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! 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. 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 Chess rules: The ultimate guide for beginners This is the starting position of the game At the beginning of the game, the pieces are arranged as shown in the diagram: for each side one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.

The pieces are placed, one on a single square, as follows: The rooks are placed on the outside corners, right and left edge. The knights are placed immediately inside the rooks. The bishops are placed immediately inside the knights. The queen is placed on the central square of the same color of that of the player: White queen on the white square and Black queen on the black square. The king takes the vacant spot next to the queen. The pawns are placed one square in front of all of the other pieces. You cannot place more than one piece on a square at any time. Summary Slide-1 Nature and objectives of the game The objective of each player is to put the opponent’s king under attack in such a way that the opponent has no legal move. The player who achieves this goal is said to have checkmated the opponent’s king and to have won the game. Leaving one’s king under attack, exposing one’s king to attack and also ’capturing’ the opponent’s king is not allowed – the opponent whose king has been checkmated has lost the game. If the position is such that neither player can possibly achieve a checkmate, the game is drawn.

Although the king is the most important piece, it is usually the weakest piece in the game until a later phase, the endgame. The game of chess is played between two opponents who move their pieces alternately on a square board called a chessboard. The player with the White pieces commences the game. A player is said to ‘have the move’ when his opponent’s move has been completed. The object of the game is to trap the opponent’s king so that its escape is not possible (checkmate). If a player’s king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be done, the king is said to be in checkmate. 6 Naming of squares Keeping a record of chess moves will be very useful in improving your standard of chess. It is mandatory in all recognized tournaments, in order to settle disputes about illegal positions, overstepping time control and making claims for a draw by the fifty-move rule or repetition of position. Each square of the chessboard is identified with a unique pair comprising a letter and a number. The vertical files are labelled in small letters “a” to “h”, from White’s left to White’s right.

Similarly, the horizontal ranks are numbered from 1 to 8. Each square of the board, then, is uniquely identified by its file and rank (letter and number). The White queen, for example, starts the game on the square d1 and the Black queen on d8. The following are the letters used in capitals to represent various pieces. King - K Movement of the chess pieces The king moves exactly one square horizontally, vertically or diagonally The rook moves horizontally or vertically, through any number of unoccupied squares A bishop moves any number of vacant squares in any diagonal direction. The queen moves any number of vacant squares in a horizontal, vertical or diagonal direction. When making these moves, the bishop, rook or queen may not move over any intervening pieces. A knight moves to the nearest square not on the same rank, file or diagonal. (This can be thought of as moving two squares horizontally then one square vertically, or moving one square horizontally then two squares vertically—i.e. in an “L” pattern.) The knight is not blocked by other pieces: it jumps to the new location. Pawns have the most complex rules of movement: A pawn moves straight forward one square, if that square is vacant.

If it has not yet made its first move, a pawn also has the option of moving two squares straight forward, provided both squares are vacant. Pawns cannot move backwards. 9 en passant capture A pawn attacking a square crossed by an opponent’s pawn which has advanced two squares in one move from its original square may capture this opponent’s pawn as though the latter had been moved only one square. This capture is only legal in the following move: This advance is called an ‘ en passant ‘capture. Castling There are two different ways of moving the king: by moving to any adjoining square not attacked by one or more of the opponent’s pieces or by castling. The latter is a move made by the king and either rook of the same colour along the player’s first rank, counting as a single move of the king and executed as follows: the king is transferred from its original square two squares towards the rook on its original square, then that rook is transferred to the square the king has just crossed. 11 Check and Checkmate What is a check? Check is a condition in chess when a player’s king is under threat of capture. The player who is in check must remove their king out of check in their next move.

There are three ways to remove a check: 1. Capture the piece that is giving check. In the given example, we can see Black’s king is in check. Black’s only way to get rid of this check is by capturing the bishop on h7. Because the bishop on h7 is not protected by any piece, this is a legal move. 2. Moving the king away from check As we can see, the bishop is now protected by the knight. Black can’t capture the bishop; however, black can move his king to the h8 square. 3. Blocking the piece giving check The king can move to a7 or a8 The rook can move to c7 The queen can move to c7 or d6 The knight can jump to e5. 12 Draw There isn’t always a winner and a loser in chess. There are several reasons why a chess of game may end in a draw: 1. Both players agree on a draw. 2. Both players have traded enough pieces so that it is impossible for either player to checkmate the other. 3. Either player can declare a draw if the same position is reached three times. 4.

Either player can declare a draw if 50 chess moves (50 white and 50 black) have been made and not a single pawn move or a piece has been captured. 5. It is one’s player turn to move, and while he is not in check, he does not have any legal moves. This is called stalemate Let’s look at a position to understand more what stalemate is. We can see that white has no legal moves in this position. We can also see that black has cornered the king and has an extra queen. If it was white to move, this position would be drawn, because white has no legal moves. If it was black to move, black could realize any move to avoid stalemate and checkmate white in the future. Three stages of chess 1. Opening The opening stage is the first phase of the game. This is where both sides develop their forces and “prepare” themselves for the middle game. In chess, developing a piece means to place a piece in a square where it is more active. At the start of a chess game, all the pieces are behind pawns and possess limited mobility. When we move, or develop, our pieces, we’re improving their activity and preparing them for battle.

While there is no clear cut move that defines the end of the opening and the start of the middle game, it is usually considered middle game after both players have castled and developed their queens. Here is an example of a game in its opening stage: Nowadays, thanks to the analysis of computers and many strong players, there exist a vast amount of opening theory. In other words, after millions of chess games, players have realized which opening moves score better and which ones are less powerful. At the highest level, players memorize hundreds of chess opening variations. This allows players to obtain the upper hand and make 10+ moves without much effort. Chess players have also given name to specific “openings” or sequence of moves. For example the diagram above is commonly referred to as the French Defense. At this point, it is not important to memorize different chess openings, but it is important to recognize What a player must do in the opening stage. In the Opening you should: Develop your pieces! Protect your king. In part number two, we discussed an important move called “castling”.You want to castle in the opening stage. Avoid, if possible, moving the same piece twice. You want to develop all of your pieces. 2.

Middle game After both sides have developed their forces, the middle game phase begins. This is where the central battle of the chess game happens. Both sides develop a plan and attempt to execute it. Many chess games are determined in the middle game. We can see the diagram above that both sides have castled and developed their queens. Both sides should create a plan and do their best to execute it. In the Middle game you should: Look for a plan! It does not matter if your plan is good or bad. A bad plan is better than no plan at all. Maximize the activity of your pieces. In the opening, you developed your pieces; however, in the middle game we may look for the optimal square for our pieces. Maybe we want to place our piece in a strong square, or exchange it. It is important to know what you want to do with your pieces. Protect your king. The ultimate goal in chess is to checkmate your opponent. Always make sure your king is safe and avoid weakening your king’s defense. Think of your opponent. You’re not the only one playing chess: Your opponent has a planned they also want to execute it. Always try to figure out what your opponent is planning to do next.

This applies to all stages of the game. 3. Endgame Most chess games average around 40 moves, which means not all games reach the endgame. Throughout the course of the middle game, many pieces and pawns are exchanged. We can define an endgame by the fact that the kings are very involved in the fight. Usually, we want to protect our king in the opening and middle game stage; however, because many pieces have been traded, the king is usually safe. In the endgame, the king plays a crucial role in determining the outcome of a game. In the Endgame game you should: Activate your king: This may seem counter intuitive, but the king is a very powerful piece in the endgame. Since both players have exchanged a vast amount of pieces, the king is usually safe. Promote your pawns. In the endgame, it is easier to promote pawns because both players have less pieces. Protect your pawns. Pawns are more valuable in the endgame, because they can become queens easily Summary Slide-4 evaluation - How many points is each chess piece worth? - Chess Stack Exchange How many points is each chess piece worth?

I am a beginner at chess; please answer this for me: How many points is each chess piece worth? I have edited my answer. Now, it is a simple list of individual pieces and piece combinations. Cheers. – Rauan Sagit Feb 16 '14 at 13:51 Rook and Knight - 7.5 points Rook and Bishop - 8 points Pair of Rooks - 10 points Three light pieces - 10 points Rook and two light pieces - 11 points add a comment | Did you find this question interesting? Try our newsletter Sign up for our newsletter and get our top new questions delivered to your inbox ( see an example ). Subscribed! up vote 19 down vote The answer by MikroDel gives the commonly-used "Reinfeld values" of pawn=1, bishop=knight=3, rook=5, and queen=9 (kings are essentially worth an infinite number of points, because the game ends if it is lost). While this is a good guide, chess is rarely that simple.

Many books will give the value of bishops as 3.5 instead of 3, simply because they are often much stronger than knights in endgames and open middlegames. There are other things to take into account as well. For example, bishops are much stronger if you own both of yours, but you opponent has already lost/traded one or both of theirs. The nature of the position can also affect the worth of individual pieces, as a position that is completely blocked up might leave a bishop with no useful squares to go to while a knight may be able to jump straight over the obstruction. Another example of how the Reinfeld values can be misleading is that 3 minor pieces (bishops and knights) are often more powerful than a single queen, provided that they are used properly. For some further reading, you might also want to take a look at which has a much more detailed explanation. 3 "While this is a good guide, chess is rarely that simple." that was in no way the idea of my answer. Thats why I wrote that the evaluation depends on position.

And also have extra posted an explanation what was meant – MikroDel May 29 '13 at 8:10 4 Even more detailed than the wikipedia page is Larry Kaufman's Evaluation of Material Imbalances . – dfan May 29 '13 at 12:13 1 @MikroDel Yes, that part of my comment was intended to reinforce what you said about Reinfeld's values only being a guide. – DTR May 29 '13 at 13:29 Bishops and Knights are better in closed games, whereas rooks are typically better in open games. Something to consider when trading that knight and bishop for a rook. – BigHomie May 30 '13 at 16:33 Not a fan of the "king is worth infinite points" bit, because it completely abandons any attempt at gauging the actual relative strength of the king. If all that system does is gauge importance, then wouldn't a lone pawn that's currently positioned to prevent a mate be worth infinite points as well?

– b1nary.atr0phy Jul 6 '16 at 3:24 Queen - 9 Pawns The evaluation depends on the position. In some situation you will find it equal or good to give you Rook and Pawn (6 Pawns) for Bishop and Knight (6 Pawns). But it is also possible that two light pieces are more valuable than Rook + Pawn. The value of pieces given to you will be a good start point to evaluate your position. up vote 6 down vote Though one cannot trade one's king for other considerations -- and in this sense the king cannot be evaluated -- the king still has a practical strength as an attacking and defending piece in the many concrete positions in which no immediate mate is in view -- especially during the endgame. This strength can indeed be evaluated. World Champion Emanuel Lasker regarded the king to be one point stronger than a minor piece. Thus, in this sense, if a knight or bishop has a strength of three, and if we accept Lasker's advice, then the king's strength is four. Computer Chess programs provide an evaluation of pieces relative to the strength of a pawn , which compliment's Dave's answer nicely.

To summarize: Piece: Range of Values Queen: 880-1200 King: 10000* *Kings are given a large actual value to simplify the search behavior, but essentially have infinite value There's a great analysis/article about this by GM Larry Kaufman available here. To summarize: Rook = 5 Queen = 9.75 There's also a lot more detail in the article about what situations favor which groups of pieces. For example, when B+N is better than R+P, or when Q+P is better than R+R, etc. up vote 2 down vote The standard is usually to compare pieces to each other (i.e how many pawns is a knight worth, a bishop, a queen etc.? Another way is to determine piece value dynamically using the idea of "absolute/potential activity" and "nominal activity". This idea is based on the number of squares any given piece controls (and I believe is partly how computer engines determine piece values). I believe it is also called mobility by some chess players.

Let me explain: First a few definitions (these are my own, created for the sake of the explanation): Activity = The number of squares any piece controls Control = (referring to squares) when a square(s) cannot be occupied by an opponent piece or pawn due the danger of it being captured Center = The squares e4, d4, e5 and d5 Each piece (lets ignore pawns for the moment) has an absolute activity value and a nominal activity value. The Reinfeld system given above is essentially the former, and it describes the value of the piece in its best condition (i.e where it controls the greatest number of squares). For the sake of convenience we can say that this condition is when the piece is in the center, as all pieces control the maximal number of squares when placed there (try it out with a few pieces and see). We can quickly formulate some absolute activity values for the pieces by counting the number of squares each piece controls when placed in the center (of an empty board): Queen: Controls 27 squares Bishop: Controls 13 squares Knight: Controls 8 squares *Note that I've omitted the pawn and the king, this is because they are special, and I will deal with them a bit later.

Now looking at the above we see that the Reinfeld scores were more or less based on this derivation, with the apparent exception of the bishop which seems to be closer to a rook than a knight (the thing which is omitted here, is the fact that a bishop can only control squares of one color; hence its low Reinfeld value). Other common ideas also become clear with this formulation, e.g the idea of the "two bishops" advantage, which, according to this, would be close to a queen in strength! (13*2 = 26). However, this formulation is only half-complete, because in a real game things are rarely so perfect and ideal as an empty board with your pieces huddled in the center. Thus we introduce the idea of "nominal activity", which is simply the activity of a piece in a given position. Remember that activity = the number of squares a piece controls.

Nominal activity can be constantly in flux (since the position is inevitability bound to change) but is a useful concept when compared against the "absolute activity", for three reasons: It helps you determine whether to trade pieces (and also which pieces to trade) It helps you decide what kinds of positions to create (this is where common chess principles like "knights favor closed positions, bishops favor open ones" come from) It helps you figure out which piece's position you need to improve first ("Knights before bishops" comes from this) Many, many common ideas can be elucidated from this formulation (mostly because it is so fundamental to the game). Consider the idea of a positional sacrifice, it is simply a move which gives up material in exchange for one's piece(s) to get closer to its(their) absolute activity. This brings me to the pawns. The pawns don't really have activity in the same way pieces do, instead they are used to determine terrain, i.e the "positional factors" on the board which determine nominal activity.

In that sense, they are used to limit or increase the nominal activity of other pieces (this why you move the pieces first, then the pawns, because its usually faster to move a piece to a better square than to improve a piece by making a pawn move). Pawns serve other purposes as well, of course, but in the context of this question I think this will suffice. So to summarize: Absolute activity: the greatest number of squares a piece can potentially control Nominal activity: the number of squares a piece controls in a given position Piece Value: a dynamic measurement based upon how close a piece's nominal activity is to its absolute activity EDIT: Notice how easy (and accurate, and logical) piece combination values become when using this system. 2 Rooks (28) > 1 Queen (27) 2 Knights + 1 Bishop (29) > 1 Queen 2 Bishops + 1 Knight (34) >> 1 Queen 2 Bishops (26) >> 2 Knights (16) Bishop + Knight (21) >> Rook + pawn (~16) etc.

Also notice how nominal activity can help determine which pieces are better in the endgame (the pieces whose nominal activity is greatly affected by pawns will improve in the endgame) Bishop (eg ~13) > Knight (eg ~8) Rook (eg ~14) < Bishop + pawn(eg ~15) etc. up vote 1 down vote I'd say in general bishops get 3.5 knights 3, queen 9, rooks 5 and the king doesn't get evaluated because, as everyone said he doesn't have a definite value, but you could say he's quite important in the endgame. Now the values change. So in a closed position knights are stronger than bishops, often stronger than rooks even. In half open-open positions bishops are stronger than knights but 2 bishops basically increase each others strength. Another example, in positions with a small number of pawns and light pieces, 2 rooks are often better than a queen, whereas in positions with a lot of other pieces a queen is (most often) better. So it all really depends on the position. And my words are true only if you can actually use your pieces as good as possible, or something close to that. :)

Question: In a standard game of chess, how many bishops does each player start with?
Answer: Two