Official Rules of Chess

Chess is played on an 8×8 checkered board with 16 pieces per player. White moves first. The objective: checkmate your opponent's king.

The Pieces & Their Moves

King

Moves one square in any direction. Never moves into check.

Queen

Any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

Pawn

Forward 1 square (2 on first move). Captures diagonally forward. Promotes on 8th rank.

Special Moves

1. Castling: King moves 2 squares toward an unmoved rook; rook jumps to king's other side. Conditions apply (unmoved, clear path, no check).
2. En passant: Pawn captures enemy pawn that advanced 2 squares past yours (as if it moved 1). Must be immediate.
3. Promotion: Pawn on opponent's back rank becomes queen, rook, bishop, or knight (queen most common).

Winning & Draws

• Checkmate: King in check with no legal escape — opponent wins.
• Stalemate: No legal moves and not in check → draw.
• Other draws: Agreement, threefold repetition, 50-move rule, insufficient material.