Chess rules

Chess

Chess is a contest to trap the other king. White moves first, and the players then alternate one move at a time. You win by checkmate: the opposing king is under attack and has no legal escape.

Set up the board

Each player begins with a back rank of rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight and rook, with eight pawns in front. From White's side, the queen starts on d1 and the king on e1. A light square sits at each player's right-hand corner.

How the pieces move

• The king steps one square in any direction. It may never move into check.
• The queen travels any number of clear squares along a rank, file or diagonal.
• A rook travels along a clear rank or file; a bishop travels along a clear diagonal.
• A knight jumps in an L: two squares one way and one across. Other pieces do not block it.
• A pawn moves one square forward into an empty square, or two from its starting square if both squares are clear. It captures one square diagonally forward. Pawns never move backward.

You capture by moving onto an opposing piece's square. You cannot capture your own pieces or make a move that leaves your king attacked.

Three special moves

Castling moves your king two squares toward a rook, then places that rook on the square the king crossed. Neither piece may have moved before; the squares between them must be empty. Your king cannot castle out of, through or into check. En passant lets a pawn capture an opposing pawn immediately after that pawn moves two squares past its attack square; the chance lasts for that one reply. When a pawn reaches the far rank, choose a queen, rook, bishop or knight for its promotion.

Check, mate and draws

When your king is in check, your move must end the attack by moving the king, capturing the attacker or blocking its line. If no legal reply exists, it is checkmate. If you have no legal move but are not in check, the game is a draw by stalemate. A draw can also arise from an agreed draw, a position where neither player can possibly mate, or a valid claim after three occurrences of the same position or fifty moves by each side without a pawn move or capture. The board offers the draw claims it supports; neither player needs to remember every past position.