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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO PLAYING CHESS: BASIC RULES AND TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED


PART 1: SETUP AND RULES

Co-authored by Vitaly Neimer
(International Chess Master)

"1. Set up the chess board with a white square in the bottom right-hand corner"

easiest way to remember this is with the phrase "white to the right." If your
board has numbers down the side, the line ("rank") with a 1 next to it goes on
the side where you'll line up the white pieces.

"2. Arrange the pieces on the board as shown above"

Start the game with all of the pieces facing each other on the back 2 rows of
each side. Put the pawns in front, then line up the other pieces symmetrically
with the king and queen in the middle.

 * The king is the most important piece because the game ends if it's captured.

"3. Learn how each type of piece moves"

Each player controls 16 pieces: 8 pawns, 2 bishops, 2 knights (little horse
heads), 2 rooks (little castle towers), 1 king, and 1 queen. Each type has its
own way of moving across the board and potentially capturing your opponent's
pieces as it goes.

 * Rooks: Go as many squares as possible horizontally or vertically. If one of
   your pieces is in the way, the rook has to stop at the square just before. If
   one of your opponent's pieces is in the way, capture it with your rook and
   stop there.
 * Knights: Move 2 squares horizontally or vertically, then 1 square to the
   right or left of that second square. Knights are the only pieces that jump
   over other pieces and only capture an opponent's piece if it's on the final
   square of the move.
 * Bishops: Go as many squares as possible diagonally. Like the rook, they have
   to stop at the square just before one of your own pieces, or capture an
   opponent's piece and stop there.
 * King: Move 1 square in any direction. You cannot move the king into any space
   where one of your opponent's pieces could capture it.
 * Queen: Go as many squares as possible in any direction. Like the rooks and
   bishops, the queen has to stop just before one of your own pieces, or capture
   an opponent's piece and stop there.

"4. Take note of the special moves that pawns, rooks, and kings can make"

These moves aren't anything you really need to worry about during your first few
games, but you want to at least know they exist. As your play advances and you
get more comfortable, you'll find that you use them more and more.

 * Pawns: If your opponent moves a pawn 2 spaces on its first move so that it's
   sitting right next to one of your pawns, you can capture it with your pawn on
   your next move—but only on your next move. This special ability is known as
   en passant (French for "in passing").
 * Pawns: If a pawn makes it all the way to the back row of the other side of
   the board, it gets promoted. That means you can turn that pawn into any type
   of piece other than a king. Most players promote a pawn to a queen because
   the queen is the most powerful piece.
 * Kings and rooks: When there are no pieces between your rook and your king on
   the back row, you can move your king 2 spaces toward your rook. Then,
   immediately move your rook over to the other side of your king. This is
   called castling.


PART 2: GAMEPLAY

"1. Start the game off if you have the white pieces"

In chess, the player with the white pieces always makes the first move. You and
your opponent might want to flip a coin to see who gets the white pieces, since
they do have a slight advantage (mainly, that with white you get to attack
first).

"2. Take turns with your opponent to move one piece"

Chess flows just like any other turn-based board game, with each player getting
the opportunity to move one piece before the action switches back over to their
opponent. When thinking about what move you want to make, consider the different
moves that all the pieces on the board can make.

 * There's no "pass" in chess—when it's your turn, you have to move something.

"3. Block, evade, or capture to get your king out of check"

As the game progresses, at some point, your opponent is likely to put your king
in check (or perhaps you'll put their king in check). This just means that if
nothing changes, your opponent would capture your king on their next move. When
your opponent announces "check," you must do something to get out of check. You
have 3 basic options:

 * Block: Move one of your pieces in between the attacking piece and your king.
 * Evade: Shuffle your king over one square so he's out of the attacking piece's
   line of attack.
 * Capture: Use another piece to capture the piece your opponent is attacking
   with. Threat eliminated—whew!

"4. Continue to play until one player's king is captured or there are no legal
moves"

And that's the game! Your goal is to checkmate your opponent and protect your
king so your opponent can't checkmate you. Sounds simple, right? But with so
many pieces in play, the strategy and planning can get quite complex. Since
you're just starting out, focus on always protecting your king and you'll do
fine.

 * Sometimes you play to a stalemate—that's sort of the opposite of checkmate
   when neither of you has any legal moves left. This usually happens when most
   of the pieces have been captured.
 * When you're playing in a tournament, there are a few other ways a game can
   end, such as if you run out of time. But as a beginner, you don't need to
   worry about those yet.


PART 3: STRATEGY

"1. Control the center of the board as quickly as possible"

This gives you the upper hand and allows you to craft attacks while also
defending against your opponent's attacks. When you control the center of the
board, you maximize your ability to move while also limiting your opponent's
ability to move without being captured.

 * For example, a knight in a corner only has 2 options to move, but from a
   central square, it has as many as 8 options.
 * Getting the center pawns a couple of spaces out in the first couple of moves
   of the game gives you a good head-start toward controlling the middle of the
   board.

"2. Try to think a move or two ahead"

Chess isn't a game that you can play one turn at a time. Consider all of the
pieces and their possible moves, then make your move based on what might happen
a move or two down the road (seasoned chess players call this "calculating").
This takes a lot of practice, so don't worry if you can't do it at first.

 * Do this by thinking through a series of "if...then" statements. For example,
   you might think, "If I move my knight here, then it will threaten my
   opponent's bishop, so they'll probably move their bishop there. If they move
   their bishop there, then they could put my king in check."

"3. Protect your king"

If your opponent puts your king in checkmate, that's the end of the game, so you
want to protect your king at all costs. At the start of every turn, evaluate
your king's position and where it might be vulnerable. As a beginner, it's
always better to take a move to shore up your king's defenses than to attack.

 * Watch the pieces your opponent moves off the back row (this is called
   "developing" your pieces). Any of them could potentially be used in an
   attack, so project them forward a few moves ahead to see if they're a threat.

"4. Get all of your pieces involved in the game"

None of your pieces are powerful at all if they just sit on the back row and do
nothing. While you don't necessarily want to develop your queen too early in the
game, your other pieces can definitely come forward to build a powerful defense
and lay the groundwork for future attacks. This also keeps the board active and
lively—your opponent will be on the alert trying to figure out what you're
doing.

 * Think about leaving space open for your queen to enter later. When you do
   develop your queen, you want to be able to maximize her power and use her to
   her fullest potential.

"5. Avoid sacrificing pieces unnecessarily"

There's nothing wrong with a sacrifice play from time to time, but try to keep
them to a minimum. A piece lost can't be regained, and if you get too far down
you'll have a hard time defending against a multi-pronged attack from your
opponent.

 * Obviously, any sacrifice is worth it to protect your king. But before you put
   one of your other pieces in the line of fire, make sure there's no other
   option that doesn't involve losing a piece.

"6. Try to get into your opponent's head to figure out their strategy"

Every time your opponent makes a move, ask yourself why they made that move. If
you can figure out what they're trying to do, you might be able to do something
to disrupt their plans—or at least make them more difficult to pull off.

 * When you're just learning how to play, don't be afraid to ask—especially if
   you're playing someone more experienced. They might not want to talk to you
   about it during the game, but afterward, they can help you with moves you
   didn't understand.

"Things You Should Know"

 * Chess is a 2-player game where one player controls the white pieces and the
   other controls the black pieces.
 * Each type of piece moves in its own unique way on the board. Use these
   different movements to craft your strategy to win.
 * To win at chess, capture your opponent's king by trapping it so that it can't
   move away from your pieces to safety.
 * Alternate turns with the other player, moving one piece at a time.

GET STARTED

Whether you want to learn how to play chess or you're just looking for tips to
teach a kid how to play, you've come to the right place! This classic board game
has been around for centuries and still provides a challenge to the smartest
people in the world. At the same time, it's really easy to get started and you
can pick up the basic rules pretty quickly. Read on to learn how to set up the
board and move the pieces, along with some strategy to start out with that might
just have you saying "checkmate."

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