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#Chess openings how to
Want to know how to play chess for beginners? Here's a basic rundown on how the rules work. Image: sudowoodo/ What are the basic rules of playing chess? The starting positions of the pieces in chess, showing each queen on the square matching her colour. If playing with an optional timer, as in tournaments, the first player to run out of time forfeits the game. The white player takes the first move, with players alternating single turns until a player is defeated via checkmate or resigns. This means that the king and queen of each colour face each other, making the correct setup symmetrical between the two players. The queen is placed on the square matching her colour (for example, the black queen on the black square), with the king occupying the remaining square of the opposite colour. The two central squares of the rank are occupied by the king and queen. The closer rank is nearly symmetrical, with rooks (also known as castles) placed on the two leftmost and rightmost corner squares, followed by knights on the inside space next to them, then bishops. the second row from the player’s perspective - consists of a line of eight pawns, each placed on a single square.
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Players’ pieces are set up in the two horizontal rows (known as ranks) closest to each player. When properly set up, a white square should be the rightmost square along the edge closest to each player. The 64 squares alternate between light and dark colours - traditionally, black and white. Who knows, perhaps this might be the first step on your path to becoming the next grandmaster.Ĭhess is played by two players on a chess board measuring eight-by-eight squares. Once you know the basics of how to play, you can learn new strategies, tactics and deepen your understanding of the game as you play, gradually refining your skill and experience. These are the pure basics to get you playing as quickly as possible, without worrying about timing your turns or defending against specific openings. While you’ll find everything you need to play a casual game of chess below, we haven’t gone into as much depth on advanced elements such as specific openings, board positions or tournament rules. This guide includes all of the basics you need to know when learning chess, from which square to place the queen on during setup to when to call “checkmate” and claim victory. Whether you’ve just rediscovered chess or are sitting down to play for the very first time, we’ve put together this beginner-friendly guide on how to play. Advanced rules: Promotion, en passant and castling explained.Check and checkmate: Surround your opponent’s king to win.Basic rules: Learn how each chess piece moves and captures.Setup: Which square does the queen go on? Find out as we get ready to play by placing your pieces.We'll talk you through the basic rules, including how to move and capture pieces as well as essential moves to winning, like en passant and castling. After a photo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing chess went viral, hit record levels of traffic.Ĭhess is experiencing a renaissance, but if you're new to the game learning the chess rules and different strategies can feel overwhelming. Since 2020 interest in chess has skyrocketed, spurred on by people looking to play online during lockdowns, the popularity of Netflix show The Queen's Gambit and Twitch stars entering the PogChamps tournament and chess boxing. It has been played and loved for centuries, but in recent years it's surged in popularity with scores of new players looking to learn the chess rules. Chess is one of the oldest board games ever.
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