game is to capture the opponents king. Having said this, the king will never actually be captured. When either sides king is trapped to where it cannot move without being taken, it's called "checkmate" or the shortened version "mate". At this point, the game is over. The object of playing chess is really quite simple, but mastering this game of chess is a totally different story. Chess Board Setup Now that you have a basic concept for the object of the chess game, the next step is to get the the chessboard and chess pieces setup according to the rules of playing chess. Lets start with the chess pieces. The 16 chess pieces are made up of 1 King, 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, and 8 pawns. From the following diagram, you can identify the pieces and the general character of their shape and appearance and also the location or square the chess pieces start from according to the chess rules. Now the chessboard. The correct orientation, as per the chess rules, is with a black square on your left side as facing the chess board.

One of the more common mistakes in setting up the chess board is reversing the king and queen chess pieces. Remember, as per the chess rules, the queen is always on her own color while the king is always on the opposite color. How the Chess Pieces Move Now that you have the chessboard setup with each piece sitting on its correct square, you need to know the chess rules of how each chess piece moves. The following are diagrams and instructions for the move of each chess piece. Chess piece - King Having a king is mandatory even though he's pretty much worthless and really nothing more than a mere figure-head. But that's the rule of chess, like it or not, you have to have a king. The king is always the tallest piece on the chessboard and the king chess piece will usually have a cross-like object on top. By the rules of chess, his moves are pretty limited, he can only move one square at a time but he can move forward, backward, left, right and diagonally. Not to offer any particular strategy, but keep him safe and well protected! Chess piece - Queen Unlike the king, the queen is no figure-head. She's the most powerful chess piece you have on the chessboard.

The queen usually looks like a queen in the sense that she'll have a crown, sometimes with nice sharp points. According to the rules of playing chess, she can move vertically, horizontally, and diagonally just as many squares she wants (without jumping other chess pieces). So you'll want to be careful and not give her up too carelessly or without a steep price to your opponent. Chess piece -Bishop The bishop, well, I guess you could say the top of the chess piece looks sort of like a bishop hat. Most bishops also have a cut near the top resembling that of a mouth. There are two bishops, always one on a light square and one on a dark square. Chess rules say that bishops move just like the queen except they can't move forward, backward, left or right. Diagonally only just as many spaces as desired without jumping another chess piece. Because bishops move diagonally, they will always remain on their original square color as per the rules of chess. So if in the middle of a chess game you notice either your opponent or your bishops are on the same color square - something's gone very wrong. Chess piece - Knight The knight is the most unique chess piece you have!

Not only does it usually resemble a horse, it is the only chess piece that can jump over another chess piece or pieces according to chess rules. The knight's move is rather different. Think of the move as "L" shaped - two squares either forward, backward, left, or right and then left or right one square. This special feature, being able to jump, can make the knight a very useful chess piece early in the game. Chess piece - Rook The rook is also called the castle by some and it actually looks like a castle or at least a castle tower. The rook, as per chess rules, moves just like the queen except it can't move diagonally. Just forward, backward, left, and right but as many spaces as desired without jumping other chess pieces. Chess piece - Pawn The poor little pawns are put out in front right in harms way while the other guys are hiding back behind. As per the rules of playing chess, they're expected to advance out in front and take the brunt of an oncoming attack or serve as a shield. It seems rather unfair considering they're pretty defenseless. These chess piece are allowed to only move one square at at time by the rules of chess.

However, in thier first move, they can move two squares if they want. They can only move straight forward - no retreating for these soldiers according of the chess rules. And they can only capture one of the enemy by approaching diagonally. But, according t the chess rules, if one of these brave little soldiers can make it to the other side, they are rewarded with a promotion - to a queen! Some promotion that is! Chess Board Notation Those that take chess pretty seriously, actually keep track of all their moves and record entire games. In order to record moves, someone came up with the smart idea of labeling the columns with letters and the rows with numbers, thus each square is uniquely identified. As you can see, white has a tremendous advantage because he or she doesn't have to look at upside-down numbers and read the alphabet backwards. One of the more important reasons to be the white or light chess players side. Castling Castling can be a very effective strategy in the defense of your king and providing a safe-haven for him. The act of "castling" involves two chess pieces, the rook and king and there are two different ways to castle.

Rather than trying to describe the two methods (which might get confusing), we'll rely on the diagrams below to guide you through the correct moves. Now, there are special rules of chess and conditions that must exist in order to castle. The special conditions are: Neither of the chess pieces involved, your king or rook that is being castled, have been moved during the chess game. There are no other chess pieces between the king and the rook involved in the castling. Your king is not in check and neither your king or rook can be taken by your opponent's next move after castling. You can castle with either of the rooks as long as these special conditions are met. The moves involved in castling with the Queen side rook are different than castling with king side rook. This is quite natural given that there 2 spaces between the king and rook on the king side and respectively 3 spaces on the queen side. Below are diagrams showing both methods of castling: King Side Castling (white) Promotion Let's Play Now that you have the chess board all setup, you know how each chess piece moves along with the special chess rules, lets get the game underway.

White always moves first and most players prefer to be white because you can achieve a slight advantage by moving first. So what we recommend is you have a best out of three "rock-scissors-paper" to determine who keeps to be white. Or, if you prefer, you can cast lots by putting a different color pawn in each hand and then letting your friend choose one. From this point on, it's real easy, white makes the first move and then you just take turns moving chess pieces and trying to checkmate your opponent's king while taking as many chess pieces as you can along the way. But before that first move, there's a few more rules that we better go over. Don't Let Go (until you're sure)! This is a very important chess rule, when you move your chess piece and let go, you're beyond the point of no return. The move is final. Now, if you move it to a square and keep your finger on top while pondering the genius or folly of the move, it's okay to backtrack and decide on a different move. So be certain about your move before you let go! Check You know what checkmate or mate is, but we haven't yet explained the baby brother of checkmate called check.

When a king has been attacked and can be taken on the next move but can escape, it is called check. Just like when you announced you were going to castle, it's also considered good manners to tell your opponent he's in check "CHECK". Standing up for the announcement is optional. The Ending You know about checkmate, which ends the game, but there are three other possible endings to a game. One possibility is a stalemate or draw, meaning that with the given pieces left on the board, neither player can win. For example, a king against a king. There are no winning possibilities for either side in this situation. Another possible outcome is for one player to resign. A game can become so one-sided (both remaining pieces and position) that the advantage is too great for the other player to overcome. When this happens, the disadvantaged player can simply call "uncle" and give it up. But don't give up too easy, mistakes can always be made. The third possibility is a draw, even though a checkmate is possible. Connect With Us

Question: Performing which move can a chess player move two pieces at the same time?
Answer: Castling