The basic rules of chess

Everything a new player needs: the board, the pieces, the special moves and how games end. Each piece also has a printable one-page sheet you can hand out in class.

The board

The starting position. Files are lettered a-h from White's left, ranks numbered 1-8 from White's side.

Chess is played on 64 squares: eight columns called files (a to h) and eight rows called ranks (1 to 8). Every square has a name made of its file and rank, so the square in White's bottom-left corner is a1.

Set the board so that each player has a light square on the right. White always moves first, then the players alternate. You must move on your turn — passing is not allowed.

Setting up the pieces

Pawns fill the second rank. Behind them, from the corners inwards: rook, knight, bishop, then the queen on her own color and the king beside her. White's queen starts on d1 (a light square), Black's on d8 (a dark square).

Rook — 5 points. Straight lines only: along its file and along its rank.
Bishop — 3 points. Diagonals only. A bishop keeps the color of its starting square for the whole game.
Queen — 9 points. Any number of squares in a straight line or a diagonal. The strongest piece.
Knight — 3 points. An L-shape: two squares in one direction, then one square sideways. It jumps.
Pawn — 1 point. Forwards one square, captures diagonally. Never moves backwards.
King — Priceless. One square in any direction. The king is never captured — it is checkmated.

The point values are only a guide for trading pieces; they are not part of the official rules.

How the pieces move

In every diagram below, arrows and marked squares show where the piece may go. One rule applies to every piece: you can never capture your own pieces — a friendly piece simply blocks the way, and only enemy pieces can be taken. Use the Print sheet button on each piece for a one-page handout.

The Rook

5 points

A rook on d4 controls the d-file and the 4th rank.

The black pawn on d7 stops the rook — it may capture the enemy pawn but go no further. A friendly piece would block it without any capture, because no piece may take its own side.

Moves any number of empty squares forwards, backwards or sideways.
Never moves diagonally and never jumps.
Stops in front of a friendly piece — no piece can ever capture its own side's pieces.
Takes part in castling with the king.
Rooks are strongest on open files and on the 7th rank.

The Bishop

3 points

A bishop on the dark square d4 can only ever reach other dark squares.

It stops in front of its own pawn on f6 — its own side can never be captured — and may capture the black pawn on b6.

Moves any number of empty squares along a diagonal.
Never changes square color, so each side has one light and one dark bishop.
Cannot jump over pieces, and cannot capture its own side — a friendly piece simply blocks the diagonal.
The two bishops together are a strong pair in open positions.

The Queen

9 points

Pieces block her path. She stops in front of her own pawn on d6 — no piece may capture its own side — and may capture the black pawn on f6.

Combines the rook and the bishop: straight lines and diagonals.
Moves as far as she likes along an empty line.
Cannot jump over any piece.
Stops in front of a friendly piece — no piece can ever capture its own side's pieces.
Captures by landing on the enemy piece's square.

The Knight

3 points

The knight is the only piece that jumps: from g1 it leaps over its own pawns to e2, f3 or h3.

Moves in an L: two squares along a line, then one square across.
The only piece that jumps over other pieces.
It may jump over friendly and enemy pieces alike, but may not land on a friendly piece — no piece captures its own side.
Always lands on a square of the opposite color to the one it left.
A knight in the center is far stronger than a knight in the corner.

The Pawn

1 point

From its starting square a pawn may step one square or two: e3 or e4.

A pawn captures diagonally only, and only enemy pieces. The e4 pawn may take on d5 or f5, or step quietly to e5.

This pawn has already left e2, so the two-square move is gone for good: only e4 is legal, never e5 — even though it has moved just one square so far.

Moves straight forward one square, or two squares from its starting row.
The two-square move is only available from the pawn's starting rank. Once a pawn has moved at all — even one square — it can only ever move one square at a time.
Captures one square diagonally forward — never straight ahead, and never its own side.
A piece standing directly in front of a pawn blocks it completely, friendly or enemy.
Never moves backwards.
On reaching the far row it must promote to a queen, rook, bishop or knight.
May capture an enemy pawn 'en passant' immediately after that pawn's two-square jump.

The King

Priceless

A king on d4 may step to any of the eight squares around it.

The king may never step onto an attacked square, nor onto a square held by one of its own pieces. The black rook covers the 5th rank, so only five squares remain.

Moves exactly one square: up, down, sideways or diagonally.
May never move onto a square attacked by an enemy piece.
No piece ever captures its own side: the king cannot step onto a square a friendly piece occupies.
The two kings can never stand next to each other.
Once per game the king may castle with a rook (see the special moves sheet).
If the king is attacked and no legal move removes the attack, that is checkmate and the game ends.

Special moves

Castling

The king steps two squares towards a rook and the rook hops over to the other side. It is allowed only if neither of those two pieces has moved, the squares between them are empty, and the king is not in check, does not pass through an attacked square and does not land on one.

Before: kings and rooks on their home squares, nothing in between.

After 0-0 (short castling): the king sits on g1, the rook on f1.

When castling is not allowed

The king may not be in check when it castles, may not cross a square that an enemy piece attacks, and may not land on an attacked square.

In check: the rook on e8 attacks the king, so White may not castle. Answer the check first.

Through check: the king would cross f1, which the rook on f8 attacks. Short castling is illegal.

Into check: g1, the king's landing square, is attacked by the rook on g8. Short castling is illegal.

En passant

If a pawn makes its two-square jump and lands beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as though it had moved only one square. The chance lasts for one move only.

Black has just played d7-d5, passing the white pawn on e5.

After exd6: the white pawn captures onto d6 and the black pawn is removed.

Promotion

A pawn that reaches the farthest rank is immediately exchanged for a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its own color — your choice.

The white pawn is one step from the 8th rank.

Check, checkmate and draws

When a king is attacked it is in check and the attack must be answered immediately: move the king, capture the attacker, or block the line. If none of those is possible it is checkmate and the game is over.

Check: the white king is attacked and must answer the threat at once.

Checkmate: the rook checks along the 8th rank, every escape square is covered and nothing can block. White wins.

Stalemate: Black is not in check but has no legal move at all. The game is a draw.

A game is drawn in any of these ways:

Stalemate — The player to move is not in check but has no legal move.
Threefold repetition — The same position, with the same player to move and the same options, appears three times.
Fifty-move rule — Fifty moves by each side pass with no capture and no pawn move.
Insufficient material — Neither side has enough material left to deliver checkmate, for example king and bishop against king.
Agreement — Both players simply agree to a draw.

Printable sheets

Each sheet prints on one portrait page. The piece sheets show the piece, two diagrams and its rules; the special-move sheets show the position before and after the move.

Tip: in the print dialog choose portrait, and turn on background graphics if the board squares look blank. Prefer a screen version? Read the site guide.