Chess
Sixteen pieces, one king to bring down.
The ultimate strategy game. Every piece has its own move, every move shapes what follows, and it all revolves around one goal: checkmating the enemy king. Fast games or long ones, you pick the pace.
- Players
- 2
- Game length
- about 15 min
Rules
Objective
Checkmate the enemy king: it is under attack and no move can save it. White moves first, then players alternate.
How the pieces move
The king moves one square in any direction. The queen moves any number of squares in a straight line or diagonally. The rook moves in straight lines, the bishop diagonally.
The knight moves in an “L” and is the only piece that can jump over others. The pawn moves forward one square, or two on its first move, and captures diagonally.
Special moves
Castling moves the king two squares towards a rook, which jumps to the other side, in a single move. It is only allowed if neither piece has moved, the squares between them are empty and the king does not cross an attacked square.
En passant lets a pawn capture an enemy pawn that has just advanced two squares to land beside it. A pawn that reaches the last row is promoted to a queen, rook, bishop or knight.
Check and winning
A king under attack is “in check” and must get out of it immediately: by moving, by blocking with a piece or by capturing the attacker. You may never leave or put your own king in check.
The game is won by checkmate, by resignation or on time.
Draws
The game is drawn by stalemate (the player to move has no legal move and is not in check), threefold repetition, 50 moves without a capture or pawn move, insufficient material to mate, or agreement between the players.