How to play chess: a complete beginner's guide
The chess board, how every piece moves, castling, en passant, promotion, how games end and the opening principles beginners need.
Chess has been played for around 1,500 years and is still the most widely played strategy game in the world. This guide covers the board, how each piece moves, the special rules that surprise most beginners, and the opening principles that get you through the early game.
The board and the goal
Chess is played on an 8×8 board of alternating light and dark squares. White and Black each start with sixteen pieces: eight pawns on the second rank, and the king, queen, two rooks, two bishops and two knights on the back rank. Each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner, which players remember as "light on right". White moves first.
You win by checkmating the opponent's king. A check is an attack on the king, and checkmate is a check the opponent can't escape. Capturing pieces helps you get there. A game can also end in a draw, covered below.
How each piece moves
| Piece | How it moves |
|---|---|
| Pawn | One square straight forward, or two from its starting square. Captures one square diagonally forward, never straight ahead. |
| Rook | Any number of squares along a rank or file. Can't jump over pieces. |
| Bishop | Any number of squares diagonally. Each bishop stays on one colour all game. |
| Queen | Any number of squares along a rank, file or diagonal. The strongest piece. |
| Knight | In an L-shape, two squares one way then one square to the side. The only piece that jumps over others. |
| King | One square in any direction, never onto a square an opposing piece attacks. |
A pawn that reaches the far rank must be promoted to a queen, rook, bishop or knight of your choice. Most players choose a queen.
Castling
Castling is a one-time move that tucks the king away and brings a rook into play in the same turn. The king moves two squares towards a rook, and that rook jumps to the square on the king's other side.
It is legal only if neither the king nor that rook has moved, no pieces stand between them, the king is not in check, and the king doesn't pass through or land on an attacked square. Castling towards the nearer rook is called kingside or short castling, and towards the farther one queenside or long castling.
En passant
When a pawn moves two squares from its starting square and lands right beside one of your pawns, your pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. You must do it on your very next move or lose the chance.
How games end
Most casual games end in checkmate or resignation, when a player sees the position is lost and concedes. Timed games can also be lost on time. A game is drawn in these cases:
- Stalemate. The player to move has no legal move and is not in check. Many beginners stalemate an opponent while far ahead in material.
- Insufficient material. Neither side has enough pieces left to force checkmate, such as king against king, or king and bishop against king.
- Threefold repetition. The same position occurs three times with the same player to move.
- Fifty-move rule. Fifty moves by each side pass with no pawn move and no capture.
Over the board, players claim a repetition or fifty-move draw themselves. On PlayFaceToFace the game spots all four and ends the game as a draw automatically.
Opening principles for your first ten moves
Don't memorise openings yet. These principles cover most good early play.
- Control the centre. Push a central pawn (1.e4 or 1.d4) and aim your knights and bishops at the four central squares.
- Develop your knights early. They have fewer good squares than bishops, so committing them first rarely costs anything. Nf3 and Nc3 are almost always useful moves for White.
- Castle early. Your king is safer behind a wall of pawns at the side than in the centre, where the fighting happens.
- Move each piece once in the opening. Every move spent moving the same piece again is a move your opponent uses to bring out a new one.
Practise with the AI, then play a friend
The fastest way to learn these rules is to play. Try a game against the AI below, and when you are ready for a real opponent, start a private room and send a friend the link.
Try a quick demo game
A private solo board against the AI, right here on the page. Nothing to sign up for.
Chess
You know the moves. Set up the board.
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