How to Play Chess For Beginners : 7 Steps To Get You Started

Chess is an enormously entertaining game that can be played by people of all ages and involves both skill and strategy. It has been around for centuries as a game for intellectuals and professors, but everyone may participate! Continue reading to discover how to play this ancient game, which is often regarded as one of the finest board games ever created.

How to Play Chess

Step 1. How To Setup The Chessboard

Each player starts with their white (or light) colour square located in the bottom right-hand corner of the chessboard, which is then moved up to the top left-hand corner.

The chess pieces are subsequently positioned in the same manner on each subsequent play. The pawns are arranged in a row on the second row (or rank). The rooks are placed in the corners, followed by the knights adjacent to them, then the bishops, and lastly the queen, who is always placed on her own corresponding colour (white queen on white, black queen on black), and the king on the remaining square (white queen on black).

Step 2. How The Chess Pieces Move

Each of the six various types of pieces moves in a distinctive way. Objects cannot pass through other objects (albeit the knight can jump over other objects), and they can never pass into a square occupied by an object other than one of their own. They can, however, be moved to take the place of an opponent’s piece, which is then captured by the player controlling the piece. It is customary for pieces to be placed in places where they may capture other pieces (by landing on their square and then replacing them), defend their own pieces in the event of capture, or control strategically significant squares in the game.

How to Move the King in Chess

Despite being the most crucial piece in the game, the king is also one of the weakest. Each direction (up, down, to the sides, and diagonally) for the king is limited to one square in any direction.

The monarch will never be able to put himself under check (where he could be captured). It is known as “check” when the king’s position is threatened by another piece.

How To Move The Queen In Chess

The queen is the most important piece in the game. She is free to go as far as she wants in any one straight direction – forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally – as long as she does not pass through any of her own pieces.

And, as is true with other pieces, if the queen captures an opponent’s piece, her turn is terminated immediately. Take note of how the white queen captures the black queen, and how the black king is forced to flee as a result of this capture.

How To Move The Rook In Chess

The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides.

When the rooks are defending and collaborating with one another, they may be extremely effective pieces in the game!

Step 3. Discover The Special Rules Of Chess

There are a few unusual rules in chess that, at first glance, may not appear to be rational. They were developed in order to make the game more enjoyable and fascinating.

How To Promote A Pawn In Chess

Pawns also possess an additional special power, which is that after they have traversed the entire board, they may transform into any other chess piece (known as promotion), with the exception of a king (or pawn, for that matter).

Promotions are possible for pawns, who can be elevated to the rank of knight or bishop, rook, or queen. A widespread misunderstanding is that pawns may only be swapped for a captured piece. This is not the case, though. No, it is not correct. A pawn is frequently elevated to the rank of queen. Only pawns are eligible for promotion.

How To Do “En Passant” In Chess

The final rule regarding pawns is referred to as “en passant,” which is French meaning “while passing.” After making its initial move, a pawn may land to the side of another pawn (thus jumping beyond the capacity of the opposing pawn to capture it). In this case, the opposing pawn may choose to capture the first pawn as it passes by on its second move.

In order to capture the initial pawn, this special move must be performed soon after it has passed, otherwise the opportunity to capture it is no longer open. Please go through the example below to have a better understanding of this strange, yet critical rule.

How To Castle In Chess

Castling is another chess rule that is unique to the game. It is possible to accomplish two crucial goals in a single move: transport your king to safety (ideally) and bring your rook out of the corner and back into the game. Each turn, a player may move his king two squares to one side and then move his rook from that side’s corner to immediately next to the king on his opponent’s side, completing a full turn. (See the following illustration.) It is necessary to meet the following requirements in order to castle, however:

• it must be that king’s very first move
• it must be that rook’s very first move
• there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move
• the king may not be in check or pass through check

Take note of the fact that when you castle in one way, the king is closer to the side of the game board. This is referred to as “kingside” castling. It is referred to as “queenside” casting when you cast your spells via the area where the queen sat. When casting a vote, the king always advances just two squares, regardless of whose side he is on.

Step 4. Find Out Who Makes The First Move In Chess

The player who has the white pieces always has the advantage in terms of movement. Because of this, players often select who will be white by chance or luck, such as by flipping a coin or having one player identify the colour of the concealed piece in the other player’s hand, rather than by strategy. After then, white makes a move, which is followed by black, then white again, which is followed by black, and so on until the game is over. A little advantage, the ability to move first, provides the white player with an opportunity to attack immediately away.

Step 5. Review The Rules Of How To Win A Game Of Chess

There are several ways to end a game of chess: by checkmate, with a draw, by resignation, by forfeit on time…

How To Checkmate In Chess

During the game, the goal is to checkmate the king of the opposing team. This occurs when the king is placed in check and is unable to escape from the check.

There are only three ways a king can get out of check:

• move out of the way (though he cannot castle!)
• block the check with another piece or
• capture the piece threatening the king.

If a king is unable to avoid checkmate, the game is declared finished. Customarily, the king is not captured or removed from the board; rather, the game is simply declared finished when this occurs.

How To Draw A Chess Game

Chess games can occasionally finish in a tie rather than a victory for one side. There are five possible causes for a chess game to result in a draw.

• In this situation, it is one player’s turn to move, but his king is NOT in check, and yet he does not have any other legal moves available to him:

• The players may simply agree to a draw and stop playing
• There are not enough pieces on the board to force a checkmate (example: a king and a bishop vs. a king)
• A player declares a draw if the same exact position is repeated three times (though not necessarily three times in a row)
• Fifty consecutive moves have been played where neither player has moved a pawn or captured a piece

Step 6. Study Basic Chess Strategies

There are four basic concepts that any chess player should be familiar with:

Protect Your King

Try to move your king to the corner of the board, where he will be more secure. Don’t put off casting for too long. Generally speaking, you should castle as soon as feasible. Keep in mind that if your own king is checkmated first, it makes no difference how near you are to checkmating your opponent!

Don’t Give Pieces Away

Don’t let your pieces get away from you! Each piece is important, because you can’t win a game if you don’t have enough pieces to checkmate your opponent. Most chess players utilize a simple method to keep track of the relative worth of each chess piece, which is simple and straightforward. What is the monetary value of the chess pieces?

• A pawn is worth 1
• A knight is worth 3
• A bishop is worth 3
• A rook is worth 5
• A queen is worth 9
• The king is infinitely valuable

It doesn’t matter what these points are worth at the conclusion of the game; they are just a system you may use to make decisions while playing, such as determining whether to capture, swap, or make other plays.

Control The Center Of The Chessboard

With your pieces and pawns, you should strive to maintain control over the centre of the board. If you dominate the middle of the board, you will have more space to move your pieces and will make it more difficult for your opponent to locate appropriate squares for his or her pieces. In the above example, white makes good movements to gain control of the centre, but black makes poor moves.

Use All Of Your Chess Pieces

In the preceding scenario, white was successful in obtaining all of his pieces in the game! When your pieces are positioned in the rear of the first row, they are of little use. Make every effort to develop all of your pieces so that you have more options when it comes time to assault the king. If you are up against a good opponent, attacking with only one or two pieces will not work.

Step 7. Practice By Playing Lots Of Games

The most essential thing you can do to improve your chess skills is to play as much chess as possible! It makes no difference whether you play at home with friends or family or if you play online; you must play the game frequently in order to develop. Nowadays, it is simple to discover a chess game to play on the internet!

How To Play Chess Variants

While most people play standard chess rules, some people like to play chess with changes to the rules. These are called “chess variants”. Each variant has its own rules:

• Chess960: In Chess960 (Fischer Random), the initial position of the pieces is set at random. Pawns keep their normal initial position but the rest of the pieces are arranged randomly.
• King Of The Hill: In this format, the goal is to get your king to the center of the board or “top of the hill.”
• Bughouse: This format is played in pairs. When one player captures a piece from the opponent, this piece will become available to his or her teammate. For example: If I play as White and my teammate, who is Black, takes a white knight from her opponent, in my turn I will have a knight that I can put on any free square on my board. I can do so in any of my future turns.
• Crazyhouse: This is a very exciting format since it allows you to use the pieces you take from your opponent. That is, if I play as White and I take a black pawn from my opponent, that pawn will turn into a white pawn that I can put on the board as part of my army. I can do so in any of my future turns.
• 3-Check: In this format, the first player who checks the opponent’s king three times, wins.