Chess rules

Objective

The objective is to win the game by delivering checkmate to the opponent’s king.

In practice, the game ends as soon as checkmate occurs: the king is in check, and no legal move can get the king out of check.

In chess, the king is not captured: the game stops immediately when checkmate is reached.

Setup

Board

• The board is a grid of 8 files and 8 ranks.
• Squares alternate between a light color and a dark color.
• The board is oriented so that each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner.

Players

• White always moves first.
• Black moves next, then White, and so on.

Starting pieces

• Each player starts with 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 8 pawns.
• The rank closest to each player contains the major pieces (king, queen, rooks, bishops, knights).
• The rank in front of them contains the pawns.

Piece order

From White’s point of view, the back rank (left to right) is: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook.

The white queen starts on a light square. The black queen starts on a dark square.

The starting position is shown below:

Initial position of a chess game.

Unless stated otherwise, diagrams are shown from White’s point of view, with White at the bottom.

Piece movement

General principles

• On your turn, you play a move: you move one piece of your color.
• A piece moves to a destination square.
• The destination square must be empty or occupied by an opponent’s piece.
• You cannot move onto a square occupied by one of your own pieces.
• If the destination square contains an opponent’s piece, that piece is captured and removed from the game.
• Except for the knight, pieces cannot jump over occupied squares: the path must be clear.
• A move is illegal if it leaves your king in check or puts your king in check.

Movement by piece

King

• The king moves one square in any direction (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal).
• The king captures in the same way.

Queen

• The queen moves any number of squares in a straight line: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
• The queen captures in the same way.

Rook

• The rook moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically.
• The rook captures in the same way.

Bishop

• The bishop moves any number of squares diagonally.
• The bishop captures in the same way.

Knight

• The knight moves in an L shape: 2 squares in one direction (horizontal or vertical), then 1 square perpendicular.
• The knight can jump over other pieces.
• The knight captures by landing on the square occupied by an opponent’s piece.

Pawn

Pawns move differently when advancing and when capturing. For White, “forward” means “toward the top of the diagram”. For Black, “forward” means “toward the bottom of the diagram”.

• A pawn advances one square forward if the square is empty.
• On its first move, a pawn may advance two squares if both squares are empty.
• A pawn captures one square diagonally forward (left or right).
• A pawn does not capture straight ahead.

Special moves

Castling

Castling is a special move involving the king and a rook of the same player. The king moves two squares toward the rook, and the rook moves to the square immediately next to the king, on the other side.

Castling is allowed only if:

• the king has not moved yet;
• the rook used has not moved yet;
• there are no pieces between the king and that rook;
• the king is not in check at the time of castling;
• the king does not pass through an attacked square;
• the king’s destination square is not attacked.

En passant

En passant applies only to pawns. If a pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands next to an opposing pawn (horizontally), that opposing pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square.

The capturing pawn moves one square diagonally forward onto the “passed” square, and the captured pawn is removed.

This capture is only possible immediately on the move after the two-square advance. If it is not played right away, the right to capture en passant is lost.

Pawn promotion

When a pawn reaches the last rank (the far edge of the board), it is promoted. The pawn is replaced by a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color.

Promotion to a king is not possible. The choice is free: you do not need a captured piece available. It is therefore possible to have multiple queens.

Check and checkmate

Definitions

• Check: the king is attacked by at least one opponent’s piece.
• Attacked square: a square is attacked if an opponent’s piece could capture a piece on that square according to its movement, taking blocking pieces into account.
• To respond to check: to play a legal move after which the king is no longer in check.
• Checkmate: the king is in check and no legal move can respond to the check.

Announcing check

Players may announce check, but it is not required. What matters is the actual position on the board.

What to do when your king is in check

If your king is in check, you must play a move that responds to the check, for example:

• move the king to a non-attacked square,
• capture the attacking piece (if the king is no longer in check afterward),
• block the attack (only against a line attack: rook, bishop, queen).

Stalemate and draws

Stalemate

A position is stalemate if the player to move: (1) is not in check, and (2) has no legal move. In that case, the game is a draw.

Other types of draws

• Draw by agreement: the two players may agree to a draw.
• Insufficient material: neither side can checkmate with perfect play (typical examples: king vs. king; king and bishop vs. king; king and knight vs. king).
• Threefold repetition: if the same position occurs three times (same player to move, and the same rights available, including castling and en passant rights), the game may be declared a draw. Depending on the setting (arbiter, online platform), it may be claimed or automatic.
• 50-move rule: if 50 moves by each player (that is, 100 half-moves) are played with no capture and no pawn move, the game may be declared a draw (by claim or automatically, depending on the setting).
• Dead position: some positions are drawn because no checkmate is possible, regardless of how the game continues. In that case, the game is a draw regardless of whose turn it is.

End of the game

• The game ends by checkmate (win), by resignation, or by a draw.
• A player may resign at any time. Resigning means the player acknowledges defeat.
• In timed games, a player may lose on time if they exceed the allotted time, according to the time control rules being used.
• In software implementations, an illegal move (for example, leaving your king in check) is usually rejected.

Chess in art and literature

Chess has inspired many works. Here are two classic references often cited:

Scacchi ludus (1527) — Marco Girolamo Vida

A poem describing a mythical chess game between gods.

Caïssa: or The Game of Chess (1772) — William Jones

A poem that popularized Caïssa, an allegorical figure associated with chess.