Chess rules for beginners

What chess is

Chess is a board game with no dice and no hidden information. You and your opponent take turns, and only your moves decide the result. It is a game you can learn in a few minutes and keep learning for years.

You can play free in Telegram: open our bot, tap Play and pick Chess. The game shows the legal moves of each piece, so you cannot make a wrong move by accident.

Board and setup

The board has 8x8 squares. The columns are the letters a-h from left to right, and the rows are the numbers 1-8 from White's side. White sits at the bottom and moves first, then you alternate. The game assigns the colors when it starts.

Each player has 16 pieces. The back row holds, from left to right for White: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook. Eight pawns stand in front of them. The queen always starts on a square of her own color: white on a light square, black on a dark one.

There is no timer on each move, and no countdown on screen. But if you make no move for 5 minutes in a row, you lose. Stay at the table while a game is on.

The goal

Put the opponent's king in checkmate. The king is never captured: the game ends first. Resigning is a loss for the player who resigns. If nobody can force a mate, the game ends in a draw, and the next sections explain how.

How the pieces move, step by step

1. 1PawnA pawn moves forward one square, or one or two squares from its starting position. It captures one square diagonally forward, not straight ahead. If a piece stands right in front of it, it cannot move forward. Pawns never move backward.
2. 2KnightThe knight moves in an L shape: two squares in a straight line and one to the side. It is the only piece that jumps over other pieces.
3. 3BishopA bishop moves diagonally any number of empty squares. It always stays on squares of one color.
4. 4RookA rook moves in a straight line, forward, backward, left or right, any number of empty squares. It does not jump over pieces.
5. 5QueenThe queen moves like a rook and a bishop combined. She is the strongest piece, so protect her.
6. 6KingThe king moves one square in any direction. He cannot step onto a square attacked by an enemy piece, and the two kings can never stand next to each other.
7. 7CapturingYou capture by moving a piece onto the square of an enemy piece, which leaves the board. You cannot capture your own pieces.
8. 8Check, mate and stalemateA check is an attack on the king. On your next move you must remove it: move the king, block the line of attack, or capture the attacking piece. If none of these works, it is checkmate. If the player to move has no legal move but is not in check, it is stalemate, and the game is a draw. A move that would leave your own king in check is not allowed.

Three special moves

• [Castling](glossary#castling): the king moves two squares toward a rook, and the rook jumps to the square next to him. It is one move. It is allowed only if neither the king nor that rook has moved yet, the squares between them are empty, the king is not in check, and he does not pass through an attacked square. In the game you castle by moving the king two squares.
• [En passant](glossary#en-passant): if an enemy pawn jumps two squares and lands next to your pawn, you can capture it as if it had moved only one square. You have this right on the next move only.
• [Promotion](glossary#promotion): a pawn that reaches the last row becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight. You choose, and most players pick the queen.

How a game is drawn

• Stalemate: the player to move has no legal move and is not in check.
• The same position occurs for the third time.
• Each player has made 50 moves without a capture or a pawn move.
• Neither side has enough pieces left to give checkmate.
• Both players agree to a draw. You offer, your opponent accepts or declines.

A worked example

Strategy tips for beginners

1. Before each move, check whether the piece you move or any other piece becomes attacked without protection. Leaving a piece hanging is the most common beginner mistake.
2. Ask what your opponent wants with their last move. Many players only look at their own plan.
3. Develop your knights and bishops first. A queen brought out in the first moves gets chased by smaller pieces.
4. Castle early. A king in the center is in the most danger, and castling also brings a rook into play.
5. Fight for the center with your pawns and pieces. Central pieces reach more squares.
6. Use piece values as a rule of thumb for trades: pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. Trading pieces of equal value is fine. Giving a queen for a rook and a pawn loses material.

Common mistakes

• Leaving a piece attacked and unprotected.
• Moving the queen out early and losing time when she is chased.
• Never castling, so the king stays in the center.
• Forgetting that a pawn captures diagonally, not straight ahead.