Basic rules of chess

Foto de Jeff Dahl

Chess is a game with two players, which is played on a square board with 8 houses on each side. The board has just 64 houses, 32 white and 32 black. Each player starts with 16 pieces (one king, one queen, two bishops, two knights, two towers, and eight pawns). The set of pieces of each player has a different color, so there is a set of black pieces and a set of white pieces. The ultimate goal of this game is to capture the opponent's king, making checkmate.

The initial position in chess is as follows:

First row, from right to left: Tower, Knight, Bishop, King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Tower. The White King is in black square, and the black king is in the White House. The second line consists in eight pawns.

To start the game, the player with the white pieces makes the first move. Players move their pieces alternately. Each piece has a different movement, and every player has to respect these movements. When you capture a opposing piece (non-mandatory) , that piece is removed from the board. When you capture a piece, your piece is placed in the place of the captured piece. When you put the king in a checkmate or a stalemate is reached, the game ends. Then we explain the movement of each piece.

Basic rules of chess - movements

Before we cover the movements of each piece, it is crucial you know each one of the chess pieces.

King, Queen, Bishop, Rook, Knight and Pawn

• King

The King may move a house vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The King can never be put in the check position. When you can not avoid it, you lose.

• Queen

The queen can move horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The number of homes depends on the pieces that are on the board, since it can not pass through them.

• Bishop

The bishop can only move diagonally. The number of house depends on the pieces that are on the board, since it can not pass through them.

• Knight

The Knight is the only piece that can go over the other parts. The movement is in L, walked a house horizontally or vertically, and another diagonally. In the following image you can see the possible movements of the knight.

• Tower

The tower moves horizontally and vertically. The number of houses depends on the pieces that are on the board, since it can not pass through them.

• Pawn

The pawn moves usually a house upright, and only forward. However, there are situations where the movement of the pawns is different. For example, to capture a piece, you can just do it walking from a house diagonally across the board. Another different movement is when you are at the starting house. In its first movement, the pawn can move two squares forward.

Basic rules of chess - special moves

• Castling

The castling is a movement which seeks to defend the King In this movement, the king moves two squares to the side, and the tower moves as well, passing over the King and getting to his side. You only can make this move if the houses between the King and the Tower are empty, and if the king is not in check. Additionally, the King and the Tower which is used for castling may not have yet been moved. This movement can be done to the right or left side, existing small castling and big castling.

• Promote pawn

If a pawn reach the last house, its promoted, being replaced by a piece from your choosen, except for the King. 

• Take the passage

This move only works when a pawn began with an advance of two houses, and simultaneously, the opposing pawn is in position to attack the house where the other passed pawn. In this case, the opponent's pawn can capture the other, moving to a halfway house. This movement can only occur on the next play.