How to Play Chess: Rules, Piece Moves & Beginner Tips

The board and setup

Chess is played by two players, White and Black, on a board of 64 squares in 8 rows and 8 columns. The columns are called files and are labelled a to h; the rows are called ranks and are numbered 1 to 8. Every square has a name, like e4.

The starting position. Each player has 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. A light square is always in each player's bottom-right corner, and the queen starts on her own colour (the white queen on d1, the black queen on d8).

White always moves first, then the players take turns, one move each. You can't skip a turn. The goal is to checkmate the other king: attack it so it has no way to escape.

How the pieces move

Pieces capture by moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece, which is then removed from the board. No piece except the knight can jump over other pieces, and you can never capture your own pieces.

The king

The king moves one square in any direction. It is the most important piece. If it's trapped, you lose, so it can never move onto a square where it would be attacked.

The queen

The queen moves any number of squares in a straight line: up, down, sideways or diagonally. It's the most powerful piece, worth about 9 pawns.

The rook

The rook moves any number of squares along a rank or file. Rooks are worth about 5 pawns and are strongest on open files and on the 7th rank.

The bishop

The bishop moves any number of squares diagonally, so it stays on its starting colour all game. Each side has a light-squared and a dark-squared bishop, worth about 3 pawns each.

The knight

The knight moves in an “L”: two squares in one direction, then one square to the side. It's the only piece that jumps over others, and it always lands on the opposite colour. Worth about 3 pawns.

The pawn

Pawns move one square forward, or two squares on their very first move (like the c2 pawn). They capture diagonally one square forward (the e4 pawn can take on d5 or f5). Pawns never move backwards.

Approximate piece values
Piece	Moves	Value
Pawn	Forward 1 (or 2 at first), captures diagonally	1
Knight	L-shape, jumps	3
Bishop	Diagonals	3
Rook	Ranks and files	5
Queen	Ranks, files and diagonals	9
King	One square any direction	Priceless

Special moves

Castling

Castling moves the king two squares toward a rook, and the rook jumps to the square the king crossed. Kingside: king to g1, rook to f1. Queenside: king to c1, rook to d1.

You can castle only if: neither the king nor that rook has moved yet, the squares between them are empty, the king is not in check, and the king doesn't pass through or land on a square that is attacked. Castling is the best way to tuck your king into safety and bring a rook into the game.

En passant

Black's pawn has just moved two squares, from d7 to d5, landing beside White's pawn on e5. On this move only, White may capture it “in passing”, moving to d6 as if the pawn had stopped there.

Promotion

A pawn that reaches the far side of the board must be promoted to a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. Almost always you choose a queen, so you can have several queens at once.

Check, checkmate and stalemate

When a king is attacked it is in check. The player in check must get out of it straight away, in one of three ways: move the king to a safe square, block the attack with another piece, or capture the attacking piece.

Checkmate is check with no escape, and it ends the game immediately. Here the rook attacks the king along the back rank, and Black's own pawns stop the king from running. This “back-rank mate” is one of the most common ways games are won.

Stalemate: it's Black's move, the king is not in check, but every move would walk into an attack, and Black has no other pieces. A stalemate is a draw, so when you're winning, always leave the enemy king a square to move to until you can deliver mate.

How games are drawn

Stalemate: the player to move has no legal move and isn't in check.
Agreement: one player offers a draw and the other accepts.
Threefold repetition: the same position appears three times with the same player to move.
The 50-move rule: 50 moves by each side pass without a pawn move or a capture.
Insufficient material: neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate, for example king against king, or king and bishop against king.

Gambit Arena applies all of these rules automatically, so you never have to count moves or argue about a repetition.

Reading chess notation

Moves are written in algebraic notation: a letter for the piece and the square it moves to. K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight; pawns have no letter. So Nf3 means “knight to f3” and e4 means “pawn to e4”.

x means a capture: Bxc6, exd5.
+ means check and # means checkmate: Qxf7#.
O-O is kingside castling and O-O-O is queenside castling.
e8=Q is a pawn promoting to a queen.
Commentary symbols: !! brilliant, ! good, ?! dubious, ? mistake, ?? blunder. Gambit Arena shows these live as reactions on your own moves.

Time controls

Online games use a chess clock. A time control like 3+2 means each player starts with 3 minutes and gains 2 seconds after every move. Run out of time and you lose.

Type	Gambit Arena time controls	Feels like
Bullet	1+0	Pure reflexes. A whole game in two minutes.
Blitz	3+2, 5+0	Fast and tactical, still time to think.
Rapid	10+0, 15+10	Room for plans and calculation. Best for improving.

Ratings and ranks

An Elo rating estimates your strength: beat a higher-rated player and you gain more points, lose to a lower-rated one and you drop more. New players in Gambit Arena start at 1200, and matchmaking uses Elo to find fair games.

On top of that, ranked games earn League Points to climb monthly seasons from Bronze through Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond to Master and Grandmaster. See how ranked seasons work.

10 tips to win more games

Control the centre. Pawns and pieces on e4, d4, e5 and d5 reach more of the board.
Develop your pieces early. Bring out knights and bishops before moving the same piece twice.
Castle in the first ten moves. A king left in the middle is a target.
Don't bring the queen out too soon. She'll be chased around while your opponent develops.
Before every move, ask: what does my opponent threaten? Most games between beginners are lost to one missed threat.
Check every capture and check. Look for forcing moves, yours and theirs, before quiet ones.
Don't leave pieces undefended. Loose pieces drop off. Gambit Arena's Assist mode highlights them for you.
Trade when you're ahead. With extra material, swapping pieces makes the win simpler.
Connect your rooks and use open files. Rooks love lines with no pawns on them.
Practise tactics daily. Puzzles train you to spot forks, pins and mates. Try the Daily Puzzle and Puzzle Rush.

Ready to play?

Learn every rule hands-on in 13 interactive lessons, then test yourself against Pip the Pawn with Assist mode switched on.

Get it onGoogle Play Try a puzzle first