Chess Basics: How the Game Works

Chess is a game for two players on a board of 64 squares. Each side starts with sixteen pieces, and the goal is not to capture as many of them as possible but to trap the opponent's king so that it cannot escape — that is checkmate. This guide covers everything you need to play your first complete game: the board, how each piece moves, the three special moves, how a game ends, and a few principles that make the opening much less confusing.

The board and the starting position

The board is placed so that each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner. Columns are called files and are labelled a to h; rows are called ranks and are numbered 1 to 8 from White's side. Every square has a name made of both, such as e4 or g7. This notation is how games, puzzles and guides like this one describe moves.

The rooks go in the corners, then the knights, then the bishops. The queen starts on the square of her own colour — the white queen on the light square d1, the black queen on the dark square d8 — and the king stands next to her. The pawns fill the second rank in front of them. White always moves first.

How the pieces move

Every piece except the knight moves in straight lines and cannot jump over other pieces. A piece captures by moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece, which is removed from the board. You can never capture your own pieces. In the diagrams below, the highlighted squares show everywhere the piece on d4 could move.

The king moves one square in any direction. It is the one piece that can never be captured and never be left under attack, so it can never move to a square that an enemy piece controls. Kings therefore can't stand next to each other.

Pawns are the only pieces that move differently from how they capture. A pawn moves straight forward one square, or two squares on its very first move, but it captures one square diagonally forward. A pawn can never move backwards, and a pawn blocked by any piece directly in front of it can't move at all.

Check, checkmate and stalemate

When a king is attacked, it is in check. The player in check must get out of it immediately, in one of three ways: move the king to a safe square, capture the attacking piece, or put a piece in between (this is called blocking or interposing). Any move that leaves your own king in check is illegal.

Checkmate is a check with no way out. The game ends immediately and the side that delivered it wins. One of the most common checkmates in beginner games is the back-rank mate: the king is hemmed in by its own pawns, and a rook or queen arrives on the back rank.

Stalemate is the opposite situation: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move. The game ends in a draw. This matters most when you are winning — with a big material advantage, check that your opponent still has a move before you play.

Games can also be drawn by agreement, by repeating the same position three times, when fifty moves pass with no capture or pawn move, or when neither side has enough material left to checkmate (for example, king against king).

The three special moves

Castling

Once per game, each player may move the king two squares towards a rook and place that rook on the square the king just crossed. Castling tucks the king away from the centre and brings a rook into play in a single move. It is only allowed if the king and that rook have not moved yet, there are no pieces between them, and the king is not in check, does not pass through an attacked square, and does not land on one.

En passant

If a pawn moves two squares from its starting position and lands right next to an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. This is allowed only on the very next move.

Promotion

A pawn that reaches the last rank is immediately replaced by a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour — almost always a queen. There is no limit: you can have two or more queens on the board.

Opening principles for your first games

You don't need to memorise openings to play a sensible first ten moves. Four principles are enough:

1. Fight for the centre. Pawns and pieces on or aimed at e4, d4, e5 and d5 control the most space.
2. Develop your pieces. Bring knights and bishops off the back rank before moving the same piece twice.
3. Castle early. A king left in the middle is exposed as soon as files open.
4. Don't bring the queen out too early. She can be chased around by smaller pieces, costing you time.

Watch out for the four-move checkmate

The f7 square (f2 for White) is defended only by the king at the start of the game. That makes it a favourite target. If Black ignores the threat in the position below, White mates immediately.

What to do next

• Play a few games against the bot on the easiest level and focus only on making legal moves and spotting checks.
• Read Chess Tactics for Beginners — most games between new players are decided by forks and pins.
• Learn the basic endgames in Essential Chess Endgames, so you know how to convert a winning position.