How to play Chess

What you need

An 8×8 board of alternating light and dark squares and 32 pieces, 16 per side. Each player gets one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. The lighter set is called White and the darker set Black, whatever their actual colors. A pencil and paper are handy for writing down moves, and a chess clock is optional.

Piece letters you will see in books and apps: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight (N, because K is taken). Pawns get no letter.

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Set up the board

1. Turn the board the right way. Each player should have a light square in the near right-hand corner. "Light on the right" is the phrase to remember.
2. Rooks in the corners. Each player puts a rook on each corner square of their nearest row.
3. Knights next to the rooks, then bishops next to the knights.
4. Queen on her own color. The white queen goes on the light square in the middle (d1); the black queen goes on the dark middle square (d8). The two queens face each other across the board.
5. King on the last square of the back row, next to the queen.
6. Pawns fill the second row in front of the pieces.
7. White moves first. Toss for colors in the first game and alternate after that.

Squares have names: files (columns) are a to h from White's left, ranks (rows) are 1 to 8 from White's side. White's king starts on e1, Black's on e8.

How the pieces move

1. Rook: any number of empty squares in a straight line along a rank or file.
2. Bishop: any number of empty squares diagonally. Each bishop stays on its starting color all game.
3. Queen: any number of empty squares in any straight line, rank, file or diagonal. Rooks, bishops and queens cannot jump over pieces.
4. Knight: an L shape, two squares in one direction and one square at a right angle. It is the only piece that jumps over others, so a crowded board does not stop it.
5. King: one square in any direction. It can never move onto a square the opponent attacks.
6. Pawn: one square straight forward into an empty square, or two squares forward on its very first move if both squares are empty. It captures one square diagonally forward. It never moves backward.
7. Capturing: move onto a square holding an enemy piece and remove that piece. You cannot move onto a square holding your own piece.

Check, checkmate and stalemate

A king that is attacked is in check. You must get out of check on your very next move by moving the king to a safe square, capturing the attacking piece, or putting a piece in between. You may never make a move that leaves or puts your own king in check. Kings are never actually captured.

Checkmate is check with no legal way out. It ends the game, and the player who delivered it wins. Stalemate is the opposite trap: the player to move has no legal move but is not in check. Stalemate is a draw, even if one side has a whole army left.

Three special moves

• Castling. Once per game, the king moves two squares toward one of its rooks, and that rook jumps to the square the king crossed. It is the only move where two pieces move at once. It is not allowed if the king or that rook has already moved, if any square between them is occupied, or if the king is in check, would cross an attacked square, or would land on one.
• En passant. When a pawn moves two squares from its start and lands right beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. The option exists only on the very next move.
• Promotion. A pawn that reaches the far rank must be exchanged for a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its color, your choice. You can have two or more queens; it does not matter what has been captured.

Seven habits for new players

1. Check what the last move attacks before you choose yours. Most games between new players are lost to a one-move threat nobody looked for. Ten seconds of "what does that piece hit now?" saves more points than any opening.
2. Develop knights and bishops early. In the opening, get your minor pieces off the back row toward the center. A piece sitting at home does nothing, and every move spent moving the same piece twice is a move your opponent spends developing.
3. Fight for the center. Pawns and pieces on or aimed at d4, e4, d5 and e5 reach more squares and can switch to either side of the board quickly.
4. Castle in the first ten moves or so. Castling tucks the king behind pawns and connects your rooks. An uncastled king in the middle is a target once lines open.
5. Do not bring the queen out early. She is your most valuable piece, so every minor piece that attacks her gains a move while she runs away. The four-move mate works only against a careless defense.
6. Count attackers and defenders before capturing. If a square is attacked twice and defended once, the capture works. If it is defended as often as it is attacked, the exchange is usually even, so ask whether it helps your position.
7. When ahead in material, trade pieces, not pawns. Simplifying makes the extra material count. When behind, keep pieces on and look for chances.

Rule mix-ups and the official answers

"Stalemate means I win because I have more pieces."

No. Stalemate is a draw. Many won games are thrown away by leaving the losing king with no legal move while not in check. When you are far ahead, make sure every move gives the king a square or delivers check.

"I touched it, but I hadn't let go."

FIDE's touch-move rule says that if the player to move deliberately touches one of their own pieces, they must move it if it has a legal move; touch an opponent's piece and you must capture it if you can. You may adjust a piece first by saying "I adjust." Once you release a piece on a legal square, the move stands. Many families relax this for beginners, but agree in advance.

"Can I castle out of check?"

No. Castling is not allowed while the king is in check, through an attacked square, or onto one. It is allowed if only the rook is attacked, or if the rook crosses an attacked square.

"The pawn reached the end, but I already have a queen."

Promote anyway. You may choose a second queen even if your first queen is still on the board.

"Is en passant a real rule?"

Yes. It is in FIDE Article 3.7, and it has to be played immediately after the enemy pawn's two-square advance or the chance is gone.

Popular variants and house rules

• Chess960 (official FIDE variant). The back-row pieces start in a random arrangement, with the king between the rooks and the bishops on opposite colors, mirrored for Black. Everything else plays as normal. It skips memorized openings, which levels experienced and new players.
• Rapid and blitz (official time controls). FIDE defines rapid as more than 10 and less than 60 minutes per player, and blitz as 10 minutes or less. A 10-minute game with a phone clock is a good second step once moves are automatic.
• Odds games (house rule). The stronger player removes a piece before starting, often a knight or a rook. It keeps parent-and-child games competitive without anyone throwing moves.
• Take-backs (house rule). Allow a fixed number of take-backs per game, say three. It turns blunders into lessons instead of losses.
• Pawn game (teaching game). Each side gets only eight pawns. The first to promote, or to leave the opponent with no move, wins. It teaches pawn movement and en passant in ten minutes.

A five-minute first lesson

1. "Your goal is to trap the other king so it can't escape. That's checkmate."
2. Set up the board together, saying "light on the right" and "queen on her color."
3. "Rook goes straight. Bishop goes diagonal. Queen does both." Push each piece across an empty board.
4. "Knight goes in an L and can jump." Have them find all eight knight moves from the center.
5. "Pawns walk forward one, two on their first move, and capture diagonally. Reach the end and it becomes any piece you want."
6. "King moves one square and can never step into danger. If it's attacked, you must fix that right away."
7. "No legal move but not in check? That's a draw called stalemate."
8. Play. Show castling the first time it becomes possible, and en passant the first time it comes up. Neither needs explaining before move one.

Ages and group size

Chess is strictly two players. The site lists it for ages 8 and up, which fits most children who can sit through a 20-minute game. Many five- and six-year-olds learn the moves with the pawn game and a patient adult. For groups, run a round-robin with several boards and 1/½/0 scoring, or have two teams consult on each move, which gets quiet players talking. A game between beginners takes about 20 to 40 minutes without a clock.

Chess rules people look up

Sources and edition notes

Standard chess. The linked FIDE laws also cover clocks and tournament procedures; this guide focuses on board play. Movement, castling, en passant and promotion follow Article 3; touch-move follows Article 4; endings follow Article 5; draws by repetition and the 50- and 75-move rules follow Article 9; game points follow Article 10; rapid and blitz definitions follow Appendices A and B; Chess960 follows Guidelines II. Piece values and the sample game commentary are common teaching practice, not FIDE rules.

Sources rechecked October 22, 2026. This records a document check, not a claim of hands-on testing.

• FIDE Laws of Chess taking effect from 1 January 2023

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