There are many ways to learn how to play chess, a game in which you can find excitement, pleasure and above all, fun. This quick guide will teach you the basic chess rules.
The chess board set up
The chess board is an 8×8 grid made up of 64 squares in all. The board is divided into two sides, the black side (also known as the dark square) and the white side (light squares).
The chess board is divided into rows and columns by ranks and files. A rank runs along one row of squares from one edge to another, while a file runs along one column from left to right. The topmost row on a standard sized chessboard is called row 1; you can count down from there until you get to number 32 at the bottom of your piece’s main area, which gives you seven rows total—8×7=56 total rank-and-file units per player’s pieces!
How pieces move
Pieces move differently in chess than they do in other games. There are a few special rules that you need to know about, but for the most part, each piece moves along the same lines:
- The pawns can only move forward one space at a time. They can’t move diagonally and they can’t jump over other pieces on their way to the end of the board.
- The rooks (the castles) can go as far as they want to go along any of the four sides of your half of the board—forward, backward or sideways—but not down into your opponent’s half of the board.
- Knights are kind of like bishops because they’re only allowed to go forward or backward (they can’t turn corners). They also leap over other pieces without taking them off-board like bishops do; however unlike bishops moving diagonally counts as two moves for these guys! So if you want something done right…do it yourself! This means that knights have an additional ability compared to just moving one space at a time which makes them great defenders against attacks from both sides since most people overlook them when making plans on how best defend their own territory from attack by another player’s troops during playtime battles between players who don’t realize yet how valuable these little guys really are until later on in life when someone else tells them about all this stuff before then…
When capturing a piece, you are also called “taking” it. If you can land one of your pieces on an opposing piece, then that piece is captured and removed from the board. The captured piece may be placed back in play by landing it on any other empty square, but if the space where it was played is occupied by another friendly piece, then this becomes an illegal move.
Making a special move – Castling
In chess, you can make a special move called castling. Castling is a special move that can only be made by the King and Rook. It’s a move that is only possible on the first two ranks.
Castling is a special move that allows the King to move two squares left or right, while his Rook moves to the opposite side of his own color (i.e., white castles into check).
You probably know what happens when you castle if you’ve played checkers with someone who doesn’t know how it works: they’ll try it anyway, but will fail and lose their turn!
Special pawn move – En Passant
En Passant is a special pawn move that can only be used on the opponent’s second move. In other words, the first move of the game is made by White and then Black moves his or her pawn two squares forward. On White’s next turn, if he or she wants to capture that pawn with another white piece (such as a rook) and there’s another black piece in between them, he or she can use En Passant to capture it instead and not have to move any further away from where they started on their first turn.
In order for this rule to apply, both these conditions must be met:
- The opponent’s pawn has moved two squares
- Your own pawn has not moved yet
When the king is in check
In chess, it is illegal to move a piece that is under attack by another piece. The king is the one exception to this rule, however. If your opponent places one of their pieces on top of yours and there are no ways to move either of them out of check (because they’re blocked by other pieces), then you lose the game!
Checkmate and Stalemate
As a beginner, you should be aware of two rules: checkmate and stalemate. Checkmate occurs when the king is in check and cannot get out of it on his own turn. Stalemate occurs when the king is not in check, but cannot move because all possible moves would lead to him being put into check.
The game ends in a draw if neither player can win by force or by agreement (by saying “I resign”), or if it’s impossible for either side to make progress through repetition (for example, if you have made three moves that each capture one piece from your opponent).
Learn how to play Chess with this chess set rules guide.
The beauty of chess is that it’s simple and complex at the same time. It can be played with as few as two people, but also supports thousands of players on a board at once. There are many rules that apply to all different types of play, but there are also various ways to make this game even more challenging and fun for yourself.
First off: you need a chessboard! This can be made out of anything—a piece of paper, your grandmother’s linoleum flooring—as long as each square is exactly two inches by two inches (or four centimeters). The pieces themselves should be either plastic or wood; they shouldn’t be made from glass because they’re more likely to break during gameplay (which is called “chess playing”). If you don’t already have one lying around the house somewhere then it’s best just buying a chess set instead because stores sell them pretty cheap nowadays anyway!
We hope you found this guide helpful, and that it gave you a good overview of the chess rules. If you want to learn more about chess rules, there are plenty of resources available online. The best way is to start playing. So grab a friend or go online and find someone who wants to play with you!