Beginner's guide
How to play chess, step by step
Chess is a two-player strategy game played on a 64-square board, and the basics take about ten minutes to learn. This guide covers everything a beginner needs to start playing chess: how to set up the board, how each chess piece moves, the special rules people forget to mention, and what check and checkmate actually mean. When you're done, the best way to learn is to play a free game with a friend — no sign-up needed.
Setting up the chess board
The board is an 8×8 grid of alternating light and dark squares. Place it so each player has a light square in their bottom-right corner — the most common setup mistake is a board rotated 90°.
Each player starts with 16 pieces: eight pawns on the second row, then — from the corners inward — rooks, knights and bishops, with the queen and king in the middle. The queen always starts on her own colour: the white queen on a light square, the black queen on a dark square. White always moves first, and players alternate one move at a time.
How each chess piece moves
Six pieces, and the whole game follows from them. Here is how each one moves — and if you want a piece in real depth, with what it's worth and what it's actually good at, see how the chess pieces move.
The pawn ♟
Pawns move one square straight forward, and on their very first move may go two squares. They are the only piece that captures differently from how it moves: a pawn captures one square diagonally forward, never straight ahead. Pawns can't move backwards — every pawn push is a commitment.
The knight ♞
The knight moves in an L-shape: two squares in one direction, then one square sideways. It's the only piece that can jump over other pieces, which makes it dangerous in crowded positions — knights love forks, attacking two pieces at once. In written chess it is the odd one out, abbreviated N rather than K, because the king took that letter first.
The bishop ♝
The bishop slides any number of squares diagonally. Each bishop spends the whole game on one colour of squares, so the pair work best together, covering both colours.
The rook ♜
The rook slides any number of squares horizontally or vertically. Rooks are powerful in open positions and on open files — most players bring them into the game last.
The queen ♛
The queen combines the rook and bishop: any number of squares in any straight line — horizontal, vertical or diagonal. She's your strongest piece; losing her early usually loses the game, so don't bring her out too soon.
The king ♚
The king moves one square in any direction. He can never move onto a square attacked by an enemy piece. The king is not the strongest piece, but he is the whole game: trap him, and you win.
Three special chess rules beginners miss
Castling
Once per game, the king and a rook can move together: the king slides two squares toward the rook and the rook hops to the other side of him. It's the fastest way to tuck your king into safety. You can only castle if neither piece has moved, no pieces stand between them, and the king isn't in check or crossing an attacked square.
En passant
If an enemy pawn uses its two-square first move to land directly beside your pawn, you may capture it "in passing" — diagonally, as if it had only moved one square. You must do it immediately on the next move, or the chance is gone.
Pawn promotion
A pawn that reaches the far end of the board is promoted: it becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight — your choice, regardless of what you've lost. Almost everyone picks a queen, which is why endgames are so often about racing pawns forward.
Check, checkmate and stalemate
When a piece attacks the enemy king, that's check — and the checked player must deal with it immediately, by moving the king, blocking the attack, or capturing the attacker.
Checkmate is check with no escape: the king is attacked and nothing can save him. That's the end of the game — the checkmating player wins. You never actually capture the king; the game ends the moment escape is impossible.
Stalemate is the trap to know: if a player has no legal move at all but is not in check, the game is a draw — even if they have only a lone king against your whole army. Many beginners lose a winning position this way, so when you're far ahead, always leave your opponent a legal move.
Games can also end by resignation, by agreement to a draw, by running out of time when playing with chess clocks, or automatically by repetition and other draw rules — there are five ways a game of chess can be drawn, and Knight Boards handles all of them for you.
Five tips for your first chess games
- Control the centre. Open with a centre pawn (e- or d-pawn) — pieces in the middle of the board reach more squares.
- Develop knights and bishops early. Get them off the back row before moving the same piece twice or bringing out the queen.
- Castle early. A castled king is a safe king; most quick losses start with a king stuck in the middle.
- Before every move, ask what your opponent threatens. Most beginner games are decided by pieces left hanging, not brilliant plans.
- Know the piece values. Pawn 1, knight and bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9 — a quick way to judge whether a trade helps you.
Keep learning chess
The fastest way to learn is to play.
Create a free game, send a friend the link, and practise everything above — the board enforces the rules for you.
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