Chess rules: how to play chess, step by step
Chess is a game many people learn from a grandparent, while others pick it up as adults out of curiosity. Two sides, sixty four squares and sixteen pieces each: it looks like a lot of rules at first, but you can master them in half an hour.
This guide covers everything you need for a first game, from setting up the board to checkmate. When you have read it, open chess and play, because chess is learned best by playing.
The board and the starting position
The board has eight ranks and eight files, and the bottom right square must be light. Each player has a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.
On the back rank, from left to right, stand rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight and rook. The queen starts on her own colour: white on light, black on dark. Pawns fill the rank in front. White always moves first.
How each piece moves
The king moves one square in any direction. The queen moves any number of squares along ranks, files or diagonals and is the strongest piece. The rook moves along ranks and files, while the bishop moves only diagonally and so stays on one colour for the whole game.
The knight moves in an L shape: two squares one way and one to the side. It is the only piece that may jump over others. A pawn moves one square forward, or two from its starting square. It captures diagonally one square ahead and never moves back.
A piece captures by landing on an enemy piece’s square. The captured piece leaves the board for the rest of the game.
Check, checkmate and stalemate
When a king is attacked, it is in check. A player in check must deal with it at once: move the king, capture the attacker or block. A move that leaves your own king in check is not allowed.
Checkmate is a check with no way out, and the game ends there. Stalemate is when the player to move is not in check but has no legal move, and the game is drawn. It is also a draw when neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate.
Three special rules
Castling is the only move where you move two pieces: the king goes two squares toward a rook, and the rook jumps over to stand beside it. It is allowed only if neither the king nor that rook has moved, no pieces stand between them, and the king is not in check, does not pass through an attacked square and does not land on one.
Promotion happens when a pawn reaches the last rank: it becomes any piece except a king, nearly always a queen. Capturing en passant is a rare rule: when an enemy pawn jumps two squares from its start and lands beside your pawn, you may capture it on your next move as if it had moved only one.
Tips for your first games
In the opening, claim the centre with pawns and bring out the knights and bishops quickly. Do not bring the queen out too early, your opponent will chase it and gain time. Castle to tuck your king away.
Before every move, ask yourself two questions: what does my opponent threaten, and is any of my pieces undefended? Most beginner games are decided by an oversight, not a brilliant combination.
Chess cousins on Online igre
If you enjoy chess, try Chinese chess, where pieces move along lines rather than squares. For a simpler game on the same board there is checkers, while international draughts is played on a larger 10x10 board. All of them live in the Table games world.
White always moves first
The rules of chess fit on one page, and the game lasts a lifetime. So do not worry if you lose your first games: every mistake teaches something the rules cannot.
When you are ready, open chess online and play your first game in the browser, with no sign up and nothing to install.