CHESSINSTRUCTIONS

FORBEGINNERS

CONTENTS
Introduction...............................................................................................................................................................................2
BasicGameplay.........................................................................................................................................................................2
ThePieces...................................................................................................................................................................................3
ThePawn................................................................................................................................................................................3
TheRook.................................................................................................................................................................................3
TheKnight.............................................................................................................................................................................4
TheBishop.............................................................................................................................................................................4
TheQueen..............................................................................................................................................................................4
TheKing..................................................................................................................................................................................5
EndingtheGame......................................................................................................................................................................5
AdvancedMoves......................................................................................................................................................................6
Castling....................................................................................................................................................................................6
EnPassant..............................................................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Chessisatwoplayercompetitiveboardgame.Itsagameofstrategy,meanttosimulatetwoarmies
incombat.Itsplayedonaboardwithan8by8gridofalternatinglightanddarksquares.Each
playerusesasetof16lightordarkpieces.

1King

2Bishops

2Rooks

1Queen

2Knights

8Pawns

BASICGAMEPLAY

1) Sit across from your opponent with the board

betweenyou
2)Setuptheboardasshown.
Both players should have a light square
atthebottomrightcornerfacingthem.
3) The player with the light pieces takes the first
turn.
Youcanonlymoveyourownpieces.
Youcanonlymakeonemoveperturn.
You can choose to use your move to
captureanenemypiece,ifpossible.This
removestheenemypiecefromplay.
4) Release your piece in its new position. If you
captured an enemy piece, take it off the board and
replaceitwiththecapturingpiece.
5)Youropponenttakesaturn.

Youshouldkeepalternatingturnswithyouropponent.Thegameendswhenoneofyouforcesthe
opposingKingintoapositionwherenovalidmoveswillpreventitscapture.Thisiscalled
"checkmate."Youcan'tpassonyourturn,soifyourkingissafeandyou'vegotnovalidmovesleft
atall,thegameisendedina"stalemate."Formoreinformationonendingthegame,seepage5.

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THEPIECES
Eachpiecehasitsownrulesformovement.However,youcantmovepieces(excepttheKnight)
throughoccupiedsquares.YoualsocantmakeanymovesthatcauseyourKingtobethreatenedby
anenemypiece.

THEPAWN

Movement
The Pawn can only move forward toward your
opponents side of the board. It can only move
onesquareatatime.Onitsfirstmove(andatno
othertime)itcanmovetwosquaresforward.It
cannevermovebackwards.

Capturing
ThePawncancaptureanyenemypiecethatis
onesquarediagonallyforwardfromitsposition.
Whenitcapturesapiece,ittakesthatpieces
position.

Promotion
IfyourPawnreachesthefarrowoftheboard,youmustpromoteit.Youcanchoosetomakeita
Rook,Knight,Bishop,orQueen.ItcantremainaPawnorbepromotedtoaKing.Youcanshowthis
promotionbyreplacingthePawnwithanextrapieceofthepropertypeandcolour.Youcanalso
useaninvertedRookofthepropercolour,oranothermarker.Forinstance,youcanwrapanelastic
bandaroundthepromotedPawn.

THEROOK

Movement
The Rook can move one or more squares in a
straight vertical or horizontal line. It can move
in any direction. It cant change direction in a
singlemove.

Capturing
The Rook can capture any enemy piece on its
path. When it captures a piece, it takes that
piecesposition.

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THEKNIGHT

Movement
The Knight can move in an L shape two
squares vertically and one horizontally, or one
square horizontally and two space vertically.
TheKnightcan moveoverotherpieces,aslong
asitsendpositionisfree.

Capturing
TheKnightcancaptureanyenemypieceatthe
endofitspath.Whenitcapturesapiece,ittakes
thatpiecesposition.

THEBISHOP

Movement
The Bishop can move one or more squares in
any straight diagonal line. It cant change
directioninasinglemove.

Capturing
TheBishopcancaptureanyenemypieceonits
path.Whenitcapturesapiece,ittakesthat
piecesposition.

THEQUEEN

Movement
The Queen can move one or more squares in a
lineinanydirection,straightordiagonal.Itcant
changedirectioninasinglemove.

Capturing
TheQueencancaptureanyenemypieceonits
path.Whenitcapturesapiece,ittakesthat
piecesposition.

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THEKING

Movement
TheKingcanmoveonesquareinanydirection,
straight or diagonal. It cant move into a space
thatsthreatenedbyanenemypiece.

Capturing
The King can capture any enemy piece on its
path,aslongasthatpieceisnotonaspacethats
threatened by another enemy piece. When it
capturesapiece,ittakesthatpiecesposition.

ENDINGTHEGAME
Towinatchess,youneedtoforcetheenemyKingintoapositionwhereit'scurrentlythreatened
andnovalidmovescanpreventitscapture.Whenyoudoso,youshouldsay"Checkmate!"Ifyou
makeamovethatthreatenstheenemyKingbutstillleavesroomforescapethenyoushouldsay
"check."Ifyou'reincheck,youhavetoremovethethreattoyourKing.Youcandothisbymoving
yourKing,bycapturingthethreateningpiece,orbyblockingthethreatwithoneofyourother
pieces.CheckmatecanoccurwhetherornottheKingwaspreviouslyincheck.
Youcan'tmakeanymovesthatputyourownKingintocheck.Also,ifyou'reincheckyouhaveto
removethethreat.Youcan'tlosebymissingapossibleescape.Ifyoumakeamovethatputsyour
Kingincheck,orfailtomakeamovethatwouldhavepreventedacheckmate,youhavetoreplay
themove.Youcanonlylosewithvalidmovesleftifyouresignthegame.
Thegamemightalsoendinastalemate.Thishappenswhenyouhavenovalidmovesleft,butyour
Kingisn'tthreatened.Basically,ithappenswheneverymoveyoucouldmakewouldputyourKing
incheck.Thisisbecauseyoucan'tpassyourturnandyoucan'tmoveyourownKingontoa
threatenedsquare.Astalemateisconsideredadraw.
Thereareafewothersituationswherethegamecanendinadraw:

Bothplayersagreetoadraw.
Neitherplayerhasenoughpiecestoachieveacheckmate.
Fiftyturnshavepassedsincethelastpawnwasmovedorthelastpiecewascapturedand
oneplayerchoosestodeclareadraw.

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ADVANCEDMOVES
Ifyou'vemasteredtheotherrulesofchess,herearetwospecialmoves.Youprobablywon'tuse
themtoooftenasabeginner,butthey'reusefultoknow.

CASTLING

Castling allows the Rook and King to move to

more strategically useful positions in a single
turn. There are several conditions required for
castling.

Neither piece has been moved

previously.
There are no pieces between the Rook
andtheKing.
The King doesnt pass through any
threatenedsquares.
TheKingisnotincheck.

Ifallofthoseconditionsaremet,youcanmove
the King two squares towards the Rook, and
then place the Rook on the far side of the King.
YoucanuseeitherRookforthismove.

ENPASSANT

You can use en passant to capture an enemy

pawn with one of your pawns. If you have a
pawninrange,andyouropponenttriestomove
apawnforwardtwospaces,youcancaptureas
iftheenemypawnhadonlymovedonespace.In
otherwords,yourecapturinginpassing.Your
pawn ends up on the square in front of the
enemypawnsstartingsquare.

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