King
Moves one square in any direction — up, down, left, right, or diagonally.
The king is the most important piece. It can never be captured — if it is trapped (checkmate), the game ends.
Chess rules
How to play chess.
The complete rules of chess, from setup to checkmate — clear, beginner-friendly, and with diagrams. Learn how each piece moves, what a check is, the special moves (castling, en passant, promotion), and the three ways a chess game can end.
The starting position.
1. The board and the pieces
Set up the board.
Chess is played on an 8×8 board with 64 alternating light and dark squares. Each player starts with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.
Two simple rules to set up the board correctly:
- "Light on the right." The bottom-right corner closest to each player must be a light square.
- "Queen on her colour." The white queen starts on a light square (d1); the black queen on a dark square (d8).
White always moves first. After that, players alternate turns — one move per turn, no skipping.
2. How each piece moves
Six pieces, six personalities.
Every piece has its own way of moving. Once you know the six, you know the whole game.
Queen
Moves any number of squares in a straight line — horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
The most powerful piece on the board. She combines the rook and bishop's powers.
Rook
Moves any number of squares in a straight line — horizontally or vertically only.
Strong on open files (columns) and the seventh rank. Two rooks working together are devastating.
Bishop
Moves any number of squares diagonally. A bishop never changes square colour — light-square bishops stay on light squares forever.
Each side has one light-squared and one dark-squared bishop. They complement each other beautifully.
Knight
Moves in an "L"-shape: two squares in one direction, then one perpendicular — or one then two. The only piece that can jump over other pieces.
Tricky for beginners. Once you see the L, you'll always see it.
Pawn
Moves one square forward. From its starting square, it may move two. Captures only diagonally forward, never straight ahead.
The "soul of chess" — weak alone, devastating in chains. They never move backwards.
The knight is the trickiest piece.
From any square, a knight has up to eight moves — an L-shape in any of eight directions. From c3, the knight can jump to a2, a4, b1, b5, d1, d5, e2, or e4.
Two key facts: the knight always moves to a square of the opposite colour, and it's the only piece that can leap over others. Knights are at their strongest in the centre.
3. Captures
How you take pieces.
To capture an enemy piece, move one of your own pieces onto its square. The captured piece is removed from the board. Your piece stays where the captured one was.
Two important things to remember:
- You can never capture your own pieces, only the opponent's.
- You can never capture the enemy king. If you could, you'd checkmate first — the game ends one move earlier.
Pawns are the only piece whose capture rule differs from their movement rule: they move straight forward but capture diagonally forward.
4. Special moves
Three rules every beginner forgets.
Most of chess is the basic moves. But three special situations have their own rules — and they come up in almost every game.
Castling
Move two pieces in one turn.
Castling is the only move that lets you move two pieces at once. The king jumps two squares toward a rook, and that rook hops to the king's other side.
Castling kingside (O-O): king to g1, rook to f1.
Castling queenside (O-O-O): king to c1, rook to d1.
You can't castle if the king or that rook has already moved, if any piece is between them, if the king is currently in check, or if the king would pass through a square attacked by the enemy.
En passant
"In passing" — a pawn rule.
When a pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands directly beside an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn can capture it as if it had only moved one square — on the very next turn only.
In the diagram, Black just played …d7-d5. White's pawn on e5 captures it en passant: the white pawn moves to d6, and the black pawn is removed. You must take the en passant capture immediately or lose the right.
Pawn promotion
A pawn that reaches the end becomes anything.
When a pawn reaches the opponent's back rank (the 8th rank for White, the 1st for Black), it must be promoted. You replace it on the same square with a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of your colour — your choice.
Almost every promotion is a queen (the strongest piece). Occasionally, promoting to a knight is right because of an L-shaped check the queen can't give. This is called under-promotion.
5. Check, checkmate, and stalemate
The three king situations.
Check
Check
The king is being attacked. The player whose king is in check must respond — by moving the king, blocking the attack, or capturing the attacker.
Checkmate
Checkmate
The king is in check, and there is no legal way to escape. The game ends immediately — the player giving checkmate wins. This is the goal of every game.
Stalemate
Stalemate
The player to move has no legal moves but is not in check. The game ends in a draw — nobody wins. A common rescue when you're losing.
The rule about your own king: you can never make a move that leaves your own king in check — even if it would otherwise be legal. The king is sacred; you must always keep it safe.
6. How a game ends
Win, lose, or draw.
Ways to win
- Checkmate. Trap the opponent's king.
- Resignation. Your opponent gives up.
- Time-out. In timed games, your opponent's clock runs to zero.
Ways the game can be drawn
- Stalemate. No legal moves, no check.
- Mutual agreement. Both players agree to a draw.
- Threefold repetition. The same position appears three times.
- Fifty-move rule. Fifty moves without a capture or pawn move.
- Insufficient material. Neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate (e.g. K vs K, K+B vs K).
7. Common beginner mistakes
Avoid these and you'll already be ahead.
Hanging pieces
Leaving a piece undefended where the opponent can capture it for free. Before every move, check what your opponent is attacking. Just glancing.
Bringing the queen out too early
Strong players will chase your queen with knights and bishops, gaining time and development while you waste moves running away.
Forgetting to castle
An exposed king in the centre is a magnet for attacks. Castle within your first ten moves — almost always.
Pushing pawns in front of your king
After castling, those pawns are your shield. Every pawn move there opens a crack the enemy can exploit.
Falling for Scholar's Mate
A four-move attack on f7 by an early queen-and-bishop combo. Defend f7 (often with …Nf6 or …Qe7) and you've nullified it.
Trying to memorize before you understand
Don't memorize twenty opening moves. Learn the principles — control the centre, develop your knights and bishops, castle early, connect your rooks.
A starter's compass
The three opening principles.
If you forget every opening, just remember these three rules. They're enough to play a respectable game against anyone.
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1Control the centre.Push a central pawn (e4, d4, e5, d5) and aim your pieces at the four central squares. Pieces in the centre have more options.
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2Develop your minor pieces.Knights and bishops first. Get them off the back rank into active squares. Don't move the same piece twice in the opening unless you must.
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3Castle and connect your rooks.Tuck your king away with castling. Once the back rank is clear between your rooks, they support each other and dominate the open files.
Ready to play?
The fastest way to learn is to play and review. Sign up free and start with a slow game so you have time to think.