Chess · Rules & strategy

Board and set-up

The board has 64 squares in an 8×8 grid, placed so that each player has a light square in the right-hand corner. Files are named a–h and ranks 1–8. The back rank holds rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook; eight pawns stand in front. The queen starts on her own colour (the white queen on the light square d1). White moves first.

How the pieces move

• King: one square in any direction.
• Queen: any number of squares along a rank, file or diagonal, as long as the path is clear.
• Rook: any number of squares along a rank or file.
• Bishop: any number of squares diagonally — so each bishop stays on one colour all game.
• Knight: two squares in one direction and one to the side (an L). It is the only piece that jumps over others.
• Pawn: one square straight ahead (two from its starting square) and captures one square diagonally forward. Pawns never move backwards.

Moving onto an enemy piece captures it. You may never make a move that leaves your own king under attack.

Special moves: castling, en passant, promotion

Castling moves the king two squares towards a rook and places that rook on the square the king crossed. The king and that rook must not have moved, the squares between them must be empty, and the king may not be in check, pass through an attacked square or land on one. Here you castle by moving the king two squares sideways.

En passant: if an enemy pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands beside your pawn, you may capture it on the very next move as if it had moved only one square.

Promotion: a pawn that reaches the last rank becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight of your choice — pick it with the buttons at the bottom of the board.

Check, checkmate and stalemate

A king under attack is in check. The player in check must get out of it by moving the king, blocking the attack or capturing the attacker. If there is no way out, it is checkmate and the game is over. If a player is not in check but has no legal move at all, it is stalemate — a draw. A king in check glows red on the board.

Draws

Besides stalemate, a game is drawn by: ① insufficient material — neither side can possibly checkmate (king v king, king and bishop v king, king and knight v king, and similar); ② threefold repetition — the same position (same player to move, same castling and en passant rights) occurs three times; ③ the fifty-move rule — fifty moves by each side without a pawn move or a capture. Over-the-board players must claim ② and ③; on this site they are applied automatically so that online games always finish.

Online games and time

Online games allow 90 seconds per move; if your time runs out you lose on time. Colours are assigned at random when the room starts and swap on a rematch. When you play Black, the board turns so that your pieces are always nearest to you.

Three opening principles

① Occupy or aim at the centre (e4, d4, e5, d5) with pawns and pieces. ② Develop knights and bishops quickly and avoid moving the same piece twice. ③ Castle early to tuck the king away and connect your rooks. Bringing the queen out too soon just lets your opponent gain time by chasing it.

Piece values and tactics

A common scale is pawn 1, knight and bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9 — keep it in mind whenever you trade. Most games are decided by tactics: the fork (one piece attacks two), the pin (a piece cannot move without exposing something more valuable behind it) and the skewer (a valuable piece is forced aside, exposing the one behind). Before each move, check your opponent’s checks, captures and threats — the habit removes most blunders.

Endgame basics

Once the queens are off, the king becomes a fighting piece: bring it to the centre. An extra pawn can be enough to win, and a passed pawn (no enemy pawn can stop it) is a powerful weapon. Learn to mate a lone king with king and queen and with king and rook, and beware of stalemate when you are winning.

Getting the most from the AI

Easy looks only one move ahead and grabs defended pieces like a beginner. Normal calculates exchanges and rarely misses basic tactics. Hard searches several moves deep and will not let a won game slip into a repetition draw. Practise mating patterns on Easy and tactics on Normal before taking on Hard.

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