How to Play Chess

The players take turns moving their pieces. On a turn, a player can move one piece to an empty square that is adjacent to the square it currently occupies. A piece can also capture an opponent's piece by moving onto the square that the opponent's piece occupies. When a piece is captured, it is removed from the board.

There are a few special rules that govern how certain pieces can move. The rook can move any number of squares horizontally or vertically. The knight can move two squares in one direction and one square in another direction, in an 'L' shape. The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally. The queen can move any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The king can move one square in any direction.

A pawn can move one square forward. On its first move, a pawn can also move two squares forward. A pawn can capture an opponent's piece diagonally forward. A pawn can promote to any other piece (queen, rook, bishop, or knight) when it reaches the opponent's back rank.

Pawns advance in a straight line one square. They are not able to move laterally, diagonally, or horizontally. If a pawn hasn't been moved yet in the game, there is an exception to this rule. A pawn can advance two squares in one motion if it hasn't already done so. The two squares must be blank. The player also has the option of moving the piece one square.

A pawn can only move diagonally when it captures an enemy piece. On each of the diagonal spaces to the piece's left or right, pawns have the option of capturing that player's piece. The pawn will move diagonally to replace the captured piece as part of the capture.

The rook, also called the castle, is allowed to move any number of squares in a horizontal direction along its current row (rank) or column (file). It cannot pass through pieces of the same colour, but it can capture pieces of the opposite colour if it moves onto an occupied space. Diagonal movement is not possible for any reason.

The only chess piece that can move 'through other pieces by 'jumping' over them is the knight. It moves over pieces of either colour while moving and captures pieces as usual by landing on a square occupied by a piece of the opposing colour. It is not permitted to move to a square occupied by a piece of the same colour.

Knights travel in a predetermined 'L' shape: two squares forward, backward, left or right, followed by one square horizontally or vertically, or vice versa, completing the 'L' shape with two squares horizontally or vertically.

The bishop is allowed to move any number of squares diagonally, which means it always goes down the diagonal line of squares whose colour matches the square being moved. As a result, each player has one bishop that can move on each colour at the start of the game. A bishop cannot, for whatever reason, move either horizontally or vertically. It catches a piece of the opposing colour by going onto its square because it cannot move through pieces of the same colour.

The Queen can move any number of squares in any direction. However, these actions should be performed in a single turn while travelling in a single straight path. The queen can also cancel out a piece of the opposing colour by moving onto its square because she cannot pass through pieces of the same colour.

Whether moving vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, the king only moves one space. The king cannot enter a position where the opponent player would be granted a check or checkmate.

The king is the only chess piece that cannot be captured; if it is put into checkmate, which would result in an inevitable capture on the opponent's following turn, a player loses the game.

A player's king is in check if it is under attack by an opponent's piece. A player must get their king out of check on their next turn. If a player cannot get their king out of check, their king is checkmated and the game is over.

A game of chess can end in a draw in a number of ways, including:

There are many different strategies that can be used in chess. Some common strategies include: