How to Play Chess

Learning how to play the game of Chess is a wonderful way to help stimulate your mind and have some fun at the same time. Follow the simple lessons in this guide to learning How to Play Chess and you'll be castling your way to victory in no time!

Introduction
- Chess is one of the oldest and most widely played games in the world. From its roots in India almost 5,000 years ago to its modern day status as an intellectual pastime, chess has become one of the most recognizable board games in history and continues to enchant players of all ages. Although it can take years of practice and study to become a chess expert, the basics of game-play and strategy are relatively simple and can be learned in just a few sittings. And while you may never make it to Grandmaster status, hopefully you'll learn to appreciate the fun, excitement and challenges that the game of chess can offer.
Lesson 1: The Basics
- Before we get into the actual game-play, we will first go over some of the basic aspects of the game that you will need to know before we start playing. If you already have a chess board, go ahead and take it out so that you can reference it while we are learning. If you don't have one yet, check out Mahalo's guide to Chess retailers or simply go to your local hobby store and buy one. Here we go:
The Players
- Chess is always played with 2 players, each of whom face the other from their position on opposite sides of the board. Each player is assigned a set of pieces (either White or Black) and are responsible for moving their pieces during the game. While some chess tournaments may have specific rules regarding which player uses White or Black, it is generally up to the players to decide which color they want to play.
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The Board
- A regulation chess board is made up of 64 identically sized squares arranged on an 8 x 8 board. The color of the squares alternates between light and dark (much like a checkerboard). While chessboards can be made of almost any type of material, the most commonly used are wood, plastic, stone or even glass.
- The squares on a chessboard can also be thought of as coordinates, and a simple method has been devised in order to properly label each square. As you can see from the diagram, the horizontal rows have been numbered 1 through 8. Similarly, the vertical columns are labeled with the letters A through H. So, in order to find the square labeled e4 (for example), you would simply find where the e column and the 4 row intersect. In chess parlance, the numbered rows are also known as "Ranks", while the alphabetical columns are known as "Files".
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The Pieces
The Set Up
- Every chess match starts with all of the pieces arranged in a specific order. At the beginning of the game, each player's pieces should be arranged so that they completely fill up the first two rows in front of them. Here are instructions for how to set up your pieces at the beginning of the game:
  1. Place your Rooks on the outside corners of the first row.
  2. Place your Knights on the squares immediately inside the Rooks.
  3. Place your Bishops on the squares immediately inside the Knights.
  4. Place your Queen on whichever of the 2 center squares matches her color (the White Queen should go on the light square while the Black Queen should go on a dark square)
  5. Place your King on the remaining open square in the first row (next to the Queen).
  6. Place Pawns on each of the squares in the second row closest to you.
- If you've set up your board correctly, it should look like this:
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The Object of the Game
- In order to play chess, it helps to know the object of the game. While it may seem simple at first, you will soon learn that a lot can happen in between the start of the game and the "Checkmate" move. So, without further ado, here it is:
- Object: To trap your opponents King in a position where it will be captured no matter where it moves.
Lesson 2: Movement of Pieces
- Now that we have all of the pieces set up, we are ready to begin playing. But wait, first we need to go over how the pieces function and how each of them are allowed to move around the board. As we said before, each of the different pieces have their own specific abilities when it comes to moving around the board. This isn't like checkers (where every piece moves the same). In order to to play chess, you will need to know exactly how each piece is allowed to move so that you can figure out all of the possible moves that are available to you. Here they are:
Pawn
1. On their first move, each Pawn can be moved one or two squares forward. After that, they are only allowed to to move one square forward at a time.
2. Pawns can only capture an opponent diagonally, although they cannot move diagonally unless they are doing so.
3. Pawns cannot move backwards.
Knight
1. On each move, the Knight can be moved two spaces in any direction (except diagonally), and then one space perpendicular to the first move.
2. The Knight is the only piece on the board that can jump over other pieces during its move.
3. The Knight will always end up on an opposite colored square from where it started.
Rook
1. The Rook can be moved as many spaces as you want in any direction (except diagonal).
2. The Rook can move as far in one direction as the board will allow, or as short as one square away from its original position.
3. If the Rook is taking another piece, it must stop on the square that the piece occupied.
Bishop
1. The Bishop can be moved diagonally as many spaces as you want. It cannot move in a straight line.
2. Due to their movement abilities, Bishops will always end up on the same colored square (either light or dark) that they started the game on.
3. The Rook can move as far in one diagonal direction as the board will allow, or as short as one square away from its original position.
Queen
1. The Queen can be moved as many spaces as you want in any direction (including diagonal). It is usually considered to be the most powerful piece on the board.
2. The Queen can move as far in any direction as the board will allow, or as short as one square away from its original position.
3. If the Queen is taking another piece, it must stop on the square that the piece occupied.
King
1. The King can be moved one space in any direction.
2. The King cannot be moved to a square that will allow him to be captured on the next move.
Lesson 3: Playing the Game
- Now that you know exactly how each piece on the board moves, you are ready to start playing your first game. In this lesson we will try to go over some of the basic aspects of game play and take a look at how a typical game of chess might unfold. We will wait to discuss more advanced moves (such as Castling and En passant) until later. At this point we will assume that you have a partner to play with (or at least a computer program that you can set to beginner). If not, go ahead and read through this section and refer back to it when you play your first game. Here we go:
Starting the Game
1. Whichever player has the white pieces moves first. Since most of the pieces can't jump over one another, this usually involves moving one of the Pawns forward either one or two spaces. Since the Knight can jump over other pieces, you can also move one of them as your first move.
2. After the first player has made their move, their opponent then gets to make a move. Players then alternate movements throughout the rest of the game.
3. In general, your move is considered final after you take your hand off of the piece you are moving. At this point, you cannot change your mind or move another piece. If you still have your hand on the piece, you are allowed to move it back to its original position and move another piece.
Capturing Your Opponents Pieces
- In order to get yourself into a position where you can trap your opponents King, you will need to try and capture as many of your opponents pieces as possible. Capturing a piece (as you've probably guessed) means that you get to take your opponents piece off of the board - making it just a little bit easier for you to get to their King. Here is how capturing works:
1. In order to capture an opponent's piece, you must move one of your pieces so that it lands on the square that is occupied by the piece you want to capture.
2. Once a piece has been captured, it should then be taken off the board by the capturing player and placed to the side. Each player should keep a small pile of all of the pieces they've captured.
3. It doesn't matter which piece is capturing another. If they are in the correct position, any piece can capture any other piece (i.e. A Pawn can capture a Queen if it is in the right position).
4. The King cannot be captured like other pieces. Instead, the King must be put in "Check". We will go over this in more detail in the next section.
- Here are some common capturing moves:
Check and Checkmate
- While trying to capture each other's pieces may take up the majority of the game, in order to win you will need to know how to put your opponent's King in "Check" and eventually "Checkmate". This is not always as easy as it sounds. Here are a few things that you will need to know about how to "Check" and "Checkmate" your opponent.
1. In order to "Check" your opponent, you must move one of your pieces into a position where it threatens to capture your opponent's King on the next move.
2. Whenever you move one of your pieces into a "Checking" position, you MUST let your opponent know by verbally saying "Check".
3. If your opponent is put in "Check", he/she is obligated to move their King into a position in which they are no longer threatened. This can also include moving another piece in between the King and the attacker in order to protect the King.
4. If your opponent cannot find a space to move their King where it will not be in danger of capture on the next move, you have put them in "Checkmate". The game ends when one player puts the other in "Checkmate". As with a "Check", you should always verbally inform your opponent that they have been put in "Checkmate".
- Here are some examples of "Check" and "Checkmate" moves:
- Alright. That about covers the basics of chess game play. One thing to keep in mind though: While the diagrams and examples that we've provided you with above are certainly situations that you might run into when playing, because of the multiple moves that are possible with each player's turn, you never know how a game of chess will play out. The key is to be able to apply what you know to the different game situations that may occur. This may take a while (and many games) for you to learn, but the more you do, the better of a chess player you will become.
Lesson 4: Special Moves
- While the instructions above will cover probably 95% of your game play, there are a few special chess moves that you should know about in case they come up. While these moves may not be used very often, they can (under certain circumstances) be very advantageous. Here are a few:
Castling
- Castling is a move that involves a player's King and one of their Rooks. When castling, the King is moved two spaces toward the Rook, while the Rook is moved one space Over the King. While this move can be advantageous in certain situations, there are a number of conditions that must be met in order for this move to be legal. Here they are:
1. Both the King and the Rook that are being moved cannot have moved at all so far in the game (meaning that they must be in their original positions in the first row).
2. There must be no other pieces blocking the path in between the King and the Rook.
3. The King cannot be in check when the move is initiated, nor can he end up in check after the move is completed.
- Here is an example of how Castling works:
En passant
- An En passant is a tricky move that is made by a Pawn in order to capture another pawn that has moved 2 spaces from it's initial position in order to evade capture. If an opposing Pawn moves 2 spaces ahead so that it is parallel to an oncoming Pawn, the oncoming Pawn can perform an En passant in order to capture it. While this may seem hard to understand at first, hopefully the diagrams below will make it a little clearer. Just like castling, there are a few things that you will need to know about En passant:
1. An En passant is possible only when an opposing Pawn could have been captured were it to have moved only 1 space instead of 2.
2. When one Pawn takes another by En passant, the capturing Pawn must move into the square directly behind the captured Pawn. This is the only instance in chess where a capturing piece does not move into the space occupied by the captured one.
3. An En passant has to be done on the move directly after the opposing Pawn has made their 2 space move.
- Here is an example of how En passant works:
Promotion
- While Promotion is not technically a special "Move", it is something that you should know about because it can provide you with a distinct advantage if you are able to achieve it. In the simplest terms, "Promotion" means that when one of your Pawns is able to make its way all the way across the board onto your opponent's first row, you can then trade that Pawn in for ANY piece of your choice. That means that you can get an extra Queen, Rook, Knight or Bishop to help you finish off your opponent. Sounds pretty cool, huh? Here are a few things to know about promotion:
1. While in certain instances it may be advantageous to trade your Pawn in for a Knight or a Rook, most people will choose to take a Queen because it is the most powerful piece on the board.
2. You are not limited to what piece you can trade for by which pieces of yours have already been captured. Meaning that, theoretically, it is possible for a player to have 9 Queens. If you don't have an extra Queen in your set, simply turn a Rook upside-down to stand for one.
3. If the King is placed in check by the newly promoted piece, the player must declare "Check".
- An example of Promotion:
Conclusion

While we could go on for years and years discussing various chess strategies, opening moves, endgames and defenses, it is much more useful for the beginning player to learn the basics and then just sit down and get a few (or a few hundred) games under their belt. And while the game of chess (and all of its rules and regulations) may seem daunting at first and hard to understand, the reality is that after a few games you will start to understand how each piece functions and begin to see patterns in how a typical game of chess unfolds. As with most games, the more you play - the better you get. And the better you get - the more fun you will have playing. So get those boards out, grab yourself a partner, and start playing!
Resources for How to Play Chess
- Wikipedia: Rules of Chess
- The Internet Chess Club: Chess Rules
- ChessDryad.com: How to Play Chess
- SoYouWanna.com: Learn How to Play Chess
- Chess Corner: Chess Tutorial
- Useful Chess: Play or Learn
- World Chess Federation: Chess Rules