How to Play Chess: Rules for Beginners
Chess rules explained simply: how each piece moves, check and checkmate, castling, en passant, promotion, every way a game is drawn and how to read moves.
Chess has six kinds of piece, a handful of special rules, and one aim: trap the enemy king so that it cannot escape capture. Everything else follows. This guide explains the rules as Chess enforces them, so you can start a game against the Easy robot today and understand every message the board shows you.
The board and the setup
The board is 8 × 8 with a light square in each player's bottom-right corner. Each side has eight pawns in front and, from the corners inward, a rook, a knight, a bishop, then the queen on her own colour (white queen on a light square, black queen on a dark square) and the king beside her. White moves first; players alternate, one move each.
How the pieces move
| Piece | Move | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| King | one square in any direction | may never move into check |
| Queen | any distance along a rank, file or diagonal | the most powerful piece |
| Rook | any distance along a rank or file | takes part in castling |
| Bishop | any distance along a diagonal | stays on one colour of square all game |
| Knight | an L shape: two squares one way, then one at right angles | the only piece that jumps over others |
| Pawn | one square forward (two from its starting square); captures one square diagonally forward | never moves backward; see promotion and en passant |
A piece captures by moving onto the square of an enemy piece, which is removed. Pieces other than the knight cannot pass through occupied squares.
Check and checkmate
The king is in check when an enemy piece could capture it next move. You must get out of check immediately, by moving the king, capturing the checking piece or blocking the line (not possible against a knight). If no legal move gets out of check, it is checkmate and the game is over. You may never make a move that leaves your own king in check; the board only offers legal moves, so an illegal move is simply not available.
The special rules
Castling. Once per game, if the king and the rook have not moved, the squares between them are empty, and the king is not in check and does not pass through or land on an attacked square, the king moves two squares toward the rook and the rook jumps to the square the king crossed. It is the usual way to make the king safe.
En passant. If a pawn moves two squares from its starting square and lands beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square, but only on the very next move.
Promotion. A pawn that reaches the far side of the board becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight of your choice (the board asks). Almost always choose a queen; occasionally a knight gives checkmate or a queen would cause stalemate.
How games are drawn
- Stalemate: the player to move has no legal move and is not in check.
- Threefold repetition: the same position with the same player to move occurs three times.
- The fifty-move rule: fifty moves by each side with no capture and no pawn move.
- Insufficient material: neither side can possibly checkmate (king against king, king and bishop or knight against king, and similar).
The board declares these draws automatically. Stalemate is the one that costs beginners wins: when you are far ahead, always check that your opponent still has a legal move before you play a quiet move.
Avoiding stalemate
You have a king and queen against a lone king in the corner. Your queen sits a knight's move away from the enemy king, taking all its squares, and it is Black to move with no legal move and no check: stalemate, and a draw. The fix is to give check with the queen instead, or to bring your king closer first and only then deliver mate on the edge.
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Reading the move list
Moves are written in algebraic notation: files a to h from White's left, ranks 1 to 8 from White's side. Nf3 is a knight moving to f3; exd5 is a pawn from the e-file capturing on d5; 0-0 is castling on the king's side, 0-0-0 on the queen's side; + is check and # is checkmate; e8=Q is a pawn promoting to a queen. The move list beside the board keeps the whole game, and reading it after a loss is the fastest way to improve.
Your first games
- Play White against the Easy robot, which makes deliberate slips.
- Learn to see what the robot's last move attacks before you move.
- Get your knights and bishops out, castle, then look for captures.
- When ahead, trade pieces, push a pawn to promote, and checkmate with the queen and king on the edge of the board.
- Use Undo freely while learning; it takes back your move and the robot's reply.
Common mistakes
- Leaving pieces where they can be taken for free. Look at every enemy piece's lines before moving.
- Not castling. A king in the centre gets attacked.
- Forgetting the knight jumps. Knights attack squares that look safe.
- Playing on in a drawn position hoping for a mistake. The robot knows the draw rules.
- Stalemating a lone king. Check that the opponent has a move.
Glossary
- Rank and file: a row (1 to 8) and a column (a to h).
- Check: the king is attacked and must be rescued this move.
- Checkmate: check with no escape; the game ends.
- Stalemate: no legal move and not in check; a draw.
- Algebraic notation: the standard way of writing moves (Nf3, exd5, 0-0).
- Material: the pieces each side has, counted roughly as pawn 1, knight and bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9.
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Questions and answers
How does the knight move?
Two squares along a rank or file and then one square at right angles, in an L shape. It is the only piece that jumps over others.
When can I castle?
When the king and that rook have not moved, the squares between them are empty, the king is not in check and does not pass through or land on an attacked square. The king moves two squares toward the rook and the rook jumps over it.
What is en passant?
If an enemy pawn advances two squares and lands beside your pawn, you may capture it on the next move only, as though it had moved one square.
What ends a game as a draw?
Stalemate, the same position three times, fifty moves each without a capture or pawn move, or too few pieces for either side to checkmate. The board declares each one automatically.
How strong is the robot?
Easy looks one move ahead and makes deliberate slips. Normal searches a few moves deep. Hard thinks for about a second per move and plays a solid club-level game.
Written by the DailyGameClub team from the rules as DailyGameClub plays them. Updated October 15, 2026. New to a word? See the glossary. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.