How to Play Chess: A Beginner’s Guide

1. Setting Up the Chessboard:

• Place the chessboard between you and your opponent so that each player has a white square on their right-hand side.
• Arrange the pieces as follows:
  • Rooks go in the corners.
  • Knights are placed next to the rooks.
  • Bishops go next to the knights.
  • The Queen starts on her matching color square (white Queen on a white square, black Queen on a black square).
  • The King stands beside the Queen.

2. Understanding the Pieces:

• Each player starts with 16 pieces: one King, one Queen, two Rooks, two Knights, two Bishops, and eight Pawns.
• Learn the movement and value of each piece:
  • King (1 point): Moves one square in any direction.
  • Queen (9 points): Moves diagonally, vertically, or horizontally any number of squares.
  • Rook (5 points): Moves vertically or horizontally any number of squares.
  • Bishop (3 points): Moves diagonally any number of squares.
  • Knight (3 points): Moves in an “L” shape (two squares in one direction, then one square perpendicular).
  • Pawn (1 point): Moves forward one square but captures diagonally. On its first move, a pawn can move forward two squares.

3. Objective of the Game:

• The goal is to checkmate your opponent’s King. This means putting the King in a position where it cannot escape capture.

4. Rules of Movement:

• Each player takes turns to make one move.
• Pieces cannot move through other pieces except for the Knight, which can jump over other pieces.
• Pawns have special rules:
  • En passant: If an opponent’s pawn moves two squares forward from its starting position and lands next to your pawn, you can capture it as if it had only moved one square forward.
  • Promotion: When a pawn reaches the opponent’s back rank (8th rank for white, 1st rank for black), it can be promoted to any other piece (except a King).

5. Special Moves:

• Castling: Under certain conditions, the King and Rook can move simultaneously. This is called castling and is a way to protect the King.

6. Check and Checkmate:

• When a King is attacked by an opponent’s piece, it is in check. The player must make a move to remove the check.
• Checkmate is when a King is in check, and there is no legal move to escape check. The game ends, and the player in checkmate loses.

7. Stalemate and Draw:

• Stalemate occurs when a player has no legal moves left but is not in check. The game is a draw (a tie).
• Other draw conditions include insufficient material to checkmate and the fifty-move rule (no capture or pawn move in 50 consecutive moves).

8. Online Chess Resources:

• You can play against the computer. There are three skill levels for you to play against or you can play against someone else that is with you

9. Have Fun and Practice:

• Chess is a game of strategy and patience. The more you play, the better you’ll become.

Remember, chess takes time to master, so be patient and enjoy the learning process.

Or you can watch a Youtube video….