A Beginner’s Guide to Playing Chess: Basic Rules and Tips to Get You Started

Everything you need to know to play (and hopefully win!) your first game of chess

Co-authored by Vitaly Neimer

Last Updated: December 21, 2022 Approved

Chess Help

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Setup and Rules

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Gameplay

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Strategy

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VIDEO

Whether you want to learn how to play chess or you're just looking for tips to teach a kid how to play, you've come to the right place! This classic board game has been around for centuries and still provides a challenge to the smartest people in the world. While you can pick up the basic rules pretty quickly, the strategy of chess can take a lifetime to master. Read on to learn how to set up the board and move the pieces, along with some strategy to start out with that might just have you saying "checkmate."

Things You Should Know

Set up the board with white and black pieces facing each other on the back two rows of each side, pawns in front.
Start the game by moving a white piece, then take turns moving one piece. Try to control the center of the board to limit your opponent's options.
Aim to cut off your opponent's king so that it can't escape from being captured to win the game with "checkmate."
End the game in a draw if there are no legal moves left and neither of you can force the other's king into checkmate.

Chess Help

Chess Rule Sheet

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Chessboard Diagram

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Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Setup and Rules

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Set up the chess board with a white square in the bottom right-hand corner. The easiest way to remember this is with the phrase "white to the right." If your board has numbers down the side (these are used for chess notation), the line ("rank") with a 1 next to it should go on the side where you'll line up the white pieces.^{[1]
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- If your board has numbers down the side, you might also notice letters across the bottom. These are also used for notation and correspond to a column ("file").
- In chess notation, each square has a unique number-letter combination. You can use these to record moves so you can analyze the game later.
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Line up the 8 pawns along the second rank from the back of the board. Pawns usually move 1 square forward per turn, except on their first turn, when they can move forward 2 squares. Pawns only capture diagonally, moving one space diagonally forward. This means a pawn is trapped and can't move at all if there's another piece directly in front of it. Unlike all the other pieces, pawns can't move backward.^{[2]
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- If your opponent moves a pawn 2 spaces on its first move so that it's sitting right next to one of your pawns, you can capture it with your pawn on your next move—but only on your next move. This special ability is known as en passant (French for "in passing").
- If a pawn makes it all the way to the back row of the other side of the board, it gets promoted. That means you can turn that pawn into any type of piece other than a king. Most players promote a pawn to a queen because the queen is the most powerful piece.
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Line up your other pieces symmetrically on the back row. Start with the rooks (they look like little castle towers) in the corners, then set your knights (little horse heads) in the squares next to the rooks. The bishops sit on the squares next to the knights. Here's how all these pieces move and potentially capture your opponent's pieces:^{[3]
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- Rooks: Go as many squares as possible horizontally or vertically. If one of your pieces is in the way, the rook has to stop at the square just before. If one of your opponent's pieces is in the way, capture it with your rook and stop there.
- Knights: Move 2 squares horizontally or vertically, then 1 square to the right or left of that second square. Knights are the only pieces that jump over other pieces and only capture an opponent's piece if it's on the final square of the move.
- Bishops: Go as many squares as possible diagonally. Like the rook, they have to stop at the square just before one of your own pieces, or capture an opponent's piece and stop there.
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Place your king and queen in the middle of the back row. Your queen will always sit on her same color square—so, the white queen goes on a white square, the black queen goes on a black square. The king goes right next to her. The king is the most important piece in the game (if it's captured, your opponent wins the game), but the queen is the most powerful.^{[4]
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- The queen can move as many squares as possible in any direction, forward or backward. This means if she's sitting in the middle of the board, she potentially controls a lot of squares.
- Other than the pawns, the king is the weakest piece you have. It only moves one square at a time in any direction and can't move into a square where your opponent could capture it. If your opponent traps your king so that he will be captured in the next move, it's game over—regardless of how many other pieces you have left.
- The king has one special move called castling. When there are no pieces between your rook and your king on the back row, you can move your king 2 spaces toward your rook. Then, immediately move your rook over to the other side of your king.^{[5]
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Part 2

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Gameplay

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Start the game off if you have the white pieces. In chess, the player with the white pieces always makes the first move. You and your opponent might want to flip a coin to see who gets the white pieces, since they do have a slight advantage (mainly, that with white you get to attack first).^{[6]
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- If you want to improve your chess game, study famous chess openings. But when you're just starting out, the best opening move is to get one of the center pawns out 2 squares.
- You might also want to move a knight out in your first or second move. Aim him toward the center of the board as well.
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Take turns with your opponent to move one piece. Chess flows just like any other turn-based board game, with each player getting the opportunity to move one piece before the action switches back over to their opponent. When thinking about what move you want to make, consider the different moves that all the pieces on the board can make.^{[7]
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- As a beginner, try to set up your defense first—then you can worry about attacks. If you immediately go out on the attack, you're likely to leave your king vulnerable.
- Plan out attacks so they involve multiple pieces. When you move on your opponent's king, you want your attacking piece to have backup. You can also block avenues of escape.
- There's no "pass" in chess—when it's your turn, you have to move something.
3
Block, evade, or capture to get your king out of check. As the game progresses, at some point, your opponent is likely to put your king in check (or perhaps you'll put their king in check). This just means that if nothing changes, your opponent would capture your king on their next move. When your opponent announces "check," you must do something to get out of check. You have 3 basic options:^{[8]
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- Block: Move one of your pieces in between the attacking piece and your king. This means if your opponent wants to continue to go after your king with that piece, they have to capture your blocking piece first.
- Evade: Shuffle your king over one square so he's out of the attacking piece's line of attack. But remember: you can't move your king to a square that would put him in check with another piece!
- Capture: If you've set up a good defense, you might have a piece you can use to capture the piece your opponent is attacking with. Threat eliminated—whew!
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Continue to play until one player's king is captured or there are no legal moves. And that's the game! Your goal is to checkmate your opponent and protect your king so your opponent can't checkmate you. Sounds simple, right? But with so many pieces in play, the strategy and planning can get quite complex. Since you're just starting out, focus on always protecting your king and you'll do fine.^{[9]
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- Sometimes you play to a stalemate—that's sort of the opposite of checkmate when neither of you has any legal moves left. This usually happens when most of the pieces have been captured.
- When you're playing in a tournament, there are a few other ways a game can end, such as if you run out of time. But as a beginner, you don't need to worry about those yet.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Strategy

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Control the center of the board as quickly as possible. This gives you the upper hand and allows you to craft attacks while also defending against your opponent's attacks. When you control the center of the board, you maximize your ability to move while also limiting your opponent's ability to move without being captured.^{[10]
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- For example, a knight in a corner only has 2 options to move, but from a central square, it has as many as 8 options.
- Getting the center pawns a couple of spaces out in the first couple of moves of the game gives you a good head-start toward controlling the middle of the board.
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Think 4-5 moves ahead. Chess isn't a game that you can play one turn at a time. Consider all of the pieces and their possible moves, then make your move based on what might happen several moves down the road (seasoned chess players call this "calculating"). This takes a lot of practice, so don't worry if you can't do it at first.^{[11]
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- Work on your visualization skills—if you can visualize in your head how the pieces will move, you can mentally plot different options and choose the best one.
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Protect your king. If your opponent puts your king in checkmate, that's the end of the game, so you want to protect your king at all costs. At the start of every turn, evaluate your king's position and where it might be vulnerable. As a beginner, it's always better to take a move to shore up your king's defenses than to attack.^{[12]
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- Watch the pieces your opponent moves off the back row (this is called "developing" your pieces). Any of them could potentially be used in an attack, so project them forward a few moves ahead to see if they're a threat.
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Get all of your pieces involved in the game. None of your pieces are powerful at all if they just sit on the back row and do nothing. While you don't necessarily want to develop your queen too early in the game, your other pieces can definitely come forward to build a powerful defense and lay the groundwork for future attacks. This also keeps the board active and lively—your opponent will be on the alert trying to figure out what you're doing.^{[13]
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- Think about leaving space open for your queen to enter later. When you do develop your queen, you want to be able to maximize her power and use her to her fullest potential.
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Avoid sacrificing pieces unnecessarily. There's nothing wrong with a sacrifice play from time to time, but try to keep them to a minimum. A piece lost can't be regained, and if you get too far down you'll have a hard time defending against a multi-pronged attack from your opponent.^{[14]
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- Obviously, any sacrifice is worth it to protect your king. But before you put one of your other pieces in the line of fire, make sure there's no other option that doesn't involve losing a piece.
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Try to get into your opponent's head to figure out their strategy. Every time your opponent makes a move, ask yourself why they made that move. If you can figure out what they're trying to do, you might be able to do something to disrupt their plans—or at least make them more difficult to pull off.^{[15]
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- When you're just learning how to play, don't be afraid to ask—especially if you're playing someone more experienced. They might not want to talk to you about it during the game, but afterward, they can help you with moves you didn't understand.

Community Q&A

Question

If I don't move the pawn in front of the king, will I lose?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Not necessarily! It's generally advised to move the pawn in front of the king as one of your first moves, but that doesn't mean you have to do it. Some players opt to move a different pawn or a knight first. There's no rule that says you absolutely have to move that pawn, or any pawn for that matter. One of the beautiful things about chess is how much freedom you have to decide what your next move will be. There's no one move that will guarantee a loss (of course, there's also no one move, or set of moves, that will guarantee victory).
Question

If I move my queen to the square adjacent to my opponent's king, can the king take my queen?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Absolutely! And it makes no sense to make such a move. The king is a really weak piece and can only ever move one space (except when he's castling). So it would be exceedingly rare for the king to take anyone out, especially a queen, because no player would allow that to happen.
Question

Can pawns be changed to queens more than once?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Theoretically, you could promote every single one of your pawns to a queen. But as a practical matter, that would never happen (and isn't really the point of the game). Pawn promotion isn't super common and you're typically only going to see one or two (if any) pawns get promoted in a game.