Chess rules

Try every chess rule in 14 positions

Positions 1 to 5 are the movement rules, including the two that keep your own king safe. Positions 6 to 10 are check and the special moves. Positions 11 to 14 are the four ways a game ends on the board: checkmate, stalemate, too few pieces and repetition.

1. 1. A pawn captures diagonally

   After 1.e4 d5, Black's pawn stands one square diagonally in front of White's pawn. Capture it, from e4 to d5.

   exd5: legal.

   A pawn moves straight but captures one square diagonally forward. A pawn facing an enemy pawn head-on cannot take it and cannot move.

   Try it on the board

2. 2. Two squares only on the first move

   After 1.e3 a6, White's e-pawn has already moved once. Try pushing it two squares, from e3 to e5.

   e3-e5: not legal, not how this piece moves. A pawn moves two squares only on its first move, from its starting square.

   Each pawn gets its 2-square move once, from its starting square on rank 2. From e3 it goes to e4 only.

   Try it on the board

3. 3. You never capture your own piece

   The starting position. Try moving the rook from a1 onto its own pawn on a2.

   Ra1-a2: not legal, own piece on the square. Your own pawn is on a2. You cannot capture your own piece.

   At the start only the knights and the pawns can move. The rooks, bishops, queen and king wait until pawns step aside.

   Try it on the board

4. 4. Two kings never touch

   The white king is on e4 and the black king on e6. Try stepping the white king forward to e5.

   Ke4-e5: not legal, the king would be in check. Your king cannot move into check: the black king on e6 attacks e5.

   A king attacks every square around it, so the two kings always keep at least one square between them. Here d5, e5 and f5 are all refused.

   Try it on the board

5. 5. A pinned piece is frozen

   White's knight on e2 stands between its king on e1 and Black's rook on e8. Try moving the knight to c3.

   Ne2-c3: not legal, the piece is pinned. Your knight on e2 is pinned: moving it would expose your king to the black rook on e8.

   The knight's move has the right shape, but it would leave the white king in check from the rook. That makes it illegal, however good it looks.

   Try it on the board

6. 6. Answer a check by blocking it

   Black's rook on e8 checks the white king on e1. Block the e-file with the knight, from c3 to e2.

   Ne2: legal.

   The other two answers to a check are moving the king and capturing the checking piece. A check by a knight cannot be blocked, because the knight jumps.

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7. 7. No castling out of check

   Black's rook on e8 checks the white king, which has never moved. Try castling kingside, from e1 to g1.

   O-O: not legal, the king is in check. You cannot castle out of check: the black rook on e8 attacks your king.

   Being checked does not cost the right to castle. Block or step away now, and if the king has not moved, castling is legal again on a later move.

   Try it on the board

8. 8. Queenside castling with b1 attacked: legal

   Black's rook on b8 attacks b1, a square the white rook passes over. Castle queenside, from e1 to c1.

   O-O-O: legal.

   The king passes d1 and lands on c1, and neither is attacked. The castling rules test only the king's squares, so the rook may cross an attacked b1.

   Try it on the board

9. 9. En passant one move too late

   After 1.e4 a6 2.e5 d5 3.Nf3 Nf6, Black's pawn jumped to d5 a move ago and White played Nf3 instead of capturing. Try capturing it en passant now, from e5 to d6.

   e5-d6: not legal, not how this piece moves. A pawn moves diagonally only to capture. This square is empty.

   En passant is allowed only on the move right after the enemy pawn's 2-square jump. After 2...d5, exd6 was legal for exactly one move.

   Try it on the board

10. 10. Promote by capturing

    White's pawn on a7 can capture the black rook on b8. Capture it, from a7 to b8.

    axb8=Q+: legal.

    A pawn that reaches the last rank by capturing promotes just the same. You may choose a queen, rook, bishop or knight; this board makes a queen.

    Try it on the board

11. 11. Checkmate on the back rank

    Black's king on g8 is boxed in by its own pawns on f7, g7 and h7. Move the rook from e1 to e8.

    Re8#: legal.

    Re8 is check, the rook cannot be captured or blocked, and the king's only squares are taken by its own pawns. That is checkmate, and White wins.

    Try it on the board

12. 12. Stalemate: a win thrown away

    White has king and rook against a lone king in the corner. Move the rook from g8 down to g2.

    Rg2: legal.

    Black's king on h1 is not in check, but g1 and h2 are covered by the rook and the rook on g2 is guarded by the king. No legal move means stalemate, a draw. Rh8 instead is checkmate.

    Try it on the board

13. 13. Too few pieces to checkmate

    Black's last pawn is on d5. Capture it with the knight, from f4 to d5.

    Nxd5: legal.

    King and knight against a lone king can never give checkmate, by any series of moves. The game ends in a draw the moment Nxd5 is played.

    Try it on the board

14. 14. The same position three times

    After 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Ng1 Ng8 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Ng1, both knights have gone out and back twice. Play Black's knight home again, from f6 to g8.

    Ng8: legal.

    The starting position, with White to move, is on the board for the third time, so White may claim a draw. Nothing happens unless someone claims; at the fifth time the game is drawn automatically.

    Try it on the board

New to chess? Start with how to play chess

What are the basic rules of chess games?

Ten rules cover every legal game. The first eight decide which moves you may play; the last two decide how it ends.

1. The board. 64 squares, 8 by 8, with a light square in each player's bottom-right corner (h1 for White).
2. The pieces. Each side starts with 16: a king, a queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights and 8 pawns.
3. Turns. White moves first, then the players alternate one move each. You may not pass, even when every move is bad.
4. Moving. Each piece moves its own way (table below). Only the knight jumps over other pieces.
5. Capturing. Move onto an enemy piece's square and it leaves the board. You never capture your own piece, as in position 3.
6. The king is never left in check. No move may put or leave your own king attacked, which is why a pinned piece is frozen (position 5).
7. A check must be answered. On the very next move: move the king, block the line, or capture the checking piece (position 6).
8. Three special moves. Castling, en passant and promotion, each with conditions of its own (positions 7 to 10).
9. The game is won by checkmate. Or by resignation, or when the opponent's clock runs out and you still have pieces that could mate.
10. The game is drawn five ways. Stalemate, agreement, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule, and too few pieces to mate (table below).

How each chess piece moves, and the rule people miss

Bishops, rooks and queens slide any distance until a piece is in the way. They capture the first enemy piece on their line and stop there.

How does castling work in chess?

The king moves two squares toward a rook, and that rook jumps over to the square the king crossed. White castles kingside with the king to g1 and the rook to f1, queenside with the king to c1 and the rook to d1. Castling is legal only when all six conditions hold:

1. The king has not moved. Not once this game, even if it went back to e1.
2. That rook has not moved. The other rook may still castle on its side.
3. Every square between them is empty. Two squares kingside (f1, g1), three queenside (b1, c1, d1).
4. The king is not in check. You may castle later, once the check is gone (position 7).
5. The king does not cross an attacked square. f1 kingside, d1 queenside.
6. The king does not land in check. Like any king move. An attacked rook, or an attacked b1 on the queenside, does not stop castling (position 8).

En passant and promotion: when each is allowed

Both are pawn moves, and both are timed: en passant lasts one move, and promotion happens the moment a pawn arrives.

Check, checkmate and stalemate

All three are about the king of the player whose turn it is.

The five ways a chess game is drawn

Two draws end the game at once, two must be claimed by a player, and one is agreed.

Running out of time loses, except when the opponent could not checkmate by any series of legal moves: then it is a draw. A single pawn is enough to count, because it can still become a queen.

Rules for over-the-board games

Online, the site stops illegal moves for you. At a club or a tournament, three more rules apply.

1. Touch move. Touch one of your pieces on purpose and you must move it, if it has a legal move. Touch an enemy piece and you must capture it, if you can.
2. Say "I adjust" first. To straighten a piece on its square without moving it, say so before you touch it.
3. Illegal moves are penalised. In a FIDE standard game, a first illegal move is taken back and the opponent gets 2 extra minutes. A second illegal move loses the game, unless the opponent cannot checkmate, which makes it a draw.