Understanding the Chess Game

Place the kings in the last empty squares in the first and eighth ranks. The king is notated as "K" and starts on e1 and e8. The king can move one space at a time in any direction vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The king is not used as an attacking piece except perhaps at the very end of the game , because he moves so slowly and because he's so valuable you want to keep him protected and out of harm's way.

Nonetheless, he is capable of attacking any opposing piece except the king and queen, to which he cannot move close enough to capture. Always protect your king, because if you lose him, you lose the game. Place your pawns in the rank in front of your other pieces. Pawns are not notated with a letter. A pawn's move is notated with just the symbol of the square to which it has moved. Pawns begin the game forming shields for the other pieces.

Pawns usually move forward never backward one square at a time. However, the first time it moves in a game, a pawn may move forward either one or two squares at the player's discretion. In all subsequent moves, a pawn is limited to moving one square at a time. If an opponent's piece is directly in front of it, a pawn may not move forward and may not capture that piece. A pawn may capture an opponent's piece only if the piece is one square diagonally forward from the pawn i.

There is another move a pawn may make under very specific circumstances. The move is called en passant "in passing". Pawn promotion , detailed below , occurs when your pawn has marched all the way across the board to the eighth your opponent's first rank. Learn the rank and file system. This is not required, but it makes it easier to visualize moves and talk about moves, especially in chess literature and on websites.

Also, when your opponent isn't paying attention and says, "Where did you move? Here's how the system works: The files are the columns going up and down the board, pointing at you and your opponent. From left to right as white views it, they are files "a" through "h. From bottom to top as white views it, they are ranks 1 through 8. All of white's main pieces start at the 1 position first rank ; white's pawns start in the second rank.

Black's main pieces start at the 8 position eighth rank ; black's pawns start in the seventh rank. It is an excellent learning tool to notate your games, listing each move you and your opponent make, writing down the piece and the square to which it moves using the piece and square notations already mentioned. Understand the object of the game and how it's achieved.

To win, you must "checkmate" your opponent's king. This means forcing the opposing king into a position where he will be captured no matter what, so that he cannot move out of checkmate, and no other piece can protect him.

Checkmate which ends a game can occur in as few as three moves, but it's more likely that a game will last for dozens, even hundreds, of moves. A typical game requires a lot of patience. A secondary goal is to capture as many of your opponent's pieces as possible. This serves to weaken your opponent and make a checkmate easier for you. You capture pieces by landing on the squares they occupy. While attacking opposing pieces, you must simultaneously protect your own king so he doesn't get captured. Know how to put your opponent's king in "check.

When you place your opponent in check, as a courtesy you should say "check" out loud. Your opponent must then, if possible, do one of the following: Avoid checkmate by moving their king to any vacant square not attacked by one of your pieces. Block the check by placing a piece between your piece and their king. Capture your piece that has placed their king in check.

Remember that you are not allowed to put or leave yourself in check. You cannot make a move that exposes your king to capture in the opponent's next move. This means you cannot move your king onto a square to which an opponent's piece could move in its next turn. It also means you cannot unblock your king from attack that is, expose your king to direct attack by moving an interposing piece. Nor are you permitted to ignore a check. You must immediately remove your king from check or lose the game. Set up the chess board. Use the positions described in Part 1 above. If you don't have a board, you can make your own.

The player with the white pieces begins the game by moving any piece as described above. Then it's black's turn to move, and the players take turns moving during the rest of the game. Choose who plays white by a coin flip, or the stronger player may let the weaker player take white. White always moves first, giving white a slight advantage. Capture an opponent's piece by moving one of your pieces into a square occupied by that piece. The captured piece is then permanently removed from the game.

Continue to play, with each player moving one piece per turn until the game ends. Making a move is compulsory; it is not legal for a player to skip a turn, even when no advantageous move is available to that player. Play continues until a king is checkmated or a draw occurs. Draws can occur in five ways: This might typically occur when the king is the only piece left and cannot move without placing himself in check, which is not permitted. The position of all pieces on the board has occurred three different times such as when both players do nothing but move their pieces back and forth.

This is a case where notating both players' moves would prove helpful. End the game with a checkmate. Any game not ending in stalemate or a draw will end in checkmate, where one of the kings cannot avoid capture. Whoever accomplishes checkmate announces "checkmate" out loud to make sure both players are aware the game is over. Here's more about "check" and "checkmate": Do one of the following to get out of check where your king is threatened with capture, but you have a way to escape that fate: Capture the piece threatening your king.

You can do this with one of your other pieces or if the opponent's piece is not protected with your king. Move your king to another square which is not being attacked. Use one of your pieces to block the piece threatening your king. In other words, place one of your pieces directly between your king and the opponent's attacking piece assuming there's room to do so. This will not work if the attacking piece is a knight with its L-shaped moves.

If you cannot get your king out of check in your next move, that constitutes "checkmate," and your opponent wins. If their king is checkmated, you win. Know the relative offensive-strength value of each piece: Pawn - 1 point Knight - 3 points Bishop - 3. When assessing the relative strength of the two sides during a game, compare the total point value of all the pieces still on the board.

This will show who has the current advantage and by how much. Early in a game it might be simpler to compare the total point values of all of the captured pieces. The player with the most captured points has the advantage. Point assessment is also useful when considering a possible exchange of pieces a series of captures by both players.

It would help determine whether such an exchange would be advantageous to either player or merely neutral. Understand the individual strengths of the pieces and their best positioning. Generally, pieces are strongest near the center of the board. Specifically, the queen and bishops can control longer diagonals from the center; knights lose some of their range of movement if situated near an edge; and pawns are more dangerous the farther they advance because of the possibility of promotion. Pawns are stronger when together, such as in "chains" diagonal lines in which one pawn protects another.

Try not to break this formation unless there is a clear, overriding advantage to be gained by doing so. Knights are weakest near the edge of the board, because their movement is somewhat limited there. The maximum number of spaces a knight can control from any given square is eight.

How to Play Chess: Rules and Basics

If a knight is on an edge of the board, the number of squares it can jump to is cut in half. Likewise, if a knight is one row from an edge, it controls only six spaces. If you move a knight near an edge of the board, you will often find yourself later wasting a move to reposition it closer to the center of the board.

Bishops are strongest on or near the long "major" diagonals where they command the most squares. A bishop's power is diminished if the opponent places a protected piece along a diagonal controlled by the bishop. On the other hand, the protecting piece is pinned in that position if the piece it is protecting is of high value. Rooks are very powerful in "open" vacant files. Position rooks on files that contain none of your pawns. This allows the rooks to move quickly to any rank.

If the opposing king is on its starting rank, your rooks are powerful when controlling the seventh rank for white, second rank for black. Queens have the most power when commanding the center of the board. On the other hand, they are in the most danger there as well. It is often a good strategy to position the queen one move away from a center square and to avoid blocking your queen's movement with your own pieces. Kings should always be protected. They are best shielded by lower-value pieces. Aim to control the center of the board. Pieces near the center are at their most powerful.

Often a game involves a fight for control of the center. When you're in the center, your opponent has far fewer "good" places to choose from. Pawns can help with this. While your more powerful pieces are off attacking, a pawn or two can retain your control of the center. Make a strong opening. A weak opening automatically puts you at a disadvantage for the rest of the game.

• Chess rules: The ultimate guide for beginners.
• How to Play Chess: Rules and Basics - www.newyorkethnicfood.com;
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• Don Juan ou le festin de pierre (Anotado) (French Edition).

Here are a few things to keep in mind: Usually it's best to open by moving the d or e pawns. This provides your other pieces with access to the center. Make only a couple of pawn moves at the start. You want to get your more powerful pieces into play as soon as possible.

The exception is your queen: Often an early-moving queen will get in trouble.

How to Play Chess for Beginners: Rules and Strategies

Get your knights moving and then your bishops. A knight's range is limited. Whereas bishops, rooks, and queens can cross the whole board in a single move, it can take several moves to get a knight into the fray. Sometimes a knight can "sneak up" on an opponent's piece because of its "odd" pattern of movement. Use all of your pieces. If your rook is sitting back in a corner, you are wasting a valuable tool. The beauty of chess is that no one piece can win the game.

You typically will need your whole arsenal of pieces to "gang up" on your opponent. This is especially important if your opponent is skilled. It's important to capture pieces and to attack the opponent's king, but if your king is unprotected, you'll be checkmated, the game will be over, and that offense you were running will be entirely useless.

Chess is challenging because you have to think about half a dozen things at once. You have to protect your king while planning moves for your other pieces. It can be a daunting task, but with practice you'll find it easier to do all of these things at once. Think several moves ahead. When your opponent makes a move, they have a reason for it.

They're setting something up, eyeing a potential attack. What are they aiming for? Try your best to anticipate and counteract their moves and thwart their plans. The same goes for you. Maybe you can't capture a pawn on your next move, but what can you do to set yourself up for subsequent moves? This isn't your average board game: Every time your opponent makes a move, take some time to scan the board.

Are they moving into position to take one of your pieces? If so, don't allow it. Move that piece out of the way, or threaten one or more of your opponent's pieces. Even better, capture that threatening piece. It's OK to give up a piece in order to draw your opponent into a trap where you'll capture an even more valuable piece. Be aware of speedy checkmates. You can actually checkmate your opponent in as few as two moves. There are very specific instructions for a win in two, three, or four moves. If you're curious about this, read these articles: Be ready instead for long games.

Use the "en passant" rule for pawns. En passant from French: You are permitted this move only immediately after your opponent has moved a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, landing on a square in rank 5 immediately next to one of your pawns that had advanced to that rank. The opponent's pawn thus avoids the square in rank 6 where your pawn might ordinarily have captured it. In this situation, on your very next move your pawn may capture that pawn as if it were actually in the sixth rank.

After the en passant move, the resulting position would then be the same as if the opponent's pawn had moved only one square forward, and your pawn had captured it normally. En passant must be performed on your very next move after the opponent's two-square move, or your right to do so is lost.

If a pawn reaches the far side of the board eighth rank for white, first rank for black , it must immediately be promoted to any other piece except a king. The piece to which the pawn is promoted does not have to be a previously captured piece; it can be any piece. Usually, a player promotes a pawn to a queen. Thus a player could wind up with two or more queens, three or more rooks, etc. This is a very powerful offensive move. To indicate pawn promotion in chess notation, write the square where the pawn is promoted e.

Then write an equals sign followed by the symbol for the piece to which the pawn is promoted e. Use castling as a means to protect your king. This is done to get your king out of the middle of its rank where it is most vulnerable. To castle, move your king two squares toward either rook, then move that rook to the square immediately on the other side of the king.

This is considered one move. You can castle only if: There are no pieces standing between the king and that rook. The king at that point is not in check and does not have to pass through or to a square in which he would be in check. Neither the king nor that rook has made any previous moves in the game. The pieces are placed, one on a single square, as follows:. 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.

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. If this cannot be done, the king is said to be in checkmate. 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. 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.

A pawn does not have any specific symbol but is represented by the name of the square it occupies, i. 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.

The knight is not blocked by other pieces: 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. This capture is only legal in the following move:.

There are two different ways of moving the king: For castling to be legal, the king or rook must not have been moved previously. We discussed in chapter 8 how pawns have the most complex rules of movement. What happens when a pawn reaches the farthest possible square? Whenever a pawn black or white reaches the last rank, it can promote into a queen, rook, bishop, or knight.

We can see that for white the last rank is the 8th rank, and for black it is the 1st rank. While this may not happen very often in the early stages in the game, in the later stages pawn promotions determine the outcomes of games. What is a check? The player who is in check must remove their king out of check in their next move. Because the bishop on h7 is not protected by any piece, this is a legal move. As we can see, the bishop is now protected by the knight.

Black is in check. What are all the possibles moves black can make to remove the threat of capture? Think carefully and after you think all the possible moves, scroll at the end of the chapter to see the solution. In other words, what if there is no legal move that allows a player to remove himself from check?

When this happens, it is considered checkmate and the player who is checkmated loses the game. This position is similar to the positions discussed earlier. There are several reasons why a chess of game may end in a draw:. Both players have traded enough pieces so that it is impossible for either player to checkmate the other. 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.

Step 2. How the Chess Pieces Move

This is called stalemate. 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. Because every single piece in chess has unique movement, they possess different strengths and weaknesses. While these points do not give you an absolute tool to evaluate every single position in chess, they help you understand which trades are beneficial and which trades you should avoid.

While not every single chess game goes through these three stages some games might end in the opening or middle game , It is important to recognize at which stage of the game one is in while playing. Chess is similar to war. You first expand your territory move chess pawns , then prepare your forces for battle develop your pieces , and lastly start fighting. In chess, moving pawns not only helps you obtain space, but also frees up your pieces to move freely.

The opening stage is the first phase of the 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. 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.

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. 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.

After both sides have developed their forces, the middle game phase begins. This is where the central battle of the chess game happens.

Evolution of chess rules

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. 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. How many squares are there in a chessboard? How many Bishops can white have? The rooks are placed on the outside corners, right and left edge.

The pawns are placed two square in front of all of the other pieces. Which symbol is used to identify a pawn in chess? Mark the correct statement. All of the above. Pawn promotes into a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. How to remove a check? Capture the piece that is giving check. Moving the king away from check. Blocking the piece giving check. Download the entire guide in pdf , read it anytime anywhere you want.

Here is some advice for your future progress:. By GM Igor Smirnov.