Rules & Basics
How the pieces move, and the rules every player needs to know.
The board and the pieces
Chess is played on an 8×8 board. Each player has 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. White moves first.
How each piece moves
- King: One square in any direction. It must never move into check.
- Queen: Any number of squares in any straight line (rank, file, or diagonal).
- Rook: Any number of squares along a rank or file.
- Bishop: Any number of squares along a diagonal.
- Knight: Moves in an L-shape (two squares in one direction, one in the other). It can jump over other pieces.
- Pawn: One square forward (or two from its starting square). Captures one square diagonally forward. Promotes to any piece when it reaches the last rank.
Important rules
Check: When your king is attacked, you must get out of check on your next move (move the king, block, or capture the attacker). You cannot move into check or leave your king in check.
Checkmate: When the king is in check and has no legal move, the game is over. The side that gave checkmate wins.
Castling: Under certain conditions, you can move your king two squares toward a rook and place the rook on the other side of the king. This gets your king safer and your rook into play.
En passant: A special pawn capture when an enemy pawn has just moved two squares forward and lands beside your pawn. You may capture it as if it had moved only one square.
For next steps, see Strategy and Openings. To practice, try Play AI or Puzzles.