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The rules of chess, clearly explained

How every piece moves, the special moves that confuse beginners, and every way a game can end.

9 min readUpdated October 2026

The board and the set-up

Chess is played on an 8×8 board with a light square in each player's bottom-right corner. Columns are called files (a to h) and rows are ranks (1 to 8). White always moves first.

The starting positionRooks in the corners, then knights, then bishops. The queen goes on her own colour: the white queen on a light square, the black queen on a dark one.
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How the pieces move

King

One square in any direction. The king can never move into check, meaning onto a square attacked by an enemy piece.

Queen

Any number of squares in a straight line: along a rank, a file or a diagonal. She is the most powerful piece, worth about nine pawns.

Rook

Any number of squares along a rank or file. Worth about five pawns.

Bishop

Any number of squares diagonally, so each bishop stays on one colour for the whole game. Worth about three pawns.

Knight

Moves in an L shape: two squares in one direction and one to the side. It is the only piece that can jump over others. Worth about three pawns.

The knight's LFrom d4 this knight can reach eight squares. Knights are strongest in the centre and weakest on the edge, which is where the saying "a knight on the rim is dim" comes from.
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Pawn

Pawns move straight forward one square, or two squares on their very first move. They capture differently: one square diagonally forward. A pawn can never move backwards.

Check and checkmate

When a king is attacked it is in check, and the player must get out of check at once by moving the king, blocking the attack, or capturing the attacker. If there is no way out, it is checkmate and the game is over.

Back-rank checkmateThe rook gives check on the eighth rank. The black king is boxed in by its own pawns, nothing can block, and nothing can capture the rook. Ra8 is checkmate.
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The three special moves

Castling

Once per game, the king can move two squares towards a rook, and that rook jumps over to the square on the king's other side. It tucks the king away and brings the rook into play. You may castle only if:

  • neither the king nor that rook has moved yet;
  • every square between them is empty;
  • the king is not in check, and does not pass through or land on an attacked square.
Castling kingsideThe king goes from e1 to g1 and the rook from h1 to f1. In notation this is O-O. Castling queenside (O-O-O) takes the king to c1 and the rook to d1.
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En passant

If a pawn moves two squares and lands beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. This is only allowed on the very next move.

En passantBlack has just played d7-d5, landing next to the white pawn on e5. White can capture exd6, removing the pawn on d5. Wait one move and the chance is gone.
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Promotion

A pawn that reaches the far end of the board must be turned into a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. Almost everyone chooses a queen, which is why it is also called queening. You can have more than one queen.

PromotionThe pawn on a7 steps to a8 and becomes a queen. In the analyser a small menu appears so you can pick the piece.
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How a game ends

A win comes from checkmate, from the opponent resigning, or from the opponent running out of time (as long as you still have enough material that a checkmate is possible).

A draw happens in several ways:

  • Stalemate: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move.
  • Threefold repetition: the same position occurs three times with the same player to move.
  • Fifty-move rule: fifty moves by each side without a capture or a pawn move.
  • Insufficient material: neither side can possibly checkmate, for example king against king, or king and bishop against king.
  • Agreement: both players agree to a draw.
StalemateBlack to move. The king is not in check, but every square it could go to is covered by the white queen. Black has no legal move, so the game is a draw. Stalemate rescues many lost positions, so be careful when you are winning.
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Where to go next

Learn to read and write the moves in notation, FEN and PGN, then start building good habits with opening principles.