How To Play Chess Lesson 2: The Special Rules

This blog will be looking at the special rules in chess.

Discover The Special Rules Of Chess

There are a few special rules in chess that may not seem logical at first. They were created to make the game more fun and interesting.

Pawn Promotion

Pawns have another special ability and that is that if a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can become any other chess piece. This is called promotion in chess. This rule was created because a pawn can only move 1 square forward (apart from its first move of course!), and when it gets to the end, it will have no where to go to, so the so called promotion rule was created.

A pawn may be promoted to any piece. That piece does not have to already have been captured. Many people tend to promote to a queen, as that is the most powerful piece, but in a later blog, you will find out why that does not always have to be the case.

'En Passant'

 If a pawn moves out two squares on its first move, and by doing so lands to the side of an opponent's pawn, that other pawn has the option of capturing the first pawn as it passes by.

This special move must be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available.

Castling

One other special chess rule is called castling. This move allows you to do two important things all in one move: get your king to safety (hopefully), and get your rook out of the corner and into the game. On a player's turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook from that side's corner to right next to the king on the opposite side. (See the example below.) However, in order to castle, the following conditions must be met:

• it must be that king's very first move
• it must be that rook's very first move
• there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook to move
• the king may not be in check or pass through check

Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board. That is called castling "kingside". Castling to the other side, through where the queen sat, is called castling "queenside". Regardless of which side, the king always moves only two squares when castling.

Who Moves First In A Game Of Chess?

The player with the white pieces always moves first. Therefore, players generally decide who will get to be white by chance or luck such as flipping a coin or having one player guess the color of the hidden pawn in the other player's hand.