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A game of chess is won when one player successfully puts the other player’s King into checkmate.  Even people who have never played chess before recognize the words “check” and “checkmate” as belonging to the game.  However, beginners to chess may not understand the difference between the two.

Check

A King is considered to be in check anytime an opponent, on the next move, could take the King if nothing is done to protect the King.  For example, if a King is in the same row as an opponents Rook and there are no pieces between the King and the Rook.  When the King is in check, you are required to make a move that will protect him.  This move could be any of the following:

1. Move the King out of harm’s way.
2. Move another piece into harm’s way between the King and the Rook.  The downside to this is that the opponent may use the Rook to take that piece and your King will be in check again.  A way to get around this is to protect the King with a piece placed directly next to him.  This will allow the King to capture any opponent’s piece attempting to capture the protection.
3. Capture the Rook with another of your pieces, ending the threat against the King.

A King in check cannot be ignored.  In addition, the move you make to remove the King from check cannot place the King into another check.  Also, during play, a player is never allowed to deliberately place the King in check.

Checkmate

When a King is placed into a check that is impossible to resolve, then it is considered checkmate.  Consider the above instance.  If you were unable to move the King without placing it in check from another opponent piece, and you had not pieces that could be moved between the King and Rook or be used to capture the Rook, then the situation would no longer be a check, but would be checkmate.  Checkmate signals the end of the game.  The player with the King in checkmate loses the game, and the player performing the checkmate wins.

Stalemate

A stalemate occurs in chess when one player has no available move without putting the King into check, but the King is actually not in check yet.  This usually means that only the King remains on the board, and any move of the King puts him in line to be captured by an opponent piece.  When a stalemate occurs, the game is considered to be a draw.  If you are playing for points, each player would be awarded half a point for a stalemate game.

Other Types of Draws

There are several other ways for a game of chess to end in a draw.  They include:

1. Fifty Moves:  Either player may choose to end the game in a draw if each player has made fifty sequential moves without any piece being captured and without any pawn being moved.  The fifty move rule does not constitute an automatic draw.  A player must recognize that the requirements for the draw have been met and claim it.
2. Impossibility of Checkmate.  This occurs when there is no possible way, using legal moves of the game, for either play to place the opponent’s king in checkmate.  This rule is also referred to as the rule of insufficient material, because the most common reason checkmate becomes impossible is that there are not the right pieces on the board.  For example, a lone king versus a lone king on the board cannot result in a checkmate of either king.
3. Threefold repetition.  A draw can be claimed by a player when he is about to make a move that will cause an exact replica of a move that has already occurred twice.  For the move to be considered repeating, all of the pieces on the board must occupy the same positions as the previous two moves.  If two of the same type of piece have “switched” places, the threefold repetition rule still stands, because the move opportunities for each piece are still the same.
4. Draw by agreement.  This type of draw is also called draw by mutual agreement.  Generally, advanced players can tell toward the end of a game that neither will be able to win.  Many times,  it is obvious that the game will end with Impossibility of Checkmate or Fifty Moves, and a mutual draw is declared to save time.
5. Perpetual check.  This occurs when one side has unlimited opportunity to put his opponent in check, but can never managed to achieve checkmate.  This means that the game could go on perpetually with one opponent checking the king, and the other opponent using his move to uncheck the king.  If a player does not claim the perpetual check draw, then the game will likely end with the fifty move rule anyway.

Castling

Several pieces in chess have special moves, or  moves they can perform under the right circumstances.   One of these special moves is castling, which is a useful move with strict rules.  The castling move can only be used when neither the king nor the rook has been moved during the game.  This means that both pieces being used in the casting move are in their original locations.  In order to complete the move, there can be no other piece between the king and the rook.  The king also cannot be in check either at the beginning of the move or as a result of the move.

If all of the conditions for castling are met, the move is completed by moving the king and rook toward each other.   The king is moved two spaces toward the rook.  The rook is moved to the space the king just moved through, or to the first space on the side of the king opposite the original position of the rook.

En- Passant

The en-passant is one of the lesser known moves in chess, and thus can be used to outwit opponents.  En-passant is a move wherein a pawn is used to capture another pawn. This capture move can only be used when the opponent chooses to move a pawn two squares forward from its original position.  If you have a pawn in position that could have captured the opponent’s pawn had the pawn only been moved one space, you can use the standard capture move just like the pawn was in that space.   The opponent’s pawn is captured en-passant, even though it was not actually in the square your pawn now occupies.

Some restrictions apply to the en-passant move.  This move can only be used to capture a pawn moved two spaces from its original position.  En-passant can only be used on the move directly following your opponent moving the pawn two spaces forward.  No other chess piece can make the en-passant move.

Promotion

Just as pieces which make it across a checker board are promoted to kings, pawns which make it across a chess board can be promoted as well.   Once a pawn reaches the other end of the board, it can be promoted, or replaced, with any other piece except a King.  Generally, pawns are promoted to queens, because queens are the most powerful piece on the board.  You can promote a pawn to queen even if you still have your queen in play.  Many people turn a captured rook upside down to act as a second queen.

Since pawns can be promoted to the most valuable piece on the board, pawns are more valuable than they seem!

Although a chess board looks similar to a checker board, the movement of chess pieces is very unique.  Each piece has its own set of rules for movement, and some come with exceptions and special moves.  This article will cover all the standard moves each piece makes.

Kings

The King can move one space in any direction, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  If the square the King moves to is occupied by a piece belonging to the opponent, that piece is captured and should be moved off the board.  The King cannot move into a space occupied by a piece of the same color. (For example, the black King cannot take a space occupied by a black Bishop—this rule applies to all pieces.)

Queens

The Queen can move in any straight line for any distance either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  The Queen can move as many spaces in this straight line as desired, up to the edge of the board or until she runs into another piece.  The Queen cannot move past, or “jump” another piece on the board.  The Queen can take an opponent’s piece by moving into the square that the piece occupies.  This ends the move.

Bishops

Bishops can only move along a diagonal.  Like the Queen, the length of the Bishop’s move is up to the player, unless the Bishop runs into another piece.  Bishops capture the opponent’s pieces in the same way the Queen does.

Knights

Knights have possibly the most complicated move.  Knights move two spaces horizontally or vertically, and one space perpendicular to the horizontal or vertical line made by the first two spaces.  The Knight’s move is L shaped.  In moving, Knights “jump” other pieces—this means that any pieces the Knight passes between his starting space and ending space are not captured.  Knights capture opponent pieces by “landing” or ending the L move in the square occupied by that piece.

Rooks

Rooks move in a straight horizontal or vertical line for any distance to the end of the board or until the Rook runs into another piece.  (With the exception of Castling, which is covered under Tips, Tricks and Special Moves.)  Rooks capture opponents in the same way as Queens and Bishops.

Pawns

Pawns generally have two moves.  A pawn can move one space forward if the space in front of the pawn is empty.  A pawn cannot capture by moving forward where another piece resides.  Pawns move diagonally to capture, but cannot move diagonally unless there is a piece to capture.  An exception to the one space forward rule for pawns comes on the pawn’s first move of the game.  If the pawn has not yet been moved from the second row, the player has the option to move the pawn two spaces forward instead of one.  (An exception to Pawn movement is the en-passant move, which is covered under Tips, Tricks, and Special Moves.)

To set up your board for play, you must first make sure the players are sitting on the correct sides of the board.  Players should sit opposite each other with a side of the square board running directly in front of them.  Both players should have a white square all the way to the right.  A common phrase in chess is “white on the right” to remember this rule.

Once both players are properly seated, begin setting up pieces.  Each player must choose a color, either black or white.  Each color includes all the same pieces.

The pieces in chess are:

• King – tallest piece, generally with cross on top
• Queen – second in height, with crown
• Bishops (2) –with a pointed top, or mitre (ceremonial headdress of Catholic bishops)
• Knights (2) – horses
• Rook (2) – towers or castles
• Pawns (8) – smallest pieces of the set

Pieces are placed on the board as follows:

Rooks for each player are put in the corners of the row nearest the player.  Next to both rooks, a knight is placed, and then a bishop.  Each player should now have a row on the edge of his side of the board with Rook, Knight, Bishop, Space, Space, Bishop, Knight,  Rook.

Each player has two spaces in the middle of the first row:  One black space and one white space.  Each player places their queen on her matching color.  The white queen is placed on the white space, and the black queen on the black.  Another popular phrase for beginning chess players is “queens on color”.  Kings, of course, are placed on the remaining space in the first row.

The second row for each player is filled by pawns.

Each player should now have two rows directly in front of them occupied by their 16 chess pieces.   The board is ready for play!