CHESS

♟️ How to Play Chess – A Beginner's Guide
1. Objective of the Game
The goal in chess is to checkmate your opponent's king. This means the king is in a position to be captured (“in check”) and there is no way to escape.

 
2. Chessboard Setup
The board has 64 squares, 8 rows (ranks) and 8 columns (files).
Place the board so that each player has a white square on their bottom-right corner.
Setup (from left to right for each player):

Back row: Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook.
Front row: 8 Pawns.
White queen on white square, black queen on black.
 
3. How Each Piece Moves
Piece
Movement
Pawn
Moves 1 square forward (2 on first move), captures diagonally
Rook
Straight lines – horizontally or vertically, any number of squares
Knight
Moves in L-shape: two squares in one direction, then one sideways
Bishop
Diagonal lines, any number of squares
Queen
Combines Rook + Bishop: moves any direction
King
Moves 1 square in any direction
 
4. Basic Rules
White goes first.
You take turns moving one piece at a time.
You capture by landing on a square with an opponent’s piece.
You cannot move through other pieces (except the knight).
If your king is attacked, it’s “check”. You must protect it.
If you can’t get out of check = “checkmate” → you lose.
 
5. Special Moves
Castling: Move king 2 spaces toward a rook, and rook jumps over. Conditions:

No pieces between them.
Neither piece has moved.
King is not in check, and doesn’t pass through or land in check.
En passant: If a pawn moves 2 squares forward from its starting square, and lands beside your pawn, you can capture it as if it had only moved 1 square – but only on the next move!
Promotion: When a pawn reaches the other side of the board, it becomes any piece (usually a queen).
 
6. Winning the Game
Checkmate your opponent.
If the king is not in check but no legal moves → it's a stalemate (draw).
Other draws: agreement, insufficient material, threefold repetition, or 50-move rule.