Chess rules: how to play chess

Aim of the game

Each player tries to checkmate the opponent's king: to attack it so that no move can save it. That ends the game, and the player who gave checkmate wins.

The king is never actually captured. A game can also end in a draw (see Draws).

The board and the setup

Place the board so that each player has a light square in the near right-hand corner. The rows of squares that run from side to side are called ranks. The columns that run from one player to the other are called files.

Each square is named by a letter and a number. The files are lettered a to h, from White's left to right. The ranks are numbered 1 to 8, starting from White's side. So White's near left-hand corner is a1, and the far right-hand corner is h8.

1. Put the rooks in the corners: White's on a1 and h1, Black's on a8 and h8.
2. Put the knights next to the rooks, and the bishops next to the knights.
3. Put each queen on the middle square of her own colour. The white queen goes on d1, a light square. The black queen goes on d8, a dark square.
4. Put the king on the last free square: e1 for White, e8 for Black.
5. Put White's eight pawns on the second rank and Black's eight pawns on the seventh.

Two quick tests catch most setup mistakes: a light square on your right, and the queen on her own colour.

How the pieces move

Each player has 16 pieces of six kinds. Here, "pieces" means all 16, pawns included.

• A piece moves to an empty square or to a square held by an opponent's piece. In the second case, it captures that piece and removes it from the board.
• You can never move onto a square held by one of your own pieces.
• Only the knight can jump over other pieces. The queen, rook and bishop stop at the first piece in their way.
• Every piece except the pawn captures the same way it moves.
• Capturing is never compulsory. You decide whether to take a piece.
• A bishop stays on squares of one colour for the whole game.

Pawns

• A pawn moves straight forward, one square at a time. It never moves backwards or sideways.
• On its very first move, a pawn may move two squares forward instead of one. Both squares must be empty.
• A pawn cannot capture straight ahead. A piece of either colour directly in front of it blocks it.
• A pawn captures one square diagonally forward, to the left or to the right. It cannot capture backwards.
• Pawns also have two special moves: en passant and promotion.

Taking turns

White always moves first. Then the players take turns, one move at a time. You cannot pass: when it is your turn, you must make a move.

Each turn you move one piece. The only exception is castling, in which the king and a rook move together as one move.

The Laws do not say who plays White. At home, draw lots for colours and swap them for the next game.

Check

A king is in check when an opponent's piece attacks it, that is, could capture it on the next move. A piece gives check even if it cannot legally move because it shields its own king. You may say "check", but you don't have to.

If your king is in check, you must get it out of check on your move. There are three ways:

• Move the king to a square that is not attacked.
• Capture the piece that gives check.
• Put one of your pieces between the king and the attacking queen, rook or bishop. This does not work against a knight, a pawn or any piece right next to the king.

Sometimes two pieces give check at once. Then only moving the king can help.

You may never make a move that leaves your own king in check or puts it in check. So a piece that shields your king from an attack cannot move out of the way. Nor can your king capture a piece that another enemy piece protects.

The two kings can never stand on adjacent squares. A king attacks every square around it, so the other king may not move there.

Castling

Castling moves your king and one rook in a single move. It tucks the king away and brings the rook towards the centre. It is the only move in which the king moves two squares.

1. Move the king two squares along the back rank towards the rook.
2. Put that rook on the square the king has just crossed. It now stands on the other side of the king.

Castling with the h1 rook is short castling, or castling kingside. The white king goes from e1 to g1, and the rook from h1 to f1. Castling with the a1 rook is long castling, or castling queenside. The king goes from e1 to c1, and the rook from a1 to d1. Black castles the same way on the eighth rank.

You may castle only if all of these are true:

• Neither the king nor that rook has moved in this game. A piece that has moved and gone back still counts as moved.
• All squares between the king and the rook are empty.
• Your king is not in check.
• The king does not cross a square that an opponent's piece attacks.
• The king does not end up in check.

These conditions apply to the king, not the rook. The rook may be under attack. In long castling, it may also pass over an attacked square, b1 or b8. A check earlier in the game does not matter either, as long as the king has never moved.

A check or a piece in the way only stops you castling for now. You can castle on a later move. Once the king has moved, you can never castle again. If one rook has moved, you can still castle with the other one.

To castle, touch the king first and make the whole move with one hand. If you touch the rook first, you cannot castle on that side this move. You must then move the rook, if it can move.

En passant

En passant is French for "in passing". It is a special pawn capture. It lets your pawn catch an enemy pawn that moved two squares to get past it.

1. Your pawn stands on the fifth rank, counting from your side. That is rank 5 for White and rank 4 for Black.
2. An opponent's pawn on an adjacent file moves two squares forward from its starting square. It lands right beside your pawn.
3. On your very next move, your pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. Your pawn moves diagonally forward to the square the other pawn passed over. The other pawn is removed from the board.

Example: your white pawn stands on e5. Black moves a pawn from d7 to d5, right beside it. On your next move, you may play e5 to d6 and remove the black pawn from d5.

• You must do it at once. If you make any other move first, you lose the chance to take that pawn en passant.
• Only a pawn can capture en passant. Only a pawn that has just moved two squares can be taken this way.
• Like every capture, it is optional, unless it is your only legal move.

Promotion

A pawn that reaches the far end of the board is promoted as part of the same move. For White, that is the eighth rank. For Black, it is the first rank.

• Replace the pawn with a queen, rook, bishop or knight of your own colour. You choose which.
• The pawn cannot stay a pawn, and you cannot choose a king.
• Your choice does not depend on the pieces captured so far. You can have two or more queens at the same time.
• The new piece is in play at once. It can give check, or even checkmate, on the same move.
• A pawn can also be promoted by capturing a piece on the last rank.
• Your choice is final once the new piece touches the square.

Most players choose a queen, the strongest piece. Now and then a knight is better.

Checkmate and other ways to win

Checkmate is a check with no way out: no legal move takes the king out of check. The game ends at once, and the player who gave checkmate wins.

You can also resign, which means giving up the game. Your opponent then wins. To resign, say so. Many players also tip their king over.

In a game with a clock, you lose if your time runs out (see Tournament chess).

Draws

A game is drawn when nobody wins. In a tournament, a draw gives each player half a point. A game can be drawn in these ways:

• Stalemate. The player to move is not in check but has no legal move. The game ends at once in a draw, even if the other side has far more pieces.
• Dead position. Neither player can checkmate, whatever moves follow. Examples: king against king, or king and one bishop or knight against king. Also king and bishop against king and bishop, with both bishops on squares of the same colour. The game ends at once.
• Agreement. One player offers a draw just after making a move, and the other accepts. To refuse, say no or simply make your move.
• Threefold repetition. The same position appears for the third time. The player to move can claim a draw.
• The 50-move rule. Each player has made 50 moves with no pawn move and no capture. The player to move can claim a draw.

A position counts as the same only if the same pieces stand on the same squares. The same player must be to move, and the same moves must be possible, castling and en passant included. The repetitions need not come in a row.

In two cases the game is drawn without a claim. One is the same position for the fifth time. The other is 75 moves each with no pawn move and no capture, unless the last move gives checkmate.

Perpetual check is a series of checks that the other player cannot escape. It is not a separate rule. It ends in a draw by threefold repetition or by agreement.

At home, nobody writes the moves down, so count together. You may also claim before you move: announce the move that will repeat the position or reach the 50th move.

Touch-move

Under the Laws, touching a piece commits you. These rules apply to the player whose turn it is.

• If you deliberately touch one or more of your pieces, move the first touched piece that can move.
• If you touch one or more of your opponent's pieces, capture the first touched piece that can be captured.
• If you touch one of your pieces and one of your opponent's, capture that piece with yours. If that is not legal, move or capture the first touched piece that can be moved or captured.
• If none of the touched pieces can be moved or captured, you may make any legal move.
• Once you let go of a piece on a new square, the move is made. You cannot move it somewhere else.
• To straighten a piece on its square, say "I adjust" first, or the French "j'adoube". You may only do this on your turn.

An illegal move, such as one that leaves your king in check, must be taken back. This holds even if you notice it several moves later. Go back to the position just before it and make a legal move instead. If you touched a piece, the touch-move rules still apply to it.

In friendly games, many players allow take-backs. That is a house rule, so agree on it before you start.

Tournament chess

Club and tournament games add a few rules. In short:

• Each player has a set amount of time on a chess clock. After your move, press your side of the clock with the same hand you moved with. That starts your opponent's clock.
• If your time runs out, you lose. But it is a draw if your opponent cannot checkmate you by any series of legal moves.
• Your first illegal move gives your opponent extra time. A second one loses the game.
• In longer games, each player records the moves on a scoresheet.
• Arbiters settle disputes and check draw claims.