Chess for Everyone!

Today we're going to learn a game that's been played for thousands of years, and is often called (with good reason) the king of games. I am of course talking about chess, which today is played by millions of people all over the world, both as a competitive sport and as a fun recreation. Let's get down to it and look at the basics.

The chessboard is our battlefield. It has 64 squares, 32 black and 32 white (although they can be brown, red, yellow and so on, they're always called the black and white). Each square has a name, for example b2, c4, g7 etc.

The image to the right shows the names of the squares.

It doesn't matter if you have the white or black pieces, the square in the right corner is always white (white in the right). Many chessboards have coordinates, that is letters and numbers on the edges. The letters should be in front of you. The vertical lines on the board are called files, for example the d-file. The horizontal lines are called ranks, for example the second rank. The white pieces go on the first and second rank and the black ones on the seventh and eighth.

The queen must always start on her own colour, the white queen on a white square and the black queen on a black square!

The picture shows how it should look when you've set up the chessboard.

There are initially 32 "soldiers" (chess pieces) on the chessboard, 16 for each player. We'll get to know each of them right now, and how they move. Let's start with the bishop. It moves diagonally (easy peasy!):

Part II

It can’t jump over pieces, but it can capture the enemy ones.

The rook can go up and down, right and left.

Part II

Since we have a white one, it can capture a black piece.

Her majesty the queen is the strongest player on the field. She can do the same things as the rook and the bishop combined.

Part II

Of course she doesn't eat her own children, but those of the enemy are often in danger!

This guy is like the Kobe Bryant of chess. He can really jump!

His majesty moves rather slowly, but do not underestimate him. In the endgame, he's often a force to be reckoned with.

Part II

The king is the only piece that can't be sacrificed. You can't put it in the enemy line of fire.

Not the prawn!

When it starts out, it can move either one or two squares forward:

Part II

After that, it can move one square forward:

Part III

When something is in front of it, it’s stuck. So here both the white and the black pawn are stuck:

Part IV

The white pawn in this picture actually has three options: capture either of the black pawns or just pass between them:

Part V

When a pawn has reached the other end of the board, it gets promoted. You can choose whether you promote it to queen, rook, bishop or knight. Since the queen is the mightiest piece, it's most often the right choice (there are exceptions which you can learn later).

Now you've learnt the basics, but there is so much more to chess than this. That's why I've created a website where you can explore further. It's called Restless Knights. Have fun with it!