How to Play Chess

Object of the Game

The object of chess is to use your pieces to attack the opponent’s King so it is trapped and cannot escape capture.

To “attack” means to put any piece where it can “see” the King directly.

A King under attack is in “check” and must escape that attack immediately.

A King can try to escape “check” in 3 ways: move the King to a safe square, block the attack with a friendly piece, or capture the attacking piece with a friendly piece.

If the King cannot do any of that, then this is “checkmate” and the game is over.

The Board

Chess is played by 2 players on a board that has 64 squares, 8 rows of 8 squares, alternately colored light and dark. The players sit on opposite sides of the board oriented with a light square in the bottom right corner.

The board is like a grid. The horizontal rows are called “Ranks” and are labeled 1-8. The vertical columns are called “Files” and are labeled a-h. This gives each square unique coordinates: “a1” “f6” “e4” etc. White pieces start on the 1st and 2nd ranks and Black starts on the 8th and 7th ranks. More on this later.

Starting Position

Each player starts with an “army” of 16 chess pieces. The two armies are of contrasting colors and referred to as “White” and “Black”.

Each army has 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, and 8 Pawns arranged like this: Pawns are in front and behind them, from outside in, are the Rooks, Knights, Bishops, King & Queen. The Kings and Queens are in the center, and the Queens are placed “on their color.”

In diagrams, White is usually shown on the bottom:

Fun Fact: Notice the mirror image set up, and when playing chess in person, you’ll also notice that the standard pieces appear in height order.

Moving and Capturing

Chess is a turn based game of logical piece movement and White moves first.

To Move : transfer one of your pieces from it’s current square to another open square.

To Capture : move one of your pieces to a square that is occupied by the opponent, remove their piece from the board, and put yours there.

You may only make one move or capture per turn.

Each piece has a unique movement ability and range.

All pieces even the King can capture an opponent that is in their range. A piece with a long range must stop where it makes a capture and cannot go through another piece.

Note: a) You cannot move or capture through an occupied square. b) you must make 1 move but you don’t have to move or capture with a specific piece just because you can. c) You cannot capture your own pieces.

The queen may move to any of the red or blue squares, but cannot access the yellow squares.
The King

The King can move one square in any direction and capture any opponent in range.

The King can never occupy a square that is being attacked. This is the most critical rule in chess. If we’re attacked we must move, block, or capture the attacker.

The king can step to any of the 8 squares around it. This rook is too close and can be captured by the king.
This King is under attack by a Rook. It must move to a blue square, or the Bishop must capture the Rook, or our Rook must block the attack.
This King is NOT under attack but some squares are blocked off. It can only move to a blue square or stay where it is.
The Queen

The Queen can move and capture horizontally, vertically or diagonally, any number of squares, in a straight line.

The fastest and most agile piece.
Can attack up to 8 pieces at the same time. Can only capture 1 piece at a time, and must stop where it captures.
Cannot pass or move to occupied squares.
The Rook

The Rook can move and capture horizontally or vertically in a straight line.

Can move up, down, left, or right.
Can target up to 4 pieces. Must stop where it captures.
Cannot pass blocked squares.
The Bishop

The Bishop can move and capture diagonally in a straight line.

Moves diagonally.
Can target up to 4 pieces. Must stop where it captures. Cannot pass blocked squares.
Each bishop is confined to one color square. They are known as light and dark squared bishops.
The Knight

The Knight is tricky. Here are 3 ways to describe Knight movement:

The Knight can move to 1 of the 8 nearby squares which are NOT horizontal vertical or diagonal from its location.
L : The Knight can move using an “L” shape. Count 2 squares up, down, left, or right, and 1 square to the left or right.
Y : The Knight can move using a “Y” shape. Count 1 square diagonally and 1 square horizontally or vertically.
The Knight is most effective toward the center of the board. Only one of these Knights can see 8 squares.
The Knight can target up to 8 pieces at the same times.
The Knight can jump over occupied squares, but it cannot land on occupied squares. This Knight can jump to the red squares not the yellow.

Note: the knight always lands on the opposite color of the square it jumps from, and it’s movement pattern resembles a circle. The Knight is tricky because it can take many paths to get to another square. Always try to consider where the Knight can go next and block that path.

The Pawn

Any pawn that hasn’t moved yet can move forward 1 or 2 squares. After that, they move forward 1 square at a time. It cannot go backwards or sideways.

A pawn captures diagonally.

A pawn with a piece in front of it cannot move unless it captures diagonally. After it captures it continues forward on this new path or “file” unless it captures again.

A pawn moves forward 1 square at at time. On its first turn it can move 1 or 2 squares. A pawn cannot advance if blocked.
Pawns capture diagonally forward.

A pawn travels on the new file it has captured until it captures again. Pawns cannot move through a blocked square but can capture around it.

Special Moves

Castling

Castling is a special King move. The King moves 2 squares toward a Rook and that Rook jumps to the other side of the King. It is the only move that involves moving two pieces. It can only be done once and only under special circumstances.

King side/Short Castle
Queen side/Long Castle

Castling may not be played if a) the King or Rook have already moved, b) there are pieces between the King and Rook, c) the King is in check, d) the King passes or lands on squares that are under attack.

The King has moved. Can’t castle.
The king has moved, but is back on the starting square? Can’t castle.
1 rook moved but the king and the other rook didn’t. They can castle.
Pieces in the way. Can’t castle.
King is under attack. Cannot castle to get out of check.
All squares that the king must pass are attacked. Note the green square is NOT one the King must pass or land on. This would allow castling.
Pawn Promotion

When any pawn reaches the opposite end of the board it may promote to a Queen, Rook, Bishop or Knight.

Climbing the Ranks. It takes a minimum of 5 moves to reach the end. 6 if the first move is not a double.
Pawn can promote to any of these pieces.
You can have up to 9 queens, or 10 bishops, knights, or rooks… theoretically.
Capturing En Passant (in passing)

If a pawn moves 2 squares on its first move and lands next to your pawn in the process, you have the option to capture as if the pawn had advanced only 1 square. This must be done now or never. Capturing this way is not required.

White advances 2 squares and lands next to a pawn.
Black can ignore this or capture as if white moved 1 square. It’s now or never.
Black has “captured En Passant.” (captured in passing).

Strategic Concepts

Domination

Checkmate is the goal, but getting there is hard. You and your opponent have the same pieces and can both see the board. It is very rare they will not see your threats. Chess requires chipping away at the defenses and building small advantages until an opportunity is created.

Think more about the squares your pieces can access than the pieces themselves. Consider where the opponent can move, and try not to let them move there. Take up space by guarding squares. Limit their options. Force them to make a bad move.

Consider the consequences of each step before you take it. Coordinate your pieces to protect each other and guard the squares you want to move to. Win the battles over space and gradually overpower the opponent.

Relative Value

Chess has no score, but to help a player determine the difference between a good move and a better move, one can consider the relative value of the pieces:

Pawn = 1, Bishop = 3, Knight = 3, Rook = 5, Queen = 9, King = Infinity

Threaten the opponent’s higher value pieces with your lower value pieces, and try not to lose yours the same way. Combine piece values to determine the logic of complex situations.

Pawn is 1, Knight is 3. This knight should move to escape. Attacking with pawns forces the enemy away.
Capture with less valuable pieces first. Bishop is 3, rook is 5. If Bishop takes knight (3), pawn takes bishop (3), rook takes pawn (1) then 3+1 > 3 = Good. But if Rook (5) takes first then 3+1 < 5 = Not good.
The Bishop(3) is attacking the knight(3). If the Knight leaves, the Rook(5) is attacked! But the knight will attack the Queen(9)! 9 > 5 = not good. Black should move the queen. Then white can move the rook. White escapes the attack!
Control the Center

The center is the most important zone of the board. Every piece can maximize its potential coverage in the center and has the best access to the other parts of the board. Place your pieces in the center or aim them at the center.

The center includes the four middle and the surrounding 12 squares. Try to occupy or otherwise dominate these squares
Two Knights dominating the center and taking up maximum space.
White’s Bishop can attack 13 squares from the center, Black only 7.
In this position White’s pieces are covering more than half the squares and dominating the center with additional support from the queen and rook.
Two powerful bishops aiming through the center.
The queen in the center vs. the corner.
Developing

Since the center is so important it’s imperative to target those squares as quickly as possible. Get your pieces off the back row and into the game! But do it carefully. Don’t over-extend. Build defenses like scaffolding or a bridge. Guard squares you’d like to move to and move to them. Aim multiple pieces at the same squares from multiple directions. There are only 64 squares. Take up space.

A pawn protects the square the knight would like to move to so it can attack the yellow squares safely.
These pieces support each other and combine their attacking power towards the corner.
White is ahead in development. All the minor pieces are out, the king is castled, the rooks are connected, and there is a lot of power aimed at the center. Black moved pawns instead of developing the queen, and bishop. This could be a problem later.
Tempo

Tempo is the concept of time in chess. Not minutes and seconds, but turns. Chess is a turn-based game and most games last 30-60 turns. You can’t afford to waste turns especially in the beginning. Besides taking up space and controlling squares, you can gain an advantage by taking turns away from your opponent. If you develop faster you can dictate what happens next and make moves that force the the enemy to respond. This wastes their time. It’s like getting multiple turns in a row.

Checkmate

The king takes up 9 squares. It stands on 1 and has 8 it can go to. Your job is to take them all away. The king cannot ever be under attack, and there for cannot move into an attack either. Use your pieces to attack it and cut off its escape, and use the opponent’s pieces as barriers. That’s how to create a Checkmate.

All 9 squares are attacked or otherwise blocked. Checkmate. The pawn cannot be captured because the King may not expose itself to attack. A defended piece is invincible against the King.
The King only has 6 squares on the edge. 5 are blocked by it’s own pieces. The Knight makes the final blow. Checkmate.
This one is pretty straight forward. All 9 squares are attacked. Checkmate.
Stalemate

If you take away all the kings squares but do not attack it directly and it cannot make a legal move on its turn, this creates a draw and is called “Stalemate.” Avoid this mistake if you have the advantage. Force it if possible if you are losing.

Whoops. White cut off the king’s movement but didn’t attack the king. Black is stuck. It’s their turn but he can’t move and isn’t in check. The game is a draw. No one wins. Black is saved from losing and White is very upset.

Basic Tactics

The previous concepts were strategic. To make a strategy work you need tactics. Tactics are smart ways to use the pieces to apply the strategies.

Free Pieces

If you find a piece that is just sitting there, capture it! But try not to leave your pieces free for the taking. This goes for pawns too you need as many pieces as you can keep!

The black knight is not protected from capture like white’s is. It will get captured for nothing in return. It has been left “hanging.” Take it! That is a huge advantage.
Attackers vs. Defenders

Your pieces can’t fight alone. If you lost a piece for every one you captured you wouldn’t gain any advantage and it would be harder to win. You need to combine your pieces. Very often a battle will build over a certain square. The player who can add more pieces will win the battle.

There is a battle over the e5 square. White wants to take that pawn and is attacking with three pieces. But Black has three defenders. White will not win the exchange. It will go white, black, white, black, white, black- 3 moves each. Both with lose three pieces, but Black will be the last one standing.
Here white will win. White has three attackers. Black has 2 defenders. The moves will go white, black, white, black, white- 3 to 2 easily conquering the square.
If you can’t add more attackers/defenders you’ll need to try to remove one of theirs or otherwise divide their forces. We know we can win against 2 defenders so we threaten the third with a pawn and force it to move away from the battle.
Mate in 1

Recognizing when you (or your opponent) have checkmate on the next move is very useful. When you know what to look for, you can learn to set it up. Here is a very small selection of patterns to think about.

Checkmate usually needs two pieces. The bishop helps the queen because the king can’t capture if the queen is defended.
1 piece can be enough if the king is trapped by its own pieces..
The rook attacks the king with help from the bishop.
Three pieces work together using a black pawn to cut off the kings 9 squares.
The bishop and the queen again. Line up queens with bishops and rooks. Very powerful.
The king can help too.
Fork

A fork is when one piece attacks twice or more at the same time. Every piece can create a fork. One piece will have to move and the other will be captured.

Check! King must move. Queen will be captured.
One of these rooks is going.
Check! King must move. Rook will be captured.
Rook will move. Knight is a goner.
Check! King must move, Rook will be captured.
Can’t save both pawns.
Pin

A pin threatens a more valuable piece behind the one you are attacking. You can use pins to keep a piece in place, or force a capture.

The rook is pinned to the king. It cannot move or the king will be in check. The rook will be captured. This is an “absolute” pin.
The queen is pinned to the king. It will be captured by the rook. It can capture the rook, but it will be recaptured by the other rook. No matter what black will lose the queen(9) for a rook(5)… not good.
Here the rook is pinned to the queen. Either piece can move, but the queen should move and the rook(5) will be lost for a bishop(3). This is a “relative” pin.
Skewer

Attack a valuable piece to make it move so you can capture another piece behind it. (Usually a King or Queen)

The king must move and allow the bishop to win the rook.
The king must move and the Queen is lost.
The king must move and the rook is lost.
Discovery

Move your piece to reveal an attack from another piece behind it.

White will move the bishop and attack the King.
This reveals an attack on the queen. The king must react. White gives up its bishop(3) for the queen(9)- very good idea.
Black thinks it has the queen. White moves the knight “discovering” a check on the black king. Black must move the king. White captures the bishop(3), the black knight(3) captures back, and the queen takes the black knight(3). 3<3+3= good save!

There’s tons more but this is enough to get you started! Check out our resources page for more great chess related content to help you build on these basics.

Home