The Basics for Beginners

  Welcome to Chess.com! Here you can read articles to improve your chess skill, learn from other chess players, and best of all, play chess with people from all over the world. The best thing about all this is: it’s FREE! Chess.com is very easy to use, and will only take a moment to get the hang of. So if you’re new to chess, or Chess.com, welcome, and we hope you enjoy your time here, and come back often.

First of all, you may have come here to learn how to play chess. And that’s okay. Lots of people who are new to chess, come here so they can really learn the rules, and strategies well. Chess.com can supply you with all the information you need from openings, to end games. Click HERE to learn the rules of chess.

After that’s done, you can start playing, and leaning more. See the green band of links up at the top there? Hover your cursor over the PLAY button. Click ONLINE CHESS from the drop down list. This is your Online Chess Home where you can see all your current games, set up new ones, and see past games, and a lot more. This is really user friendly, and I know you can handle it on your own.

If you want to get into a game right away, you can do one of three things.

• You can click in the OPEN SEEKS button, on the right side of the screen. This will show you a list of all the ready games that are being offered by other players. Click on the VIEW button next to one of the games to see the details about your opponent. If you like what you see, click on the ACCEPT button. You can now start playing chess.
• You can set up one of your own. Click START GAME, and you can choose the settings for the game you are offering. You can type in a user name, if you want to challenge a particular person. You can set the game either rated or, unrated. A rated game means the outcome of the game will affect your rating. Each player has a rating to show how well they play. If you lose a rated game, your rating will go down. If you win, it goes up! To learn about Chess Ratings click HERE.
• The last way, is to use the QUICK MATCH panel. Here you can set the time limit, and the ratings you will allow for your opponent. But remember, the ratings you choose, must include you own. Once you create a game you will be notified when you get your opponent.

Playing online chess is easy! Each game has a time limit, in which you are allowed to move. If you take longer than the time limit, you will lose. This is to prevent people from just not moving, if they are losing. The most common time limit setting is three days. Once you make a move, your time will reset, so you have the full time left to move. To get to a game, click on it from the Online Chess Home area. You can move the pieces by dragging them. Once you move, click the SUBMIT button to officially make your move. You can’t take back a move once you have made it. You can chat to your opponent at the right side of the screen. There are other tools for playing chess there too. Use the tabs to reveal other features, that make Chess.com so much fun. You can replay the whole game, keep secret notes, and more.

Please be nice when you chat with other players. Let’s keep the Chess.com community friendly, and kind.

You can leave the game at any time. Don’t worry! Your game will not be deleted. When it is your turn you will get an alert in the upper right of the page. You will also get alerts when you receive messages, or comments, or anything that requires your attention.

This ought to be enough to get you started. Don’t be afraid! Click around, and see all what Chess.com has to offer. You can have a load of fun here, and really improve your game.

If you have any questions, you should look in the FAQ (frequently asked questions) section,   Or you can post them here. Scroll down, and submit a comment with your question. You can also send me a message, and I'll be happy to help!