Chess Rules: How to Play Chess Step by Step

These chess rules explain how to play chess from scratch: how to set up the board, how every piece moves, the special moves that confuse beginners, and exactly how a game is won or drawn. Chess is a two-player strategy game played on an 8 by 8 board, and while it takes a lifetime to master, you can learn every rule in one sitting. We finish with beginner strategy, the best opening ideas for new players, and the famous four-move checkmate.

Quick rules

• Each player starts with 16 pieces: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.
• White always moves first, and players then alternate, one move per turn.
• Each type of piece moves in its own way. Pieces capture by moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece.
• A king that is under attack is "in check" and must get out of check immediately.
• If a king is in check and has no legal way to escape, that is checkmate, and the game is over.
• Special moves: castling, en passant and pawn promotion.
• A game can also end in a draw, for example by stalemate or agreement.

What you need

• A chessboard of 64 squares in alternating light and dark colors.
• A set of 32 pieces, 16 light (White) and 16 dark (Black).
• Optional: a chess clock for timed games.

How to set up a chess board

1. Turn the board the right way. Each player should have a light square in the bottom right corner. Remember "light on the right".
2. Rooks go in the corners.
3. Knights go next to the rooks.
4. Bishops go next to the knights.
5. Queen on her color. The white queen goes on the remaining light square in the middle of the back row, and the black queen on the dark square directly opposite.
6. King goes on the last empty square, next to the queen.
7. Pawns fill the whole second row in front of the other pieces.

When finished, the two queens face each other and the two kings face each other across the board.

How to play

How each piece moves

• King: one square in any direction. It may never move into check.
• Queen: any number of squares in a straight line: forward, backward, sideways or diagonally.
• Rook: any number of squares forward, backward or sideways.
• Bishop: any number of squares diagonally. Each bishop stays on its starting color all game.
• Knight: in an L shape, two squares in one direction and then one square at a right angle. It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.
• Pawn: moves straight forward one square, or two squares on its very first move. It captures one square diagonally forward. Pawns never move backward.

Apart from the knight, no piece can jump over another. You may never capture your own pieces.

Special moves

1. Castling: once per game, the king moves two squares toward a rook, and that rook jumps to the square on the king's other side. You may castle only if neither the king nor that rook has moved yet, all squares between them are empty, the king is not in check, and the king does not pass through or land on a square that is attacked.
2. En passant: if a pawn moves two squares forward and lands right beside an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. This must be done on the very next move or the chance is lost.
3. Promotion: when a pawn reaches the far side of the board, it must be changed into a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same color. Most players choose a queen, and you can have more than one queen.

Check and checkmate

1. When a king is attacked, it is in check. The player must respond by moving the king, capturing the attacking piece, or blocking the attack.
2. You may never make a move that leaves your own king in check.
3. If there is no legal way to escape check, the king is checkmated and that player loses. The king is never actually captured.

Draws

• Stalemate: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move.
• Agreement: both players agree to a draw.
• Threefold repetition: the same position occurs three times with the same player to move.
• Fifty-move rule: fifty moves by each player with no capture and no pawn move.
• Insufficient material: neither side has enough pieces to checkmate, for example king against king.

Scoring

A game is scored 1 point for a win, half a point for a draw and 0 for a loss, which is how chess rankings and tournament tables are built. During a game, players use rough piece values to judge trades:

How to win chess

You win by checkmating your opponent's king, or if your opponent resigns, or if their time runs out in a timed game (unless you lack the pieces to ever checkmate, in which case it is a draw). Capturing lots of pieces helps, but only checkmate ends the game.

How to win chess in 4 moves

The four-move checkmate (often called Scholar's Mate) goes: 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5 Nf6 4. Qxf7 checkmate. White's queen and bishop both aim at the weak f7 square. It only works against beginners. To stop it, defend f7, for example by playing 3...g6 or 3...Qe7 instead of Nf6.

Best chess openings and strategies for beginners

• Control the center. Start with a center pawn, such as e4 or d4, to claim space.
• Develop your pieces. Bring out knights and bishops before moving the same piece twice or bringing out the queen early.
• Castle early to keep your king safe and connect your rooks.
• Good starter openings: the Italian Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4), the London System for White, and solid replies like 1...e5 against 1. e4.
• Check every move. Before you move, ask: what is my opponent threatening, and is my piece safe on its new square?

Variations

• Timed chess: each player gets a clock. Blitz gives 3 to 5 minutes each; rapid gives 10 to 60 minutes.
• Chess960: the back-row pieces are shuffled at the start under fixed rules, so memorized openings do not help.
• Touch-move: in serious games, if you touch one of your pieces you must move it. Casual games often relax this.
• Handicap games: a stronger player starts without a knight or rook to even things out.

Common mistakes

• Setting up the board with a dark square on the right, or swapping the king and queen.
• Thinking you can castle out of check or through an attacked square.
• Forgetting that a stalemate is a draw, not a win, so a winning player can throw away the game.
• Moving pawns diagonally without capturing, or capturing straight ahead.

Want more two-player strategy? Try checkers, backgammon or mancala, and see our full guide to board games for adults and board games for kids.