Chess rules

Chess is played by two people on a board of 64 squares. Each player has 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights and 8 pawns. The goal is to checkmate the opponent's king.

The board and the start

The board is placed so that each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner. The queen starts on her own color: the white queen on d1 (a light square), the black queen on d8 (a dark square). White always moves first.

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How do the pieces move?

• King: One square in any direction. It may not move to an attacked square.
• Queen: Any number of squares horizontally, vertically or diagonally.
• Rook: Any number of squares horizontally or vertically.
• Bishop: Any number of squares diagonally. Each bishop always stays on squares of one color.
• Knight: In an "L" shape: two squares in one direction, then one square sideways. It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.
• Pawn: Moves one square forward; on its first move it may move two. It captures diagonally forward. It can never move backward.

Pieces (except the knight) cannot pass over other pieces. A piece that moves to a square occupied by an enemy piece captures it.

Check and checkmate

If the king is under attack, it is in check. The player in check must end the threat at once: by moving the king, blocking with a piece, or capturing the attacker. If none of these is possible, it is checkmate and the game is over.

You may never make a move that puts your own king in check.

Castling

Castling is a special move in which the king and a rook move together: the king moves two squares toward the rook, and the rook goes to the other side of the king.

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To castle:

1. Neither the king nor that rook may have moved before.
2. There must be no pieces between them.
3. The king may not be in check.
4. The squares the king passes over and lands on may not be attacked.

En passant

If a pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands right beside an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. This right can only be used on the very next move.

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Promotion

A pawn that reaches the last rank turns into a queen, rook, bishop or knight on the same move. There can be more than one piece of the same type on the board, for example two queens.

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Draws

The game is drawn when:

• Stalemate: The player to move is not in check but has no legal move.
• Agreement: Both players agree to a draw.
• Threefold repetition: The same position occurs three times with the same player to move.
• 50-move rule: No pawn has moved and no piece has been captured in the last 50 moves (by each side).
• Insufficient material: Neither side has enough pieces to checkmate (for example king and bishop against king).

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Timed games

In online games each player has a clock. A player who runs out of time loses; but if the opponent doesn't have enough material to checkmate, the game is a draw. Some time controls add extra seconds after every move (for example 3+2: 3 minutes, plus 2 seconds per move).

Next step

You've learned the rules! Now practice with the lessons or play your first game against the computer. Found a word you don't know? See the chess glossary.