History of chess
Chess is believed to have been invented 1500 years ago in India. The game has changed only
slightly since then with the advent of the queen in the 15th century and some minor movement
adjustments in the 1800s.
Chess game goal
The ultimate aim in the chess game is delivering a checkmate – trapping your opponent´s king. The
term checkmate is an alteration of the Persian phrase “Shah Mat”, meaning literally, “the King is
ambushed”, and not “the King is dead”, that is a common misconception.
General Chess Rules
White is always first to move and players take turns alternately moving one piece at a time.
Movement is required. If a player´s turn is to move, he is not in check but has no legal moves, this
situation is called “Stalemate” and it ends the game in a draw. Each type of piece has its own
method of movement. A piece may be moved to another position or may capture an opponent´s
piece, replacing on its square (en passant being the only exception). With the exception of the
knight, a piece may not move over or through any of the other pieces. When a king is threatened
with capture (but can protect himself or escape), it´s called check. If a king is in check, then the
player must make a move that eliminates the threat of capture and cannot leave the king in check.
Checkmate happens when a king is placed in check and there is no legal move to escape.
Checkmate ends the game and the side whose king was checkmated looses. Chess for kids would
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The initial position setup
The chessboard is made up of eight rows and eight columns for a total of 64 squares of alternating
colors. Each square of the chessboard is identified with a unique pair of a letter and a number. The
vertical files are labeled a through h, from White´s left (i.e. the queenside) to White´s right. Similarly,
the horizontal ranks are numbered from 1 to 8, starting from the one nearest White´s side of the
board. Each square of the board, then, is uniquely identified by its file letter and rank number. In the
initial position setup, the light queen is positioned on a light square and the dark queen is situated on
a dark square. The diagram below shows how the pieces should be initially situated.
Chess moves
King can move exactly one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. At
most once in every game, each king is allowed to make a special move, known
as castling.
Queen can move any number of vacant squares diagonally, horizontally, or
vertically.
Rook can move any number of vacant squares vertically or horizontally. It also
is moved while castling.
Bishop can move any number of vacant squares in any diagonal direction.
Knight can move one square along any rank or file and then at an angle. The
knight´s movement can also be viewed as an “L” or “7″ laid out at any
horizontal or vertical angle.
Pawns can move forward one square, if that square is unoccupied. If it has not
yet moved, the pawn has the option of moving two squares forward provided
both squares in front of the pawn are unoccupied. A pawn cannot move
backward. Pawns are the only pieces that capture differently from how they
move. They can capture an enemy piece on either of the two spaces adjacent to
the space in front of them (i.e., the two squares diagonally in front of them) but
cannot move to these spaces if they are vacant. The pawn is also involved in the
two special moves en passant and promotion.
Castling
Castling is the only time in the chess game when more than one piece moves during a turn. This
chess move has been invented in the 1500´s to help speeding up the game and improving balance
of the offense and defense. During the castling, the king moves two squares towards the rook he
intends to castle with, and the rook moves to the square through which the king passed. Castling is
only permissible if all of the following conditions hold:
Neither king nor rook involved in castling may have moved from the original
position;
There must be no pieces between the king and the rook;
The king may not currently be in check, nor may the king pass through or end up in a square that is
under attack by an enemy piece (though the rook is permitted to be under attack and to pass over an
attacked square)
En Passant
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