Intro to Chess

(Video above I am white checkmating black.)

In the game of chess, you must think first before you move. Chess is a game of strategy that is played on a 8×8 board with the goal of checkmating the opponent’s king by putting it in the inescapable threat of capture. Millions of people play this game worldwide, normally get beat by some military mastermind from Bangladesh on the chess app I play on my phone. The most popular website to use to play against others around the world is (chess.com).

The game is aligned like the picture on the right. The bottom left square should be black when you are facing your pieces, with your queen on its color. White on white, black on black. In this game, white always moves first. Once you put your move into play, there is no redo’s.

Each player begins with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns.

Pawns can move directly forward two squares on their first move only. Pawns can move forward one unless there is a piece directly in front of it, but can take pieces forward diagonally 1 square on either side. If a pawn reaches the other side of the board, the player can get a bishop, knight, rook, or queen.

A bishop can move as far as it wants diagonally, but cannot jump over other pieces.

The queen combines the power of a rook and bishop and can move any number of squares, but cannot jump over other pieces. This piece is the most valued piece behind the king.

A knight moves in a L shape. Two squares vertically and one horizontally. The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.

The king can move one square in any direction. The king can castle that will also move a rook. Castling can only happen when the rook and king has not moved yet in the game, with no other pieces in the way. The king goes to the outer part of the board and the rook goes in.

A rook can move as far as it wants horizontally or vertically but cannot leap over other pieces. Along with the king, a rook is involved during the king’s castling move.

“Check” is a move that makes a king in danger of being captured. The person in check must either move a piece to protect the king, or move the king out of harms way.

Games can be ended from checkmate, where the king cannot be saved. Time may run out, people may resign, a draw may be agreed upon, a stalemate, and insufficient material may cause the game to end.

Overall, chess is a strategic game that’s main goal is to checkmate the opponent’s king. To do so, a player must think first before he/she moves. Millions of players play worldwide and the community is growing.