How to Play Chess

Chess is a game between two armies on a sixty four square board. You win by trapping the enemy king so it cannot escape capture, which is checkmate.

Learning the moves takes ten minutes. Everything after that is pattern recognition, and you can start building it against the computer straight away.

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How the pieces move

Pawn: one square forward, two on its first move, and it captures diagonally.
Rook: any number of squares in a straight line.
Bishop: any number of squares diagonally, so it stays on one colour forever.
Knight: an L shape, two squares then one across, and it is the only piece that jumps.
Queen: any number of squares in any direction, which makes it the strongest piece.
King: one square in any direction, and it can never move into danger.

A knight moves in an L, the only piece that jumps.

The rules you need

Check means your king is attacked, and you have to answer it immediately.
Checkmate means the king is attacked and nothing saves it. That ends the game.
Stalemate means a player has no legal move but is not in check, and the game is a draw.
Castling moves the king two squares towards a rook and tucks the rook beside it, once per game, if neither piece has moved and the squares between are clear.
A pawn reaching the far rank promotes, almost always to a queen.

A rook takes along a rank or a file.

Opening principles

Control the centre, develop your knights and bishops early, and castle before the position opens up. Those three habits beat memorising opening lines at every level below expert.

Do not bring the queen out in the first few moves. It gets chased around while your opponent develops with tempo.

Frequently asked questions

How do you win at chess?

By checkmating the enemy king, which means attacking it in a position where no legal move escapes the attack.

What is castling?

A single move that shifts your king two squares towards a rook and places that rook on the other side of it. It is the quickest way to get your king safe.

What is the best first move?

Pushing a central pawn two squares is the standard, because it opens lines for your bishop and queen and claims the middle of the board.

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