How to play chess: the basics
Everything you need before your first game, and nothing you don't. How the board goes down (the light square sits in the right-hand corner, and the queen starts on her own colour), what the pieces are called, who moves first, what you are actually trying to do, and how a game can end. I teach this to complete beginners in about an hour, and the order below is the order I use. Read the first three pages and you can set up a board and start. Read the rest and you will stop being surprised by the rules that catch most new players: that you cannot pass, that you cannot capture a king, that the queen is worth nine pawns but the king is worth the game.
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How to play chess: the rules in plain English
White moves first and the two sides then alternate.
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How to set up a chess board
Turn the board so the square nearest your right hand is light.
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Chess pieces: names, how many, what each does
Each player starts with sixteen: eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen and one king, so thirty-two on the board.
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How many squares are on a chessboard?
Sixty-four: eight files by eight ranks, half of them light and half dark.
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Ranks, files and diagonals explained
Files are the eight columns, lettered a to h from White's left.
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Who moves first in chess?
White, always.
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What is the goal of chess?
To checkmate the enemy king, meaning to attack it in a way the other player cannot answer by moving, capturing or blocking.
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How does a chess game end?
Three ways to win: checkmate, your opponent resigning, or their clock running out while you can still mate.
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Chess piece values: what each piece is worth
A pawn is 1, a knight 3, a bishop 3, a rook 5 and a queen 9.
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Which chess piece is the most powerful?
The queen.
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How do you capture in chess?
Move one of your pieces onto the square an enemy piece stands on, take that piece off the board, and leave yours there.
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Can you pass your turn in chess?
No.
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Can you move two pieces in one turn?
No.
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What counts as a move in chess?
A move usually means a pair: White plays, Black answers, and that is move one.
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How long does a chess game last?
A typical game runs to about forty moves each.
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What is the centre in chess and why control it?
The centre is the four squares d4, e4, d5 and e5, with the sixteen squares from c3 to f6 counting as the extended centre.
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What are the three phases of a chess game?
Opening, middlegame, endgame.
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Is chess hard to learn?
The rules are easy: an hour with a board and you can play a legal game of chess.
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How to win at chess as a beginner
Beginner games are decided by material given away, not by clever play.
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Do you have to say check in chess?
No rule requires it.
Learned the rules? Train them on real puzzles matched to your level.