BooickHow to Play Chess: A Simple Guide for Beginners
Learn how every chess piece moves, the special moves, how to win and the first ten moves principles, then play a free game online.
Chess looks complicated but the rules fit on one page. This guide covers the moves, the special rules and a few habits that will make you better quickly.
The goal
Trap the opponent's king so it cannot escape. That is called checkmate. A game can also end in a draw, for example by stalemate (a player has no legal move but is not in check).
How each piece moves
- Pawn: moves forward one square, or two from its starting square. It captures one square diagonally forward.
- Rook: any number of squares in a straight line, sideways or forward and back.
- Bishop: any number of squares diagonally. It stays on its starting colour.
- Knight: an L shape, two squares one way and one to the side. It can jump over pieces.
- Queen: any number of squares in a straight line or diagonally.
- King: one square in any direction. It can never move into check.
Special moves
- Castling: the king moves two squares towards a rook and the rook jumps over it. Neither may have moved, no pieces in between, and the king cannot castle out of, through or into check.
- En passant: a pawn that just moved two squares can be captured by an adjacent pawn as if it had moved one.
- Promotion: a pawn that reaches the far side becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight.
Ten opening habits
- Control the centre with pawns on e4 or d4.
- Develop knights and bishops early.
- Castle early to keep your king safe.
- Do not move the same piece twice in the opening without a reason.
- Do not bring the queen out too early.
- Connect your rooks.
Common beginner mistakes
- Leaving pieces undefended.
- Grabbing pawns while falling behind in development.
- Missing the opponent's threats: before every move, ask what they want to do next.
Rough piece values
Pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. Trade when you are ahead, avoid trading when behind.