The Goal of Chess
The goal is to checkmate your opponent’s king.
Checkmate means the king is under attack, and no moves can save it. The game ends here.
How Each Piece Moves
Every chess piece has a special way of moving. Here’s how:
Pawn
- Moves forward 1 square at a time, but can move 2 squares on its first move.
- Captures diagonally, not straight ahead.
- If a pawn reaches the other side of the board, it gets “promoted” to any piece (usually a queen).
Rook
- Moves in straight lines (up, down, left, right) as far as it wants.
Knight
- Moves in an “L” shape: 2 squares in one direction, then 1 square to the side (or vice versa).
- The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.
Bishop
- Moves diagonally, as far as it wants, staying on the same color square.
Queen
- Moves in any direction (up, down, left, right, diagonally) as far as it wants. The queen is the most powerful piece.
King
- Moves 1 square in any direction.
- The king is very important—if it’s threatened by an enemy piece, it’s called check. You must protect your king from check, or you could lose the game
Special Rules
Chess has some cool moves you can use:
Castling
- A special move with the king and a rook.
- The king moves 2 squares to the side, and the rook jumps over the king.
- You can only castle if neither the king nor the rook has moved before, and there are no pieces between them.
En Passant
- If a pawn moves 2 squares forward, and it lands next to an opponent’s pawn, the opponent can capture it as if it had moved just 1 square. This move must happen right after the 2-square move.
Promotion
- When a pawn reaches the other side of the board, it can turn into any piece (usually a queen). This is called promotion.
How Does a Chess Game End?
A chess game can end in a few different ways. Let’s go over them in a way that’s easy to understand!
Checkmate (You Win!)
- Checkmate happens when the opponent’s king is under attack (in check) and there’s no way for them to escape.
- Once you checkmate your opponent, you win the game!
Example: Your queen moves to a square where it attacks the enemy king, and the king has no safe squares to move to or pieces to block the attack. That’s checkmate!
Stalemate (It’s a Tie!)
- Stalemate is when a player can’t make any legal moves, but their king isn’t in check.
- When this happens, the game ends in a tie, or a draw. Nobody wins!
Example: If your opponent only has a king left and can’t move anywhere, but you haven’t put their king in check, the game ends in a stalemate.
Resignation (Giving Up)
- A player can resign or give up if they think they’re going to lose.
- When someone resigns, their opponent wins the game.
Draw by Agreement (Both Players Tie)
- If both players think they can’t win, they can agree to draw the game.
- This happens if both players are evenly matched or if it’s hard for either side to checkmate.
Draw by Repetition (Three Times Same Position)
- If the same exact position happens three times during the game, the players can call it a draw.
- This stops the game from going on forever if no one can make progress.
50-Move Rule
- If 50 moves happen without any pawn moving or any piece being captured, the game can be declared a draw.
- This rule is used to avoid never-ending games!
Running Out of Time
- In games where a timer is used, if one player runs out of time, they lose.
- But if the opponent doesn’t have enough pieces to checkmate, the game ends in a draw.