The rules of chess, explained simply

Everything you need to play a full game of chess, from the board to the last rules most beginners have never heard of, plus a few habits that win games in the park.

The board and the goal

Chess is played by two players, White and Black, on a board of 64 squares in 8 rows (ranks, numbered 1 to 8) and 8 columns (files, lettered a to h). Set the board so that each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner. White moves first, then the players take turns, one move each.

The goal is to checkmate the other king: to attack it so that it has no way to escape. You never actually capture the king. A game can also end by resignation, by running out of time, or in a draw.

Setting up

The second rank is filled with eight pawns. On the first rank, from the corners inward: rooks, knights, bishops. The queen goes on the square of her own colour (white queen on d1, black queen on d8), and the king goes next to her.

How the pieces move

• King: one square in any direction. It may never move onto a square that is attacked.
• Queen: any number of squares in a straight line, along ranks, files or diagonals. The strongest piece.
• Rook: any number of squares along a rank or file.
• Bishop: any number of squares diagonally, so it stays on one colour for the whole game.
• Knight: an L shape, two squares one way and one square to the side. It is the only piece that jumps over others.
• Pawn: one square straight forward, or two squares on its very first move. It captures one square diagonally forward. Pawns never move backwards.

Pieces other than the knight cannot jump over anything. You capture by moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece, which is removed from the board. You can never capture your own pieces.

Check and checkmate

A king that is attacked is in check. You must get out of check on your next move, in one of three ways: move the king, block the attack, or capture the attacking piece. A move that leaves your own king in check is not allowed. If there is no way out of check, it is checkmate and the game is over.

The three special moves

Castling

Once per game, the king can move two squares towards one of its rooks, and that rook jumps to the square the king crossed. It tucks the king away and brings the rook into play. You may castle only if neither piece has moved yet, the squares between them are empty, the king is not in check, and the king does not cross or land on an attacked square.

En passant

If a pawn moves two squares forward and lands right beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. This has to be done on the very next move or the chance is gone.

Promotion

A pawn that reaches the far side of the board becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight, whichever its player chooses. Almost always a queen, which is why a single passed pawn can decide a game.

How a game can be drawn

• Stalemate: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move. This is a draw, not a win, and it is the classic way to throw away a won game.
• Insufficient material: neither side has enough left to checkmate, for example king against king, or king and bishop against king.
• Threefold repetition: the same position occurs three times with the same player to move.
• Fifty-move rule: fifty moves by each player without a capture or a pawn move.
• Agreement: both players agree to a draw.

The clock

In timed games each player has a clock that runs only during their own turn. If your time runs out, you lose, unless your opponent cannot possibly checkmate you with the pieces they have left, in which case it is a draw. Park chess is usually fast, often five minutes or less for the whole game.

What the pieces are worth

A rough guide used by players of every level: pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. The king is beyond price. Trading a knight for a rook wins material; giving a queen for a rook loses it. The numbers are a starting point, not a law: a well-placed knight can be worth more than a rook that has nothing to do.

Beating a park hustler

Hustlers win games with speed, confidence and noise more often than with deep calculation. A few habits take most of that away.

1. Check every capture and every check, for both sides, before you move. Most games between club players are decided by a piece left hanging, not by brilliance.
2. Do not play at his speed. Use your clock. A fast reply to a fast move is how simple traps work.
3. Be suspicious of gifts. A free piece in the opening is often bait for a trap on the next move. Ask why it was left there.
4. Develop, castle, connect your rooks. Knights and bishops out early, king safe, then attack. It sounds dull and it beats most attacking players.
5. Learn the basic checkmates. King and queen against king, and king and rook against king. Many won games are drawn by players who cannot finish them before the clock runs out.
6. Ignore the talk. The trash talk is part of the game. The position on the board is the only thing that counts.
7. Watch for stalemate. When you are far ahead, make sure his king always has a move until you deliver mate.

Notation, in one paragraph

Moves are written with the piece letter (K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight, nothing for a pawn) and the square it goes to: Nf3 means a knight moves to f3. An x means a capture (Bxe5), + means check, # means checkmate, O-O is castling on the king's side and O-O-O on the queen's side. A pawn promotion is written with the new piece, as in e8=Q.

Ready to try it? Sit down at the table