Rules of Chess

Chess is more than a simple board game, it is a battle of intellect and strategy between two players on a 64-square chessboard. Every move counts and every decision can lead to victory or defeat.

Aim of the game

The objective of the game is to attack and corner the opponent's king in such a way that it has no escape, a situation that is known as checkmate.

Game board and pieces

The game takes place on a board of 8x8 squares, totalling 64 squares. These squares alternate between light and dark colour. Each player has a set of white or black pieces, with a total of 16 pieces pro player, distributed as follows:

• 1 king
• 1 queen
• 2 bishops
• 2 knights
• 2 rooks
• 8 pawns

Number of players

The game is designed for two players.

Chess moves

Each type of piece has its own way of moving:

• The king moves only one square but in any direction: horizontal, vertical and diagonal, onto a free square.
• The queen can move along the horizontal, vertical or diagonal line, but it cannot jump over other pieces.
• The bishop moves along the diagonals. It can't jump over other pieces.
• The knight is the only piece that can jump over others. Its movement is in the form of an "L", that is, it moves two squares in one direction (horizontal or vertical) and then one more in a perpendicular direction.
• The rook moves along the vertical line or the horizontal line, although it cannot jump over other pieces.
• The pawn can only move one square forward, except on its first move, when it can advance two squares. On the other hand, the pawn can only capture the opponent's pieces that are on the two diagonal squares in front of him.

Special movements

Castling

Castling is a special defensive move in which the king and a rook of the same player move simultaneously. To perform castling, the following conditions must be met:

• Neither the king nor the rook involved have been moved before
• There should be no piece between the king and the rook
• The king cannot be in check and the squares it passes through must not be under attack (the two side squares towards the rook)

Promotion of the pawn

If a pawn reaches the last row of the chessboard, the player has the option to turn it into any other piece, except a king or another pawn.

The "en passant" capture of the pawn

If an opposing pawn advances two squares on its first move and ends up right next to one of your pawns, you can capture it as if it had advanced only one square.

Start and flow of the game

Before starting a game, the colour of the pieces is assigned to each player, alternating the colours in each successive game. The player with the white pieces always starts the game.

From then on, both players take turns to move their pieces according to the rules of movement specified above. Each player will try to gain an advantage over his opponent, either in terms of material or position. The ultimate goal is to attack the king in such a way that it cannot be defended, which is known as checkmate.

Victory can also be achieved if the opponent surrenders or runs out of time.

Draw

Another possible result is a draw, which occurs in any of the following cases:

• By mutual agreement between the players.
• If the same position of the pieces is repeated for the third time.
• When a player, without being in check, cannot move any piece, which is known as stalemate.
• If after fifty consecutive moves no piece has been captured and no pawn has been promoted.
• If only the following pieces remain on the board:
  • King against king
  • King and knight against king
  • King and bishop against king
  • King and bishop against king and bishop
  • King and 2 knights against king
  • King and knight against king and knight
  • King and bishop against king and knight

Strategies

In conclusion, we can affirm that the objective of a player, long before reaching checkmate, is to obtain a winning position. This can be achieved in various ways. The most common can be classified according to the type of advantage:

• To earn better position or higher value of the remaining pieces, would be the most frequent way.
• To achieve a direct attack against the king.
• To obtain significant positional advantages, such as the destruction of the coordination of the opponent's pawns or pieces, weakening the position of the enemy king, or limiting the mobility of the opposing pieces.

With Chess, every game is a new opportunity to learn and improve. Start playing and discover the pleasure of this millenary game!