Objective

The goal of Chess is to checkmate your opponent\\\'s king. Checkmate occurs when the king is under attack (in check) and has no legal move to escape.

Setup

• Chess is played by 2 players.
• The board consists of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid.
• Each player begins with 16 pieces:
• 1 King
• 1 Queen
• 2 Rooks
• 2 Bishops
• 2 Knights
• 8 Pawns
• The board is placed so that each player has a light-colored square in the bottom-right corner.
• The queen starts on her own color (white queen on a light square, black queen on a dark square).

How the Pieces Move

King (♔)

• Moves one square in any direction.
• Cannot move into check.

Queen (♕)

• Moves any number of squares:
• Horizontally
• Vertically
• Diagonally

Rook (♖)

• Moves any number of squares:
• Horizontally
• Vertically

Bishop (♗)

• Moves any number of squares diagonally.

Knight (♘)

• Moves in an L-shape:
• Two squares in one direction and then one square perpendicular.
• Knights are the only pieces that can jump over other pieces.

Pawn (♙)

• Moves forward one square.
• May move two squares forward on its first move if both squares are empty.
• Captures one square diagonally forward.
• Cannot move backward.

Capturing Pieces

• A piece captures an opponent\\\'s piece by moving onto its square.
• The captured piece is removed from the game.
• Except for the knight, pieces cannot move through other pieces.

Check

A king is in check if it is being attacked by an opponent\\\'s piece.

When in check, the player must immediately respond by:

• Moving the king to safety,
• Blocking the attack, or
• Capturing the attacking piece.

Ignoring check is not allowed.

Checkmate

A player wins by checkmate when:

• The opponent\\\'s king is in check, and
• There is no legal move to escape.

The game ends immediately.

Castling

Castling is a special move involving the king and one rook.

It is allowed only if:

• Neither the king nor the rook has previously moved.
• All squares between them are empty.
• The king is not currently in check.
• The king does not move through or end on a square under attack.

The king moves two squares toward the rook, and the rook moves to the square immediately next to the king.

En Passant

En passant is a special pawn capture.

It is allowed when:

• An opposing pawn moves forward two squares from its starting position.
• It lands beside one of your pawns.

On your very next move, you may capture it as though it had moved only one square.

If not used immediately, the opportunity is lost.

Pawn Promotion

When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board, it must be promoted to:

• Queen
• Rook
• Bishop
• Knight

Promotion happens immediately and is not limited by previously captured pieces.

Draw Conditions

The game ends in a draw if any of the following occur:

• Stalemate – A player has no legal moves but is not in check.
• Threefold Repetition – The same board position occurs three times.
• Fifty-Move Rule – Fifty consecutive moves occur without a pawn move or capture.
• Insufficient Material – Neither player has enough pieces to force checkmate.
• Mutual Agreement – Both players agree to a draw.

Winning the Game

You win by:

• Checkmating your opponent\\\'s king.
• Your opponent resigning.
• Your opponent running out of time (if using a chess clock).

If neither player can force a win under the rules, the game ends in a draw.