Chess has been played for around 1,500 years. Its earliest known ancestor, chaturanga, was played in India around the 6th century, and the game then spread through Persia and the Arab world to Europe, where it took its modern form about 500 years ago. Today it is one of the most popular games in the world. The good news for beginners is that the rules fit on a couple of pages, and you can start playing real games the same day you learn them. This guide takes you from the setup to your first checkmate, then gives you the simple principles and tactics that win most beginner games.
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The board and the setup
A chessboard has 64 squares in an 8 by 8 grid, alternating light and dark. Place the board so that each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner. The columns are called files and are labelled a to h; the rows are called ranks and are numbered 1 to 8 from White's side.
Each player starts with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. On the back rank, from the corners inwards, the order is rook, knight, bishop, then the queen and king in the middle. A handy rule: the queen goes on her own colour, so the white queen starts on a light square and the black queen on a dark one. The pawns fill the rank in front.
White always moves first, and players then take turns, one move each.
How each piece moves
| Piece | How it moves | Rough value |
|---|---|---|
| Pawn | Forward one square, or two squares on its first move. Captures one square diagonally forward. | 1 |
| Knight | In an L shape: two squares in one direction and one to the side. The only piece that can jump over others. | 3 |
| Bishop | Any number of squares diagonally. Stays on its starting colour all game. | 3 |
| Rook | Any number of squares in a straight line, along a rank or file. | 5 |
| Queen | Any number of squares in any straight line or diagonal. The most powerful piece. | 9 |
| King | One square in any direction. Can never move into check. | Priceless |
Pieces capture by moving onto a square occupied by an opponent's piece, which is removed from the board. Only pawns capture differently from the way they move. The values are a rough guide for trades: giving up a knight (3) to win a rook (5) is usually a good deal.
Check, checkmate and stalemate
When a king is attacked, it is in check. The player in check must get out of it immediately, in one of three ways: move the king to a safe square, block the attack with another piece, or capture the attacking piece.
If there is no way out of check, it is checkmate and the game is over. That is the aim of chess: you never actually capture the king, you trap it.
Stalemate is different. It happens when the player to move is not in check but has no legal move at all. A stalemate is a draw, which is why beginners with a big advantage sometimes accidentally throw away a win. When you are far ahead, always make sure your opponent has a legal move after yours, unless it is checkmate.
The special rules
Castling
Castling is the only move where two pieces move at once. The king moves two squares towards a rook, and that rook jumps over to the square on the king's other side. It tucks the king safely into the corner and brings the rook towards the centre. You can only castle if:
- neither the king nor that rook has moved yet,
- there are no pieces between them,
- the king is not in check, and it does not pass through or land on a square that is attacked.
Pawn promotion
When a pawn reaches the far side of the board, it is promoted to a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. Almost everyone chooses a queen. That is why pushing a pawn all the way down the board can win a game on its own.
En passant
This is the rule that surprises most beginners. If a pawn moves two squares from its starting position and lands right beside an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn can capture it as if it had only moved one square, by moving diagonally behind it. This capture is only allowed on the very next move. The name is French for "in passing".
Other ways to draw
- Agreement: both players agree to a draw.
- Threefold repetition: the same position occurs three times with the same player to move.
- The 50-move rule: 50 moves by each player with no capture and no pawn move.
- Insufficient material: neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate, for example king against king.
Five principles for the opening
You do not need to memorise long opening lines to play well. Follow these five principles and you will reach a good position in almost every game:
- Control the centre. Start with a centre pawn, e4 or d4 for White, and fight for the four central squares.
- Develop your knights and bishops. Bring them off the back rank in the first few moves, usually knights before bishops.
- Castle early. Get your king to safety within the first ten moves or so.
- Do not bring the queen out too soon. Your opponent will chase it with minor pieces and gain time.
- Move each piece once in the opening, unless there is a good reason to move it again.
Beginner-friendly openings
| Opening | First moves | Why it is good for beginners |
|---|---|---|
| Italian Game | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 | Fast development and a bishop aimed at Black's weak f7 square |
| Ruy Lopez | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 | A classic that teaches pressure on the centre |
| Queen's Gambit | 1.d4 d5 2.c4 | Solid, popular at every level, and great for learning pawn structure |
| London System | 1.d4 then Bf4, e3, Nf3 | A simple set-up you can play against almost anything |
| Replying to 1.e4 with 1...e5 | 1.e4 e5 | The most natural reply for Black, mirroring White's central control |
The move notation is simple once you know it: K is king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop and N knight (K was already taken), pawns have no letter, and the square is given by file and rank. So Nf3 means a knight moves to f3.
The traps every beginner should know
Scholar's Mate
The most famous beginner trap: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Qh5 Nf6?? 4.Qxf7#. The white queen and bishop both aim at f7, a square defended only by Black's king, and the queen captures there with checkmate. To defend, watch for a queen and bishop lining up on f7, and block or defend it, for example with ...g6 or ...Qe7 instead of 3...Nf6.
Fool's Mate
The fastest possible checkmate takes just two moves: 1.f3 e5 2.g4 Qh4#. It only works if White weakens the diagonal next to the king. The lesson is to avoid pushing the pawns in front of your king early in the game.
Back-rank mate
Later in the game, a king hiding behind its own pawns can be checkmated by a rook or queen landing on the back rank. The cure is simple: when the position is calm, give your king a small escape square by moving one of the pawns in front of it, a move often called "making luft".
Tactics that win games
Most beginner games are decided by a simple tactic, not by deep strategy. Learn to spot these four patterns:
- Fork: one piece attacks two enemy pieces at once. Knights are especially good at forks, such as attacking a king and a queen together.
- Pin: a piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. A bishop pinning a knight to the king is a classic example.
- Skewer: the reverse of a pin. A valuable piece is attacked and, when it moves, the piece behind it is captured.
- Discovered attack: moving one piece reveals an attack by another piece behind it, often creating two threats at once.
Before every move, ask three questions: What is my opponent threatening? Can I capture something for free? Are any of my pieces undefended? This one habit will save you more games than any opening book.
How to checkmate with a lone king
Every player needs to know the two basic checkmates, because many games end with one side having just a king left.
King and queen against king
Use the queen to push the enemy king towards the edge of the board, keeping a knight's move away from it so it is never stalemated. Then bring your own king up to support, and deliver mate on the edge with the queen protected by the king.
King and rook against king
The rook cuts the enemy king off along a rank or file, like a wall. Bring your king opposite the enemy king, then check with the rook to push it back one row at a time until it is on the edge, where a rook check is mate.
A simple practice plan
- Week 1: play the computer on Easy until you win comfortably. Focus on not leaving pieces undefended.
- Week 2: practise the five opening principles and castle in every game.
- Week 3: look for forks and pins in every game. Move up to Medium difficulty.
- Week 4: practise the queen and rook checkmates against a lone king until they are automatic, then challenge Hard mode or a friend.
After each game, take one minute to think about the move where things went wrong. That habit, repeated, is how every strong player improved.
Remember, too, that every strong player once lost to Scholar's Mate. Mistakes are part of the game, and each one makes the next game better.
Chess etiquette
Whether you play online or across a table, a few simple manners make games more enjoyable: shake hands or say "good game" at the start and end, do not take back moves in a serious game, and accept a loss gracefully. Every loss teaches you something. As the saying goes, you learn more from the games you lose than from the ones you win.
Ready to play? Open our free Chess game and try the opening principles in your first match. You can find more strategy and thinking games in our brain games guide and in the Board Games category.