Chess
Free online strategy board game · Play the computer · No sign-up
Chess in a nutshell
Chess is a two-player strategy game on an 8 by 8 board. Each side has sixteen pieces that move in different ways, and the aim is to checkmate the other king: attack it so that it cannot escape. There is no luck involved, so every game is decided by the moves the players choose.
- Set up the board. Place the board with a light square in the bottom-right corner. Rooks go in the corners, then knights, then bishops, with the queen on her own colour and the king beside her. Pawns fill the second row.
- White moves first. Players take turns, moving one piece each turn. You may not pass.
- Learn how each piece moves. Rooks move in straight lines, bishops diagonally, the queen both ways, the knight in an L shape, the king one square any way, and pawns forward one square (two on their first move).
- Capture by landing on a piece. Move onto a square held by an enemy piece to take it off the board. Pawns capture one square diagonally forward.
At a glance
- Players
- 2 players or you against the computer
- Length
- 20 to 60 minutes for a relaxed game
- Equipment
- 8 by 8 board 16 pieces each
- Learn it in
- 30 minutes a lifetime to master
Chess questions
What is the difference between check and checkmate?
Check means the king is under attack but can escape, by moving, blocking or capturing the attacker. Checkmate means there is no way to escape, and the game ends.
What is castling?
A special move of the king and a rook together. The king moves two squares towards the rook and the rook jumps to the square on the king's other side. Neither piece may have moved before, the squares between must be empty, and the king may not be in check, pass through an attacked square or land in check.
What is en passant?
If a pawn moves two squares forward and lands beside one of your pawns, your pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. You must do it on your very next move or the chance is gone.
How can a chess game end in a draw?
By stalemate, by agreement, when the same position comes up three times, when fifty moves each pass with no capture and no pawn move, or when neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate.
Which piece is the most valuable?
The king can never be captured, so it is beyond value. Of the others, the queen is strongest, then the rooks, then bishops and knights, which are worth about the same, and then the pawns.
More free board games
CheckersJump and capture to win.
BackgammonRace your checkers home with the dice, hitting blots on the way.
LudoRoll a 6, race your four tokens home and send rivals back to the yard.
Snakes & LaddersClimb the ladders, dodge the smiling snakes and race to 100.
Four in a RowDrop discs and line up four to win.
