How to play
How to play Chess
Chess is a two-player strategy game. The goal is to checkmate the opponent’s king — to attack it so it cannot escape capture.
The rules
How the pieces move
Pawns move forward one square (or two from their start) and capture diagonally. Rooks move in straight lines; bishops move diagonally; the queen moves any distance in a straight or diagonal line. Knights jump in an L-shape. The king moves one square in any direction.
Check and checkmate
When a king is under attack it is “in check” and must get out of check immediately. If there is no legal way to escape, it is “checkmate” and the game is over. A position with no legal move but no check is a stalemate (a draw).
Special moves
Castling moves the king two squares toward a rook and the rook to the king’s other side (if neither has moved and the squares are safe and empty). En passant lets a pawn capture an enemy pawn that just moved two squares, as if it had moved one. A pawn reaching the far rank promotes, usually to a queen.
Winning and draws
You win by delivering checkmate. Games can also be drawn by stalemate, repetition, the fifty-move rule, or insufficient material. Our board enforces every rule for you, so you can focus on strategy.