Buzz
Chess is a highly popular strategic game for two players, originating in India centuries ago. To win a game, you must 'checkmate' your opponent by moving your pieces in such a way that the opponent's King is threatened with capture and cannot escape. Although the rules are relatively simple, chess requires strategic thinking to defeat a skilled player. After learning the basic rules and practicing through games, you can challenge other players and emerge victorious!
Steps
Set up the chessboard and pieces
Position the board so each player has a black square on their bottom-left corner. The two players should sit facing each other at the start of the game. Rotate the board so that each player has a black square at the bottom-left corner and a white square at the bottom-right corner.
- You can use the rhyming English phrase 'white on the right' to remember the correct setup.
Sahaj Grover
Grandmaster of Chess
Grandmaster of Chess
Understand the basics of setting up the board: A chessboard consists of 64 alternating black and white squares. The set includes 32 pieces, with 16 black and 16 white pieces. Each side has 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights, and 8 Pawns.
Learn the row and column system for placing pieces and recording moves. Rows are horizontal lines, and columns are vertical lines connecting the two players. Rows are numbered from 1 to 8, starting from the left side of the player with the white pieces. Columns are labeled from 'a' to 'h', starting from the left side of the player with the white pieces. A specific square is identified by its row followed by its column.
- For example, the bottom-left corner for white is a1, while the bottom-left corner for black is h8.
- Learn to record moves by noting each player's moves with piece symbols and the squares they move to.
- You don't have to use the row and column system if unnecessary, but it makes setting up the board easier.
Place the Rooks in the corners of the board. The Rook resembles a castle tower. It can move horizontally or vertically across any number of squares but cannot jump over other pieces. Place the white Rooks on a1 and h1; place the black Rooks on a8 and h8.
- The Rook is symbolized by 'R' in international notation.
Place the Knights next to the Rooks. The Knight is shaped like a horse and moves in an L-shape: two squares horizontally and one square vertically, or two squares vertically and one square horizontally. Place the white Knights on b1 and g1; place the black Knights on b8 and g8.
- The Knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces, as long as its destination square is empty.
- The Knight is symbolized by 'N' or 'Kt' in international notation.
Place the Bishops next to the Knights. The Bishop is the third tallest piece on the board and moves diagonally. If you are playing as white, place the Bishops on c1 and f1. The black Bishops should be placed on c8 and f8.
- The Bishop cannot move to a square of a different color than its starting square.
- The Bishop is symbolized by 'B' in international notation.
Place the Queen on her matching color in the back row. The Queen is the second tallest piece and can move any number of squares in any direction, as long as the path is clear. Place the white Queen on d1 and the black Queen on d8, ensuring they face each other across the board.
- The Queen cannot change direction during a single move.
- The Queen is symbolized by 'Q' in international notation.
The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board. It can move horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.
Sahaj Grover
Grandmaster of Chess
Grandmaster of Chess
Place the King next to the Queen. The King is the tallest piece on the board and the one you must protect throughout the game. The King can move one square in any direction on its turn. Place the King next to the Queen to complete the back row.
- You cannot move the King to a square where it would be captured on the next move.
- The King is symbolized by 'K' in international notation.
The King must never be placed on a square where it can be captured on the next move, so two Kings cannot stand on adjacent squares.
Sahaj Grover
Grandmaster of Chess
Grandmaster of Chess
Place the Pawns in the row in front of the other pieces. The Pawns are the shortest and weakest pieces on the board. They can only move one square forward toward the opponent. Place the white Pawns on each square of the second row and the black Pawns on each square of the seventh row.
- Pawns are not represented by a specific symbol.
Tip: On their first move, Pawns can advance one or two squares. After the first move, they can only move one square at a time.
Playing Chess
Start the game with the white player's move. The player controlling the white pieces always makes the first move. Choose a piece that can move and place it in its new position. After the white player's turn, the black player takes their turn; this alternation continues throughout the game.
- If playing multiple games, players should alternate who controls the white pieces to ensure fairness.
- The player with the white pieces has a slight advantage as they can dictate the opening moves.
- Aim to control the four central squares—d4, e4, d5, and e5—early in the game, as they offer the most strategic flexibility and control.
Capture your opponent's pieces by moving your piece to their square. Capturing means landing on the opponent's square and removing their piece from the game. Focus on capturing stronger pieces like the Queen, Rooks, and Bishops to weaken your opponent's position.
- Pawns cannot capture pieces directly in front of them like other pieces. They can only capture diagonally forward.
- You cannot capture the opponent's King. However, to win the game, you must position your pieces to threaten the opponent's King.
Tip: While moving your pieces, always check if your opponent can capture them on their next turn. Protect your pieces and aim to capture your opponent's pieces strategically.
Check the opponent's King. Move a piece to a position where it threatens to capture the opponent's King on the next move. When you check, announce "check" to inform your opponent. They must respond by moving their King, blocking the attack, or capturing your threatening piece.
- The King can capture an opponent's piece only if doing so does not result in a check.
- When in check, you must take action to protect your King, or you will lose the game.
End the game by checkmating the opponent's King. Checkmate occurs when the opponent's King is in check and has no legal moves to escape. When this happens, announce "checkmate" to declare the end of the game. Allow your opponent to verify if they have any legal moves before claiming victory!
- The game can end in a draw if neither player can achieve checkmate, such as when only the two Kings remain on the board.
Utilize Special Moves
Capture a Pawn using the 'en passant' rule. En passant, meaning 'in passing' in French, allows a Pawn to capture another Pawn immediately after the latter's first move. This move is only possible if your opponent moves a Pawn two squares forward from its starting position, landing beside your Pawn. In this case, you can move your Pawn diagonally to the square behind the opponent's Pawn to capture it.
- You must execute the en passant capture on your very next turn; you cannot delay it to a later move.
Promote a Pawn by advancing it to the opponent's back row. If you move a Pawn to the farthest row on the opponent's side, it can be promoted to any piece of your choice (except the King). Most players choose to promote the Pawn to a Queen, as it is the most powerful piece. The promotion occurs regardless of whether your original Queen has been captured, allowing you to have multiple Queens on the board.
- To record a Pawn promotion, note the square where the Pawn is promoted, followed by an equals sign and the symbol of the new piece (e.g., c8=Q).
- Sometimes, promoting to a less powerful piece like a Rook or Bishop can be strategically advantageous to avoid stalemates or optimize King movement.
Protect your King with castling. During the game, you can perform a special move called castling. To castle, move your King two squares toward one of your Rooks, then place the Rook on the square immediately next to the King on the opposite side.
- You cannot castle if your King is in check, would move through a square under attack, or would end up in check. Additionally, both the King and the Rook involved must not have moved previously.
Note: Castling is only allowed if the King and the Rook have not moved during the game and there are no pieces between them.
Develop strategies to win the game
Learn the relative value of each chess piece. Each piece in a chess game is valued differently based on its power. The Queen is the most powerful piece, worth 9 points. The Rook is worth 5 points, while Bishops and Knights are valued at 3 points each. Pawns are the least valuable, worth 1 point each. Aim to protect your higher-value pieces so you can utilize them in the endgame.
- The King's value is not quantified since it cannot be captured.
- Compare the total value of all remaining pieces on the board for each player to determine who has a material advantage.
- Point evaluation is also useful when considering captures. For instance, using lower-value pieces to capture higher-value ones can give you a significant edge.
- There are exceptions to this rule. Pieces can have varying values depending on their specific positions.
Protect your pieces. Every time your opponent makes a move, take the opportunity to scan the board. Move your pieces out of harm's way if your opponent plans to capture them in their next turn. Consider capturing the piece threatening yours or moving one of your pieces to a position where it threatens a stronger opponent's piece.
- You might sacrifice a piece to lure your opponent into a trap, allowing you to capture a more valuable piece.
- Try to think several moves ahead to anticipate and counter your opponent's strategies, halting any plans they might be executing.
Aim to control the central area of the board. Pieces near the center have the most advantage due to their flexibility and higher control potential. This forces your opponent to the sides of the board, where they have fewer move options. Controlling the center gives you a better offensive position and pushes your opponent into a defensive stance.
Tip: Keep one or two Pawns in the center of the board so you can still use your stronger pieces for attacks.
Tips
- Play against opponents of similar skill levels to make the game more competitive and enjoyable.
- Keep playing and practicing chess to improve your skills.
- Always review the board after your opponent's move to check if any of your pieces are under threat.
- Utilize all your pieces to force your opponent into a defensive position.
