Chess Game Rules

There are many chess game rules that one is required to know in order to play this exciting and very competitive game. One must know how each piece must move and in which direction. One must also have the ability to play ahead and see the potential moves that can possibly come from your opponent, as well as have the ability to defend them too.

It is a game of both offense as well as defense and one must be able to do both in order to win. But, how does one play chess? Below is a crash course that will basically teach you the concept of the game and explain how each piece moves. But, it will be entirely up to you whether or not you are able to play this game as it was meant to be played.

Lets begin with the basics. There are sixty four squares on the checkerboard which is the battlefield. Sixteen pieces are used per player. Each have a king, a queen, two bishops, two rooks, two knights, and eight pawns. Lets discuss each piece and what they can or cannot do.

The king is allowed to move in any direction but, only one space at a time, unless one is castling. This is when the king takes the rooks place on the board. This is a defensive maneuver that cannot be utilized while in check or after being in check. There must not be any pieces directly in the line between the rook and the king either. This is a bit of an advanced move which may need to be clarified later.

The queen is allowed to move in any direction and is allowed to move as many spaces as the player wants. However, she is not allowed to jump pieces.

The rook looks like the castle and can only move vertical or horizontal. And, just as the queen, the rook is allowed to move as many spaces as the player wants but, is not allowed to jump pieces either.

The bishop is only allowed to move diagonally and must remain on the color that it had originally began. It cannot jump pieces either.

The knight is the horse looking figure. It is allowed to move in an "L" shape in any direction and is allowed to jump pieces but, must land upon an open space.

The pawns must only move one space at a time forward across the board. However, during its first move from its origin, it is allowed to move two spaces. But, this is only the very first moves of the pawns. A pawn can take a piece only on the adjoining diagonal.

As mentioned earlier, this is just a basic crash course on how the pieces move. There are many more concepts that deal with chess game rules and for those who are interested there is a host of information out there both on line and in books.