History of Chess

The origins of chess are not exactly clear, though most believe it evolved from earlier chess-like
games played in India almost two thousand years ago. The game of chess we know today has
been around for more than 500 years!

The Goal of Chess

You and your opponent are each in charge of an army. Your goal: to catch the other army's king
(before they catch yours)! When you have him attacked and he can no longer escape, it's called
"checkmate," and you win!

You each start with a trusty army of 16: the King, Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights,
and eight Pawns.

Starting a Game

At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has the white (or
light) color square in the bottom right-hand side. The chess pieces are then arranged the same
way each time. The second row (or rank) is filled with pawns. The rooks go in the corners, then
the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who always goes on her
own matching color (white queen on white, black queen on black), and the king on the remaining
square.

The player with the white pieces always moves first, so it's only fair to take turns playing white
and black. On each turn you get to move one of your pieces (except for one special move). Then
it's your opponent's turn. And back and forth, you take turns until one of the kings is cornered...
or your whole army is tired out!

How the Chess Pieces Move

Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces has its own shape for moving. Most pieces cannot move
through other pieces-- only the knight can jump over anyone who gets in his way! Also no piece
can ever move onto a square with one of their own pieces. However, they can be moved to take
the place of an opponent's piece: that's how you capture the enemies!

The King
The king is the most important piece, since losing him means the end of the game. But he is also
one of the weakest. So very often he needs his friends to protect him. The king can move one
square in any direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally.

The king may never move himself onto a square where he could be captured (no losing on
purpose). If your opponent ever moves their king onto a square where you can take it, don't grab
the king and laugh "hahahaha, I win!" Instead, you should explain why they can't move there.
Then your opponent can put the king back where it was, and choose a different move.

Click on the ">" button in the diagram below to see how the king can move around the board.

The King vs. ?

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1. Kf4 Kc6 2. Ke3 Kd6 3. Kd4 Kc6 4. Kc4 Kd6 5. Kb5 Ke5 6. Kb6 Ke4 7. Kc7 Kd4 8. Kd7 Kc3

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Check and Checkmate
When another piece threatens to capture the king, it is called 'check.' When there is no way for
the king to escape check, it is called 'checkmate.' As stated before, that is how you win. There are
only three ways a king can get out of check: move out of the way, block the check with another
piece, or capture the piece threatening the king. If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game
is over. Customarily the king is not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply
declared over.

The Queen

The queen is the most powerful piece. Like the king, she can move in any one straight direction -
forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - but unlike him, she's very speedy. In fact, she can
move as far as you like as long as she does not move through any other pieces. And, like with all
pieces, if the queen captures an opponent's piece, that's the square she stops on.

Click through the diagram below to see how the queens move. Notice how the white queen
captures the black queen and then the black king is forced to move.

The Queen vs. ?

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9. Qxc1+capture! and check! 9... Kd3 10. Qc8so fast! 10... Ke3 11. Qg8 Kf3 12. Qg7she can also take baby-steps
12... Kf2 13. Qa1 Kg2 14. Qa8+what's that? check! 14... Kh2 15. Qg8 Kh3the king is stuck on the side of the board
16. Ke6 Kh2 17. Kf5 Kh3 18. Kf4 Kh2 19. Kf3 Kh3 20. Qg3#checkmate!

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The Rook

The rook moves much like the queen: as far as it wants along straight lines, but only forward,
backward, and to the sides (not diagonally).

The Rook vs. ?

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1. Rg1Vroom! 1... Ka5 2. Rg8Vroom! 2... Ka4 3. Rb8the rook is also fast! 3... Ka5 4. Rb7... and can also do the
baby-steps. 4... Ka4 5. Rf7 Ka5 6. Rf8 Ka4do you see any way the rook could say check? 7. Ra8+Rf4 was also
check 7... Kb4 8. Rb8+check 8... Kc4 9. Rc8+check 9... Kd4 10. Rd8+check. looks like the rook is having fun!
10... Ke5 11. Re8+check 11... Kf6 12. Rf8+check 12... Kg7watch out rookie!!!! 13. Rg8+check! 13... Kxg8capture!
ooooops. I guess it's possible to have too much fun!

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The Bishop

The bishop is the "other half" of the queen. It moves as far as it wants, but only diagonally. You
start with one bishop on a light square and one bishop on a dark square, and you will notice, only
moving on diagonals, each one is stuck on the color it starts on. Bishops work well together
because each covers the squares the other one can't.

The Bishop vs. ?

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1. Bd6 Kb5 2. Bf8 Ka5 3. Bh6 Ka4 4. Bc1zip! 4... Ka5 5. Bd2+check! 5... Ka4 6. Be3 Ka5 7. Bg5 Ka4can the
bishop check the king now? 8. Be7no! The king was on a white square. 8... Kb5 9. Bf8 Ka4 10. Bg7 Kb5The king is
staying on light squares to stay safe. There is no way to win at the end of the game with just one bishop. 11. Ba1
Ka6 12. Bh8but he can zip back and forth for fun. 12... Kb5 13. Bg7 Ka6 14. Bf8 Kb5 15. Be7 Ka4 16. Ba3 Kb5
17. Bf8
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The Knight

Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces - going two squares in one direction,
and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an "L". Knights are also the
only pieces that can move over other pieces. People often say knights "hop" because of that
special ability. Check out these knight hops:

The Knight vs. ?

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1. Nh8 Ka8 2. Nf7 Kb7 3. Nh8Notice the knight doesn't have many options when it's in the corner. 3... Ka7
4. Nd3Hop! Right over his own king. Now *that* is fun! 4... Ka8 5. Ne5From this square the knight has 8 choices!
Can you see them all? 5... Ka7 6. Nc4 Ka8 7. Ne3 Ka7 8. Nf1get the idea 8... Kb7Okay, let's try to say "check!"
once. 9. Ne3 Ka7 10. Nd5 Kb7Hmmm, close, but it's not so easy. 11. Nb4 Ka7 12. Nc6+check! 12... Kb6uhoh, Mr.
Knight! 13. Ne5Looks like he's more careful than the rook we met earlier. 13... Kb7 14. Nd3

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The Pawn

Half of your starting team is pawns, so it's very important to understand how to use these little
guys, even though they are not very strong. Pawns are unusual because they move in one way,
but capture in a different way. When they move, they just go forward, but when they capture
they go diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first
move where they can move forward two squares or one. Pawns can only capture one square
diagonally in front of them. They can never move or capture backwards.

Because they move and capture differently, the pawn is the only piece that can get blocked by
enemy pieces: if there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture
that piece.

The Pawn vs. ?

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1. g3 g6 2. g4 g5Now the white pawn can't move any more; he's blocked by the black pawn, and the black pawn is
also blocked by him!
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Promotion

Now pawns may be small and weak, moving slowly and having trouble fighting against the
faster guys on the board. But pawns still have big dreams! They want to be the hero who rules
the chessboard and brings you victory. And pawns have one more special ability that can help
make their dreams come true.

If a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can become any other chess piece (called
promotion), except a pawn or king. [NOTE: A common misconception is that pawns may only
be exchanged for a piece that has been captured. That is NOT true.] A pawn is usually promoted
to a queen, because she is the most powerful piece. Only pawns may be promoted; no other piece
can do this!

Promotion vs. ?
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1. g4 h2 2. g5 h1=Q+The pawn becomes a Queen. (or2... h1=R+a Rook.) (or2... h1=Ba Bishop) (or2... h1=Na
Knight)

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En Passant

The last rule about pawns is called "en passant", which is French, meaning "in passing." If a
pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent's
pawn (effectively running past the other pawn's ability to capture it), that other pawn has the
option of capturing the first pawn as if it only moved one space. This special move must be done
on the very next move after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is
no longer available. Click through the example below to better understand this odd, but
important rule.

En Passant vs. ?
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1. f4Now the pawn that he just walked past can capture him, as if he had only taken one step: 1... exf3got you en
passant! (1... gxf4This pawn could also capture him normally.) 2. h5Can the black pawn next to him capture him en
passant now? NO. He only moved one space, so there is no special capture here. 2... c5Can white capture that pawn?
3. dxc6Yes! 3... f2Now it's time for some Promotions. 4. c7 f1=Q 5. c8=QI hope you remember how the queen
moves 5... Qc4+Check! Hahahaha! 6. Qxc4Capture 6... Kb6Wait, what happened to my queen? booohoooooo.
7. Qd3 g4 8. Qg3Black's pawns get blocked, and the white queen captures them all easily. 8... h6 9. Qxg4 Kc7
10. Qg6 Kb7 11. Qxh6 Kc7 12. Qg6 Kb7 13. h6 Kc7 14. h7 Kb7 15. h8=Q Kc7 16. Qhh7+ Kd8 17. Qgg8#

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Castling

One other special rule is called castling, the only time you can move two pieces in one move.
This combination move allows you to do two important things all in one turn: get your king to
safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a player's turn he
may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook to the other side of his
king. (See the example below.) In order to castle, however, the following conditions must be
met:

 it must be that king’s very first move

 it must be that rook’s very first move
 there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move
 the king may not be in check or pass through check

Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called
kingside. Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling queenside.
Regardless of which side, the king always moves exactly two squares when castling.

Castling vs. ?
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1. O-O O-O-OAnd that's what it looks like.

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Castling vs. Fail
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Can white castle now?1. Nf3No, the Knight was in the way. Ok, how about black, can he castle? 1... Nf6No, the
white queen was controlling the square d8, so the black king could not move through that square. 2. O-OI think
white is going to win.

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Draws

Occasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw. There are 5 reasons why a
chess game may end in a draw:

1. The position reaches a stalemate where it is one player’s turn to move, but his king is
NOT in check and yet he does not have another legal move
2. The players may simply agree to a draw and stop playing
3. There are not enough pieces on the board to force a checkmate (example: a king and a
bishop vs a king). Draw by exhaustion!
4. A player declares a draw if the same exact position is repeated three times (though not
necessarily three times in a row)
5. Fifty moves in a row have been played by each player, without anyone moving a pawn or
capturing a piece. This means no progress is being made!
If you've made it this far, you are ready to play! After this come extra rules for tournaments,
variants, and some first advice for how to play chess well.

Chess960

Chess960 (also called Fischer Random) is a chess variant that follows all of the normal rules of
chess, except that the starting position of the pieces is randomly chosen at the start of each game.

There are two rules for placing the pieces: the bishops must be on opposite colors, and there must
be one rook on each side of the king. The black and white pieces are in a mirrored position.

There are exactly 960 possible starting scenarios that follow these rules (thus the name "960").

The only odd rule is with castling: the rules are mostly the same (king and rook cannot have
moved and cannot castle through check or in check), with the additional rule that the squares
between where the king and castled rook will end up must be vacant from all pieces except the
king and rook. And instead of moving exactly 2 steps towards your rook, you always castle so
that it looks like in normal chess: King goes to g1 when you castle "kingside" and to c1 when
you castle "queenside."

Some Tournament Rules

Many tournaments follow a set of common, similar rules. These rules do not necessarily apply to
play at home or online

Touch-move

If a player touches one of their own pieces they must move that piece as long as it is a legal
move. (of course you can't "touch" a piece online, so this is a tournament rule which does not
matter on our website). If a player touches an opponent's piece, they must capture that piece. A
player who wishes to touch a piece only to adjust it on the board must first announce what they
are doing, usually by saying "adjust."

Introduction to Clocks and Timers

Most tournaments use timers to regulate the time spent on each game, not on each move. That's
because when they first started having chess tournaments in the 1800s, some guys would just sit
there and not move if they were in a losing position. This perfect strategy kept them from ever
losing... and the tournament from ever finishing! Then they invented the chess clock, and it
became normal at most tournaments.

Each player gets the same amount of time to use for their entire game and can decide how to
spend that time. Once a player makes a move they then touch a button or hit a lever to stop their
clock from running and start the opponent's clock. If a player runs out of time and the opponent
calls the time, then the player who ran out of time loses the game (unless the opponent does not
have enough pieces to checkmate, in which case it is a draw). Click here to watch two players
quickly playing a timed game of chess!

Basic Strategy

There are four simple things that every chess player should know:

#1 Protect your king

Get your king to the corner of the board where he is usually safer. Don't put off castling. You
should usually castle as quickly as possible. Remember, it doesn't matter how close you are to
checkmating your opponent if your own king is checkmated first!

#2 Don’t give pieces away

Don’t carelessly lose your pieces! Each piece is valuable and you can’t win a game without
pieces to checkmate. There is an easy system that most players use to keep track of the relative
value of each chess piece:

 A pawn is worth 1
 A knight is worth 3
 A bishop is worth 3
 A rook is worth 5
 A queen is worth 9
 The king is infinitely valuable

At the end of the game these points don’t mean anything – it is simply a system you can use to
make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture, exchange, or make other
moves.

#3 Control the center

You should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. If you control the
center, you will have more room to move your pieces and will make it harder for your opponent
to find good squares for his pieces. In the example below white makes good moves to control the
center while black plays bad moves.

Model Game vs. Center and Development

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1. e4good move 1... h6bad move 2. d4good move 2... Na6bad move 3. Nc3good move 3... Rb8bad move 4. f4good
move. noticing any patterns yet? 4... b5bad move 5. Bxb5good move 5... Nf6this looks good, but black did not see
white's response. 6. e5 Nh7 (6... Ng4 7. Qxg4) (6... Nh5 7. Qxh5) (6... Nd5!! was black's last chance in this game,
because white actually can't win the piece for free 7. Nxd5 (7. Bxa6 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Bxa6also is an equal trade)
7... Rxb5is an even trade) 7. Nf3good move, white clearly has a very strong position in the center 7... e6good move
8. O-Owhite gets his king out of the way, and the rook is ready for action! 8... Be7black finally develops the bishop
and might be able to castle 9. Be3 c6 10. Bc4 Rxb2black thinks they won a pawn... but it was a trap! none of black's
other pieces are in very good positions to help his rook. 11. Bb3now the rook has no way to get out. 11... Nf8 (it was
better to castle11... O-O) 12. Ne4this is a beautiful square for the knight, safe in the middle of his pawns.
12... f5black tries to chase the knight, but it does not work out, because white now opens the position and attacks the
black king with his better developed pieces. do you remember the rule about white's next move? how does white
capture a pawn here? 13. exf6What's that called? "en passant." 13... gxf6 14. Ne5A terrific move! It looks terrible,
but white has a powerful followup in mind. 14... fxe5 (the best defense was14... h5in order to keep the white queen
from coming there) 15. Qh5+Now we get what is usually called a "massacre" by chess players. 15... Ng6the black
king was absolutely trapped so this sacrifice was the only option. 16. Qxg6+ Kf8 17. fxe5+Wait, how did that pawn
move say check? The rook that was hiding behind the pawn! See how many pieces white is using? 17... Bf6 18. Nd6
Qe7 19. Rxf6+Poor black king. He's not enjoying this part of the game. 19... Qxf6 20. Qxf6+ Kg8 21. Rf1
(21. Qf7#is faster, but white did not want to let the rook on a1 feel left out.) 21... Rh7 22. Qf8#

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#4 Use all of your pieces

In the example above white got all of his pieces in the game! Your pieces don’t do any good
when they are sitting back on the first row. Try and develop all of your pieces so that you have
more to use when you attack the king. Using one or two pieces to attack will not work against
any decent opponent.

Getting Better at Chess

Knowing the rules and basic strategies is only the beginning - there is so much to learn in chess
that you can never learn it all in a lifetime! To improve you need to do three things:

#1 – Play

Just keep playing! Play as much as possible. You should learn from each game – those you win
and those you lose.

#2 – Study

#3 - Have fun
Don’t get discouraged if you don’t win all of your games right away. Everyone loses – even
world champions. As long as you continue to have fun and learn from the games you lose then
you can enjoy chess forever!