Chess in one minute
- Two players, White and Black, have sixteen pieces each. White moves first, and then the players take turns.
- Each kind of piece moves in its own way. You capture an enemy piece by moving onto its square. The captured piece leaves the board.
- The goal is to checkmate your opponent's king: attack it so that it can't be saved.
- The game can also end in a draw.
The board and the setup
The board has 64 squares, eight by eight, alternately light and dark. Turn it so that both players have a light square in the right-hand corner: light on the right. Then set up the pieces like this, the same for both colors:
- The rooks in the corners.
- The knights next to the rooks.
- The bishops next to the knights.
- The queen on her own color: the white queen on the light square d1, the black queen on the dark square d8.
- The king on the square that is left, next to the queen.
- The pawns on the rank in front, all eight in a row.
So the queens and the kings face each other: queen against queen on the d-file, king against king on the e-file.
How the pieces move
Each piece has its own page with diagrams, a board where you can try it yourself, common mistakes and a few fun facts.
The king
One square any way, never into check.
The queen
Straight and diagonal, any distance. The strongest piece.
The rook
Straight, along files and ranks. Loves open files.
The bishop
Diagonally, any distance. Stays on its color.
The knight
In an L, jumping over other pieces.
The pawn
Straight ahead, captures diagonally. Can become a queen.
| Piece | Letter | How it moves and what it is worth |
|---|---|---|
| King | K | Moves one square in any direction. Priceless: if it is checkmated, the game is lost. |
| Queen | Q | Straight and diagonal, any distance. About 9 pawns. |
| Rook | R | Straight, along files and ranks. About 5 pawns. |
| Bishop | B | Diagonally, any distance. About 3 pawns. |
| Knight | N | In an L, jumping over other pieces. About 3 pawns. |
| Pawn | – | One square straight ahead, two from the start. Captures diagonally. 1 pawn. |
The values are rules of thumb. What a piece is worth in a given position depends on where it stands.
Check and checkmate
A king that is attacked is in check. A player in check must save the king at once, by moving it, capturing the checking piece or putting something in between. You may never make a move that leaves your own king in check.
If there is no way to save the king, it is checkmate, and the game is over. The player who gives checkmate wins. The king is never captured. Read more about check and checkmate.
Three special moves
Castling
King to safety, rook into play. Two pieces in one move.
En passant
The pawn captured in passing. Only right away!
Promotion
The pawn reaches the last rank and becomes a queen, or something else.
When the game is drawn
A game can end in a draw in several ways: if the players agree, if the player to move has no legal move but is not in check (stalemate), if neither player can checkmate any longer, if the same position occurs three times, or if 50 moves each are made without any pawn moving and without any capture. All the rules are on the page about draws.
Touch-move
In tournament chess the touch-move rule applies. A player whose turn it is and who deliberately touches
- one of their own pieces must move it, if it can move,
- one of their opponent's pieces must capture it, if it can be captured.
If you only want to straighten a piece on its square, say j'adoube or I adjust first. And once you have let go of a piece on a new square, the move is made and can't be changed. At home you are welcome to be kinder to each other, especially to someone who is learning. Read more about touch-move.
How to write down the moves
Every square has a name. The files, the columns of squares running up the board, are named a to h from White's left. The ranks, the rows running across, are numbered 1 to 8 from White's side. So the square in White's bottom left-hand corner is a1, and White's king starts on e1.
A move is written with the piece's letter and the square it goes to. The letters are K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop and N for knight, since K is already taken by the king. Pawns have no letter. So Nf3 means the knight goes to f3, and e4 that a pawn goes to e4.
| Symbol | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| x | captures | Bxe5: the bishop captures on e5. dxe5: the pawn from the d-file captures on e5. |
| + | check | Bb5+ |
| # | checkmate | Qxf7# |
| O-O | castling kingside | O-O |
| O-O-O | castling queenside | O-O-O |
| = | promotion | e8=Q: the pawn becomes a queen on e8. |
| e.p. | en passant (may be left out) | exd6 e.p. |
Moves are numbered in pairs: first White's move, then Black's. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 means that White played e4, Black e5, White the knight to f3 and Black the knight to c6. If two pieces of the same kind can go to the same square, you add where the move comes from, for example Rad1: the rook on the a-file goes to d1. This way of writing is called algebraic notation. Other languages have their own letters for the pieces, but the squares have the same names everywhere. The file format PGN, which chess programs use to save games, uses the English letters.
Next steps
- Play a first game against a gentle opponent, such as Doris the Cat or Auntie Maggie: choose an opponent.
- Learn the most common tricks: chess tactics, and practice them with chess puzzles, sorted by theme.
- Try the daily puzzle: the same puzzle for everyone, new every day.
- See how a game usually begins: chess openings.
- Wondering what a word means? Look it up in the chess glossary.
- Teaching a child? Read chess for kids.
Frequently asked questions
Who goes first in chess?
White always makes the first move. In tournaments the pairings decide who gets the white pieces. At home you decide for yourselves, and it is common to switch colors between games.
Which way should the board face?
Each player should have a light square in the corner nearest them on the right. The queen goes on her own color: the white queen on a light square, the black queen on a dark one.
How do you win at chess?
By checkmating your opponent's king. You also win if your opponent resigns, and in games with a clock if your opponent's time runs out, as long as you yourself could still give checkmate.
Can you take back a move?
Not in tournament chess. There the touch-move rule applies: if you deliberately touch one of your own pieces you must move it, if you can, and a move can't be changed once you have let go of the piece. At home you decide for yourselves.
Do you have to say “check”?
No. FIDE's rules don't require it, and in tournaments players normally don't. While you are learning, it is still a friendly habit.
Can a pawn move backward?
No. The pawn is the only piece that may never move backward. It moves straight ahead and captures diagonally forward.
Updated October 28, 2026