How to Play Chess

The Basics

Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. Each player begins with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns.

Objective

The objective is to checkmate the opponent's king. Checkmate occurs when the king is in a position to be captured (in check) and there is no way to escape.

Taking Turns

White always moves first. Players alternate turns, moving one piece per turn (except during castling, which moves two pieces).

Board Setup

Black pieces start on ranks 7 and 8

White pieces start on ranks 1 and 2