How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (2024)

Chess is one of the oldest board games ever. It has been played and loved for centuries, but in recent years it's surged in popularity with scores of new players looking to learn the chess rules.

Since 2020 interest in chess has skyrocketed, spurred on by people looking to play online during lockdowns, the popularity of Netflix show The Queen's Gambit and Twitch stars entering the PogChamps tournament and chess boxing. After a photo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing chess went viral, Chess.com hit record levels of traffic.

Chess is experiencing a renaissance, but if you're new to the game learning the chess rules and different strategies can feel overwhelming. That's where our guide comes in. We'll talk you through the basic rules, including how to move and capture pieces as well as essential moves to winning, like en passant and castling.

Chess rules for beginners

  • Setup: Which square does the queen go on? Find out as we get ready to play by placing your pieces.
  • Basic rules: Learn how each chess piece moves and captures.
  • Check and checkmate: Surround your opponent’s king to win.
  • Advanced rules: Promotion, en passant and castling explained.

Whether you’ve just rediscovered chess or are sitting down to play for the very first time, we’ve put together this beginner-friendly guide on how to play. This guide includes all of the basics you need to know when learning chess, from which square to place the queen on during setup to when to call “checkmate” and claim victory.

While you’ll find everything you need to play a casual game of chess below, we haven’t gone into as much depth on advanced elements such as specific openings, board positions or tournament rules. These are the pure basics to get you playing as quickly as possible, without worrying about timing your turns or defending against specific openings. Once you know the basics of how to play, you can learn new strategies, tactics and deepen your understanding of the game as you play, gradually refining your skill and experience. Who knows, perhaps this might be the first step on your path to becoming the next grandmaster.

How to set-up a chess board

Chess is played by two players on a chess board measuring eight-by-eight squares. The 64 squares alternate between light and dark colours - traditionally, black and white. When properly set up, a white square should be the rightmost square along the edge closest to each player.

Players’ pieces are set up in the two horizontal rows (known as ranks) closest to each player. The second rank - ie. the second row from the player’s perspective - consists of a line of eight pawns, each placed on a single square.

The closer rank is nearly symmetrical, with rooks (also known as castles) placed on the two leftmost and rightmost corner squares, followed by knights on the inside space next to them, then bishops.

The two central squares of the rank are occupied by the king and queen. The queen is placed on the square matching her colour (for example, the black queen on the black square), with the king occupying the remaining square of the opposite colour. This means that the king and queen of each colour face each other, making the correct setup symmetrical between the two players.

The white player takes the first move, with players alternating single turns until a player is defeated via checkmate or resigns. A draw can also be agreed. If playing with an optional timer, as in tournaments, the first player to run out of time forfeits the game.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (1)

What are the basic rules of playing chess?

Want to know how to play chess for beginners? Here's a basic rundown on how the rules work. In chess, each player takes turns to make a single move. Players cannot choose to skip a turn - they must move a piece. Each chess piece moves in a specific way, and must be moved according to its legal movement.

Except for the knight, which may jump over pieces, pieces cannot move through pieces of either colour without either stopping (in the same of a piece of the same colour) or capturing them (in the case of a piece of the opposite colour).

How to capture pieces

If a piece lands on a space with an opponent’s piece, that piece is captured and removed from the board. Pieces cannot be placed on the same square as a piece of the same colour. When a piece captures an opponent’s piece, it must finish its current move action and end the player’s turn.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (2)

How to move chess pieces

Pawn

Pawns move one square forward in a straight line. They cannot move horizontally, diagonally or backwards.

An exception to this is if a pawn is yet to be moved during the game. If a pawn has not yet moved, it may be moved two squares forward as a single move. Both squares must be empty. The player can also choose to move the piece a single square.

The only time a pawn may move diagonally is when capturing an opponent’s piece. Pawns may capture an opponent’s piece on either of the diagonal spaces to the left or right ahead of the piece. As part of capturing the piece, the pawn will move diagonally to replace the captured piece. A pawn cannot capture an adjacent piece on any other square, or move diagonally without capturing.

Rook (Castle)

The rook, sometimes called the castle, can move any number of squares horizontally along its current row (rank) or column (file). It cannot pass through pieces of the same colour, and can capture pieces of the opposite colour by moving onto an occupied space. It cannot move diagonally for any reason.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (3)

Knight

Knights are the only chess piece that may be moved ‘through’ other pieces by ‘jumping’ over them. It captures pieces as normal by landing on a space occupied by a piece of the opposite colour and cannot move to a square occupied by a piece of the same colour, but may move over pieces of either colour during its move.

Knights move in a fixed ‘L’ pattern: two squares forward, backward, left or right, then one square horizontally or vertically, or vice versa - one square forward, backward, left or right, followed by two squares horizontally or vertically to complete the ‘L’ shape.

This means that the knight can always move to the closest square that is not on its current row (rank), column (file) or directly adjacent diagonally.

The knight must move the full distance - it cannot move just two squares in a straight line without also moving one to the side, for instance.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (4)

Bishop

The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally - this means it always moves along the diagonal line of squares matching the current colour of its square. This means that each player begins the game with one bishop that can move on each colour. A bishop cannot move horizontally or vertically for any reason. It cannot move through pieces of the same colour, and captures a piece of the opposite colour by moving onto its square.

Queen

The queen may move any number of squares horizontally, vertically or diagonally. These movements must be made in a single straight line during a single turn. (In other words, you can’t move three squares diagonally, followed by three spaces vertically.) The queen cannot move through pieces of the same colour, and captures a piece of the opposite colour by moving onto its square.

King

The king moves a single space horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The king cannot move into a space that would grant a check or checkmate to the opponent player.

As an exception to all other chess pieces, the king is never captured - a player loses the match when the king is placed into checkmate, which would lead to an unavoidable capture on the opponent’s next turn.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (5)

What is check and checkmate?

When a piece moves in a way that would allow a player to capture the opponent’s king on their next turn, the attacking player typically announces “check”.

The player placed into check must move their king or move another piece to stop the attack on their next turn - either by blocking the move or capturing the attacking piece.

If a player creates a situation where their opponent cannot stop their king from being captured on the next turn, the attacking player announces “checkmate” and immediately wins the game. The king is never captured - a game of chess is won when a successful checkmate is announced.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (6)

A player can also choose to resign, granting their opponent the victory. Matches can also end in an agreed draw - for example, as the result of stalemate leaving a player without any legal moves, or if no player can win using available legal moves, a situation known as a “dead position”. One example of a dead position is when both players are left with their king as their only remaining piece on the board.

Draws can also occur as the result of advanced rules typically used in professional tournaments, including identical board positions occurring three or five times - rules known respectively as threefold repetition and fivefold repetition - or no captures or pawn moves taking place within the last 50 or 75 moves. The exact rules used can depend on the tournament and agreement between the players.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (7)

Advanced chess rules

There are a number of advanced rules that can be used in chess, along with specific openings and board positions known by a variety of names, from the Double King's Pawn Opening to the famous King’s Gambit and Queen’s Gambit.

Advanced rules can include specific variants that alter the core rules of the game, along with surrounding requirements often used in tournament settings, such as timing and the touch-move rule - which states that once a piece is touched by a player, it must make a legal move.

As this is a beginner’s guide to learning chess, we’ll only be covering some of the essential advanced rules here - rules that should always be used in conjunction with the basic rules for moving and capturing pieces, as well as the standard setup and rules for declaring checkmate.

Once you know the basics of how to play chess, there are hundreds of books and other resources out there to help you discover the deep strategy and near-endless variations possible during games - as well as local tournaments that can help you refine your play and tactics.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (8)

How to promote a pawn?

If a pawn reaches the opposite edge of the board - the farthest row (rank) from the controlling player - it is promoted to another piece: a rook, knight, bishop or queen. The new piece replaces the pawn on its current square, and follows the movement rules for the respective piece.

While most casual players use captured pieces to represent promoted pieces, a pawn can legally be promoted to any piece regardless of whether it has been captured. For example, a player may have multiple queens as the result of promoting pawns, or multiple bishops able to move along diagonal lines of the same colour depending on the square on which the pawn was promoted.

There is no limit to the number of pawns that can be promoted.

What is En passant?

En passant - French for ‘in passing’ - is one of the most famous moves in chess. En passant occurs when a pawn moves two squares forward as the result of its optional starting move.

If an opponent’s pawn would have been able to legally capture the moving pawn had it only moved one square instead of two, the opponent can declare en passant on their next turn and move their pawn diagonally onto the square that the pawn passed through - capturing the pawn as if it had only moved one square.

En passant must be declared and made as the opponent’s next turn to be legal - otherwise, the player with the chance to capture the pawn loses the opportunity.

What is Castling?

Castling is perhaps the most complicated basic rule in chess, and a rule that many beginners often overlook as a result.

Castling is permitted when a player’s king piece and a rook have not yet moved during the game. Castling can be performed with either rook, as long as they haven’t moved - in other words, they are still in their starting corners on the edge closest to the controlling player.

Castling involves a player moving the king piece two squares towards the rook with which they are castling, before moving the rook to the square that the king moved ‘through’. This effectively puts the rook adjacent on the other side of the king, while the king moves two squares towards the space in which the rook started the game. Regardless of whether castling is performed with the rook closer to the king (kingside) or one square further away (queenside), the king only ever moves two spaces.

The king cannot be used in a castling manoeuvre if it is currently in check, but a rook can be used in castling even if it is under threat from an opponent’s piece - in other words, if it could be captured on the opponent’s next turn, or on any of the squares it passes through while performing the move.

As usual, castling cannot be used to move the king if it would put the king into check. Castling also cannot be used if there are any pieces between the king and the rook - the squares between must be clear.

Frequently asked chess questions

Does chess improve IQ?

Over the years, plenty of studies have been carried out looking at the benefits of chess, and researchers have claimed chess may have the ability to help fight off dementia and improve working memory.

But what about IQ? Will playing chess help you get smarter? In a white paper, the American Chess School's Robert Ferguson cited a study conducted with over 4,000 school children. Most of the students analysed showed "significant" gains in their IQ scores after studying chess for a minimum of four and a half months. Other studies have also claimed playing chess can help improve the IQ and cognition of children.

Can chess be won in 2 moves?

Chess can be won in just two moves using the Fool's Mate. This delivers a checkmate with a Queen in the fewest moves possible. This can only be done if you have control of Black and if the player with White makes major tactical errors.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (9)

Firstly, the player with White would begin a game by moving a pawn to either the f3 or f4 space on the board. The player with Black would then need to move a pawn to e6. If White then moves a pawn to g4, a checkmate can happen. Black just needs to move the Queen to space h4 and it's checkmate. The White player's King is trapped and has no way of escaping.

Can Pawns move backwards?

Pawns are never able to move backwards. On their first move, Pawns can move forward one or two spaces, but after that their movement is limited to just one space forward.

Unlike other chess pieces, the way pawns capture is different to its movement. Pawns capture other pieces by moving diagonally. And when a pawn reaches the end of the board it is promoted to either a Queen, Bishop, Rook, or Knight - the player whose Pawn it is gets to choose which. These pieces can then move both forwards and backwards.

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup (2024)

FAQs

How to play chess for beginners: rules, moves and setup? ›

Here's a basic rundown on how the rules work. In chess, each player takes turns to make a single move. Players cannot choose to skip a turn - they must move a piece. Each chess piece moves in a specific way, and must be moved according to its legal movement.

What are the basic rules of playing chess? ›

Here's a basic rundown on how the rules work. In chess, each player takes turns to make a single move. Players cannot choose to skip a turn - they must move a piece. Each chess piece moves in a specific way, and must be moved according to its legal movement.

What are the 5 rules of chess? ›

The Integral Rules of Chess Every Player Must be Well-versed in:
  • Rule 1: Pawn Promotion.
  • Rule 2: Insufficient Material Draw.
  • Rule 3: En Passant.
  • Rule 4: Three-Fold Repetition.
  • Rule 5: Fifty-move Rule.
  • Rule 6: The seventy-five-move Rule.
  • Rule 7: Touch-move Rule.
  • Bonus- Rule 8: Stalemate & Draw.
Aug 27, 2021

What are the 3 special rules in chess? ›

There are three special moves that can sometimes be performed in chess.
  • Castling. The special move castling allows a player to legally break three of the basic movement rules of chess! ...
  • Pawn Promotion. ...
  • En passant.

What is the best opening in chess? ›

The best opening moves (and most popular) in a game of chess are 1. e4 (the King's Pawn Opening), 1. d4 (the Queen's Pawn Opening), 1. Nf3 (the Réti Opening), 1.

What is the first rule of chess? ›

In the Fifth American Chess Congress in 1880, it was written on page 164 of the Code of Chess Laws, “The right of first move must be determined by lot. The player having the first move must always play with the white men.”

How do you start a chess game? ›

14 The right way to open a game
  1. Occupy the centre with pawns. Whoever occupies the centre with pawns controls the middle of the board. ...
  2. Develop your pieces. All pieces should be rapidly brought into play. ...
  3. Get your king into safety by castling.

What are the 4 rules of castling in chess? ›

Castling is permitted provided all of the following conditions are met:
  • Neither the king nor the rook has previously moved.
  • There are no pieces between the king and the rook.
  • The king is not currently in check.
  • The king does not pass through or finish on a square that is attacked by an enemy piece.

Who moves first in chess? ›

Article 1.2 of the Rules of Play says “the player with the light pieces (white) makes the first move, then the players move alternatively, with the player with the dark-coloured pieces, making the next move.”

What is the secret rule of chess? ›

Touch move

The rule specifically says that when it's your turn, and you happen to touch your piece, then it must be moved (if it can be moved). If the opponent's piece is touched by then you should capture it (if it can be captured).

What are 2 illegal moves in chess? ›

Here are some examples of illegal moves:

Moving the King on a square that is attacked by opponent's pieces. – Not protecting the King that was attacked by opponent's piece. For example, leaving the King in check. – Moving a piece in a way that the piece is not allowed to move.

What is the most important rule in chess? ›

Chess Rule #1: Touch move

We cannot emphasise how essential it is. Games are won and lost at a stroke with this rule. So here goes… the rule states that when a chess player intentionally touches one of his pieces, he or she must make a move with this piece (of course, if there is a legal move available).

What is the rarest chess rule? ›

Underpromoting to a bishop must be the rarest move in chess. We can easily think of some famous examples of rook promotions (such as the brilliant Saavedra study), and by comparison knight underpromotions happen every day - just think of this opening trap in the Albin Countergambit.

What happens if you do the same move 3 times in chess? ›

This rule is in place to prevent games from going on forever with the same moves being made over and over! The threefold-repetition rule says that if a position arises three times in a game, either player can claim a draw during that position. On Chess.com, this draw happens automatically on the third repetition.

Is it a rook or a castle? ›

The Castle in Chess. In chess the castle is a major piece, now usually called a rook. Each player starts with two rooks, one in each of the corners nearest his own side. Like other pieces, the castle captures by occupying the square on which an enemy piece stands.

What is the most moves allowed in chess? ›

But it does have a rule that limits the number of moves allowed during the endgame. This is called the 50 moves rule. If each player makes 50 moves without moving a pawn or capturing a piece, the next player to move may claim a draw.

What are the best first two moves in chess? ›

In modern chess, the most popular opening move for white is to immediately bring the king's pawn forward two spaces. (This is notated as 1. e4.)

What are the best first 5 moves in chess? ›

Top 5 Best Chess Moves
  • The Danish Gambit.
  • Watch Bonus Move: Double Attack.
  • The Scotch Game/Gambit.
  • The Ruy López (a.k.a. “The Spanish Game”)
  • The Sicilian Defense.
  • The King's Gambit.
  • The Best Opening Chess Moves Are Yours to Make.
Feb 10, 2022

What are the worst first moves in chess? ›

Of the twenty possible first moves in chess, author and grandmaster Edmar Mednis argues that 1. f3 is the worst. Grandmaster Benjamin Finegold teaches "Never play f3". In his text on openings, Paul van der Sterren considered 1.

What does checkmate mean? ›

: to arrest, thwart, or counter completely. : to check (a chess opponent's king) so that escape is impossible. checkmate.

What should be my first 3 moves in chess? ›

The best first 3 moves in chess from the viewpoint of White are: 1. e4, 1. d4 and 1. c4.

What is the best second move in chess? ›

The most popular second move for White is 2. Nf3 attacking Black's king pawn, preparing for a kingside castle, and anticipating the advance of the queen pawn to d4.

What is the goal of chess? ›

To win the game of chess, a player must capture the opponent's king. This is known as "Checkmating" the king. Whenever the king is attacked, he is in check and must be so warned by the opponent.

What happens in chess if you forget to say check? ›

You don't have to say check. If you don't see the check your king can be captured, and you lose the game. If you move into check your king can be captured, and you lose the game.

Can you castle over a queen? ›

Can you castle on the queen side in chess? Yes the king can castle both sides.

Can rook jump over king? ›

The rook moves horizontally or vertically, through any number of unoccupied squares. The rook cannot jump over pieces. The rook may capture an enemy piece by moving to the square on which the enemy piece stands, removing it from play.

Does white always win in chess? ›

In chess, there is a general consensus among players and theorists that the player who makes the first move (White) has an inherent advantage. Since 1851, compiled statistics support this view; White consistently wins slightly more often than Black, usually scoring between 52 and 56 percent.

Why white is moved first in chess? ›

Then at some point, it became customary and later a rule for white to move first. Supposedly black is the lucky color, and they said it would be too much of an advantage for a player to have the lucky color (black) AND move first!

Which is the most powerful piece on a chess board? ›

The queen is known as the most powerful piece on the chess board, so the prospect of sacrificing it invokes an unparalleled excitement among chess enthusiasts. There is something inherently satisfying about giving up the strongest piece on the board in order to checkmate the enemy king.

What is the seventy five move rule? ›

Seventy-five-move rule

If seventy-five moves are made without a pawn move or capture being made, the game is drawn unless the seventy-fifth move delivers a checkmate. No claim needs to be made by either player, as the draw is mandatorily applied by the arbiter.

What is rule 50 in chess? ›

The 50-move draw rule, which today states that a draw can be claimed if no capture is made and no pawn is moved for 50 consecutive moves, took centuries to reach its modern definition.

What is the 20 40 40 rule in chess? ›

What is the 20 40 40 rule in chess? The 20-40-40 rule in chess is a rule for players rated below 2000 that states 20% of your study should be dedicated to openings, 40% to the middlegame, and 40% to the endgame.

Can I learn chess on my own? ›

Reading, watching online chess games, watching videos: it all helps a lot, but to really play chess well you need to start analyzing variations by yourself. One way to do this is by solving exercises drawn from famous chess games.

Is chess good for the brain? ›

Playing chess can improve cognitive skills like memory, planning, and problem-solving. It may also help reduce symptoms of certain brain conditions. The game of chess is loved all over the world.

What is illegal 1 in chess? ›

It is illegal to make a move that places or leaves one's king in check. The possible ways to get out of check are: Move the king to a square where it is not in check. Capture the checking piece (possibly with the king). Block the check by placing a piece between the king and the opponent's threatening piece.

What happens if you move your king into check? ›

It is illegal to move your king into check, so for instance, you can't move your king next to the opponent's king. The goal of the game is to put the opposing king into checkmate, which means he is in check and cannot be saved by any of the ways of escaping check.

How many times can you make the same move in chess? ›

While playing Chess, a Draw is declared when a player has made the same moves, or is about to make the same move, three times in a row – since the player cannot make any progress.

What is the illegal move in chess? ›

It is illegal to make a move that places or leaves one's king in check. The possible ways to get out of check are: Move the king to a square where it is not in check. Capture the checking piece (possibly with the king). Block the check by placing a piece between the king and the opponent's threatening piece.

What is the 75 rule in chess? ›

Seventy-five-move rule

If seventy-five moves are made without a pawn move or capture being made, the game is drawn unless the seventy-fifth move delivers a checkmate. No claim needs to be made by either player, as the draw is mandatorily applied by the arbiter.

What happens if one person only has a king left in chess? ›

Contemporary. Under modern rules, a player with a bare king does not automatically lose and may continue playing. A bare king can never give check, however, and can therefore never deliver a checkmate or win the game.

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