Start with the board and the aim
Chess is played on 64 squares, with White moving first and the players then taking turns. Files are the columns named a through h; ranks are the rows numbered 1 through 8. A square such as e4 combines a file and a rank. From White's side, the light corner square is on the right. Each queen begins on a square of her own colour, beside the king. Online boards set the pieces up for you, but learning the coordinates makes instructions and game records easier to follow.
The aim is checkmate: attack the opposing king so that the opponent has no legal way to remove the attack. You never capture a king. Winning material can help you deliver mate, but a large collection of extra pieces does not itself end the game. The king's safety also governs every move you make. A move that leaves your own king attacked is illegal, even if it would capture the opponent's queen.
How the pieces travel
A rook travels along a file or rank; a bishop travels diagonally. Both can move any distance along an unobstructed line. The queen combines those two movement patterns. These pieces stop at an occupied square: they can capture an opposing piece there, but cannot continue through it. They cannot land on a friendly piece. A bishop stays on the same colour of square throughout the game, which explains why two bishops often cover different parts of a position.
A knight moves two squares along one direction and one square across, forming an L shape. It is the only ordinary piece that can jump over other pieces. A king moves one square in any direction, provided the destination is safe. Kings may never stand next to one another, because each attacks the squares around it. Pawns move forward but capture diagonally forward. A pawn normally advances one square; from its starting square it may advance two if both squares are empty. It cannot move backwards.
Responding to check
When your king is in check, your next move must make it safe. Look for three possible kinds of defence: move the king to a safe square, capture the checking piece, or place a piece between the attacker and the king. Blocking works against a distant rook, bishop or queen attack. It does not stop a knight's check. Capturing is only a solution if the capturing move leaves your king safe from every other attacker.
Consider a rook checking your king along an open file. Moving the king sideways might work, but first inspect the proposed square for enemy attacks. Alternatively, a bishop could interpose on the file if that square is reachable. The useful habit is to test the resulting position, rather than reacting to the checking piece alone. When two pieces give check at once, a legal response must be a king move; removing or blocking just one attack is insufficient.
Three special moves
Castling moves the king two squares toward a rook and places that rook on the square the king crossed. In standard chess, White's kingside castle takes the king from e1 to g1 and the rook from h1 to f1. The king and that rook must never have moved, the intervening squares must be empty, and the king must not be in check or cross or finish on an attacked square. Moving a king or rook back to its starting square does not restore its castling right.
A pawn that reaches the last rank immediately promotes to a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. Your choice is not limited to pieces that were captured earlier. A queen is often strongest, but a knight promotion can give a useful check, and another choice can avoid stalemate. Pause to inspect the position before selecting automatically.
En passant is a pawn capture available immediately after an enemy pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands beside your pawn. For example, a white pawn on e5 can answer Black's d7-d5 with e5xd6, removing the pawn on d5. The opportunity expires if White makes another move. This capture must also leave White's king safe: removing both pawns can uncover a rook or bishop attack.
Understand how a game can finish
Checkmate wins the game. Stalemate is a draw: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move with any piece. When you have a queen against a lone king, check whether your opponent has a legal reply before making a quiet move. Taking away every square without giving check can turn a winning position into an immediate draw.
Other draws can arise through agreement, repeated positions, long stretches without a pawn move or capture, or a position in which checkmate is impossible. Repetition concerns the whole position and the available moves, not merely a repeated pair of moves. Online services handle draw claims and automatic draws in their own interfaces; read the displayed result and the site's rules. Begin with a slow practice game, and concentrate on making legal moves and keeping your king safe before worrying about opening names.
Take it to the board
- Identify whose turn it is and whether that king is in check.
- Check the piece's movement and any squares it must cross.
- Inspect king safety after the proposed move.
- After a quiet move near the end, distinguish mate from stalemate.