Basic Chess Rules Every Beginner Should Know
Chess may look complicated at first, but understanding the basic rules makes it much easier to play. The game is played on an 8×8 board with 64 squares, using black and white pieces. Each player starts with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.
The main goal of chess is to checkmate the opponent’s king. Checkmate means the king is in a position where it is under attack and cannot escape. If this happens, the game ends immediately.
Each chess piece moves differently. Pawns move one square forward but capture diagonally. Rooks move in straight lines horizontally or vertically. Bishops move diagonally, while knights move in an “L” shape and can jump over other pieces. The queen can move in any direction, and the king moves one square at a time.
There are a few special rules beginners should remember. Castling is a move where the king and rook move together to improve king safety. En passant is a special pawn capture, and promotion happens when a pawn reaches the last rank and turns into a queen or another piece.
A game can also end in a draw. This happens when neither player can checkmate, when both players agree to a draw, or when the same position repeats multiple times.
Learning these basic rules is the first step to enjoying chess. With practice, beginners can slowly improve and understand deeper strategies of the game.
