How to Play Chess

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

The Staunton chess pattern, the worldwide standard, was first made by Jaques of London in 1849.

Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on an eight-by-eight squared board using 16 pieces per side. Each type of piece moves in a distinct way, and the interplay between attack, defence, and long-term planning gives the game a tactical depth that rewards years of study while remaining accessible to complete beginners in a single sitting. The Staunton chess pattern, the worldwide standard for piece design, was first made by Jaques of London in 1849.

Chess is played in homes, clubs, schools, parks, and online, at every level from casual kitchen-table games to world championship matches. Its appeal lies in the near-infinite variety of positions that can arise from a fixed, learnable set of rules, meaning no two games need ever be alike.

A little history

Chess is traditionally held to have originated in northern India, where a game called Chaturanga was played around the sixth century AD, though the precise origins are unclear. From India it spread through Persia as Shatranj, then into the Islamic world and on into medieval Europe. The rules were substantially revised in Europe during the fifteenth century, introducing the powerful Queen and the Bishop's long diagonal move, producing a game very close to the modern form. Competitive organised chess flourished through the nineteenth century, and the first official World Chess Championship was held in 1886.

Setting up

1. Orient the board so that each player has a light-coloured square in the bottom-right corner.
2. Place the Rooks on the corner squares of each player's back rank (first rank for White, eighth rank for Black).
3. Place the Knights on the squares immediately inside the Rooks.
4. Place the Bishops on the squares immediately inside the Knights.
5. Place the Queen on the remaining central square that matches her own colour: the White Queen on a light square, the Black Queen on a dark square.
6. Place the King on the remaining central square beside the Queen.
7. Fill the entire second rank (for White) and seventh rank (for Black) with the eight Pawns.
8. White always takes the first move.

How to play

1. Players alternate turns. On each turn a player must move exactly one of their own pieces to a legal square; passing is not permitted.
2. KING: moves exactly one square in any direction, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The King may never move to a square where it would be under attack.
3. QUEEN: moves any number of squares in any direction, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, as long as no piece blocks the path.
4. ROOK: moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically, as long as no piece blocks the path.
5. BISHOP: moves any number of squares diagonally, as long as no piece blocks the path. Each Bishop stays on its starting colour for the entire game.
6. KNIGHT: moves in an L-shape, two squares in one direction and then one square perpendicular, or vice versa. The Knight is the only piece that may jump over other pieces.
7. PAWN: moves forward one square. On its very first move a Pawn may instead advance two squares forward. Pawns capture diagonally forward one square only; they do not capture by moving straight ahead.
8. CAPTURING: a piece captures an enemy piece by moving to the square it occupies. The captured piece is removed from the board permanently.
9. CHECK: when a King is under direct attack from an enemy piece, it is in check. The player in check must resolve the situation immediately by moving the King to a safe square, blocking the attack with another piece, or capturing the attacking piece. No other move is legal.
10. CASTLING: once per game, if neither the King nor the chosen Rook has previously moved, and the squares between them are empty, and the King is not currently in check, and the King would not pass through or land on a square under attack, the King may castle. The King moves two squares toward that Rook, and the Rook jumps to the square the King crossed. Castling is available on either the Kingside (short) or Queenside (long).
11. EN PASSANT: if a Pawn uses its option to advance two squares from its starting position and lands beside an enemy Pawn that could have captured it had it moved only one square, the enemy Pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. This capture must be made immediately on the very next move or the right is forfeited.
12. PAWN PROMOTION: when a Pawn reaches the far end of the board (the opponent's back rank), it must immediately be replaced by a Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight of the same colour. The player chooses freely; promotion to a Queen is most common but any of the four is legal.
13. DRAWN POSITIONS: a game is drawn by agreement, by stalemate (see Winning), by threefold repetition of position, by the fifty-move rule (fifty consecutive moves by each side with no capture and no Pawn move), or when neither player has sufficient material to deliver checkmate.

Winning and scoring

The game is won by delivering checkmate: placing the opponent's King in check such that there is no legal move available to escape. The King is not physically captured; as soon as checkmate is established the game ends and the player who delivered it wins. A game is drawn, not won, if the player whose turn it is has no legal move but is not in check; this is called stalemate. Draws also result from agreement between both players, threefold repetition of the exact same position, the fifty-move rule, or insufficient mating material remaining on the board.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns castling legality. Players sometimes attempt to castle after having moved the King or the relevant Rook, which is not permitted even if both pieces have returned to their original squares. A second frequent argument arises from touch-move: in formal and most club play, if a player deliberately touches one of their own pieces they must move it, and if they touch an opponent's piece they must capture it if a legal capture exists. The piece must be released on a legal square; if no legal move exists for the touched piece the player may touch another. Verbal declaration of intent to adjust a piece (saying j'adoube or simply I adjust) before touching it overrides the touch-move rule.

En passant catches beginners repeatedly: the right expires after exactly one move. If the player whose Pawn was passed does not take en passant immediately on the following turn, the opportunity is gone permanently for that specific Pawn interaction. Pawn promotion must be completed before the opponent's next turn begins; if a physical piece representing the chosen promotion is unavailable, a clear declaration of the chosen piece suffices under most standard rules.

How to win more often

• Control the centre early: placing Pawns and pieces that influence the four central squares (e4, d4, e5, d5) gives your other pieces greater mobility throughout the game.
• Develop your pieces before attacking: bring your Knights and Bishops into active positions in the opening before launching any assault, so your full force is available when it matters.
• Keep your King safe: castle early in most games to tuck your King behind a wall of Pawns and reduce its exposure during the middlegame.
• Think before every move about what your opponent is threatening, not just what you plan to do: responding to threats before they become disasters is a habit that separates improving players from beginners.
• In the endgame, activate your King: once most pieces are gone, the King becomes a strong fighting piece; march it toward the centre rather than leaving it passively on the back rank.

Variations

Chess960 (Fischer Random Chess)

The starting position of the back-rank pieces is randomised at the start of each game, subject to the rule that Bishops must begin on opposite colours and the King must start between the two Rooks. This produces 960 possible starting positions and eliminates the advantage of deeply memorised opening theory, forcing creative play from the very first move. Castling rules are adjusted so that the King and Rook end on the same squares as in standard castling regardless of their random starting positions.

Blitz and Bullet Chess

These are standard chess played under sharply reduced time controls rather than different rules. Blitz typically gives each player three to five minutes for the entire game; Bullet gives one to two minutes. A player who runs out of time loses, provided the opponent has sufficient material to deliver checkmate. Time pressure shifts the character of the game dramatically, rewarding fast pattern recognition over deep calculation.

Three-Check Chess

Played on a standard board with standard movement rules, but with an additional winning condition: a player who puts the opponent's King in check three times wins the game, regardless of whether checkmate has been achieved. This encourages aggressive, attacking play and persistent harassment of the opposing King throughout every phase of the game.

Correspondence Chess

Players make one move at a time with an agreed interval of days between moves, historically by post and now typically by dedicated online platforms or email. Time controls commonly allow three to seven days per move. The extended thinking time available rewards deep positional preparation and opening research, and games can last months or years. Correspondence chess has a long and well-documented competitive history with its own international governing body and title system.

Chess: frequently asked questions