Chess has a small number of pieces and a single goal, yet its full rulebook contains more than most casual players realise: special moves, several ways a game can end in a draw, and a handful of exceptions that decide real games. This is the complete reference. It covers everything from the board setup and how each piece moves through to castling, en passant, promotion, check and checkmate, and every way a game can be drawn. Whether you are learning or just settling an argument mid-game, the answer is here.
If you are brand new to chess and want a gentle first-game walkthrough rather than a full reference, our guide on how to play chess is the friendlier starting point. This page is the definitive rundown to come back to. Let us start with the object of the game.
The object of the game
The goal of chess is to checkmate your opponent's king: to attack it in such a way that it cannot escape capture. It is not about capturing the most pieces, and the king is never actually captured; the game ends the moment checkmate is unavoidable. Everything in the rules serves this single aim, either helping you trap the enemy king or keeping your own safe.
The board and setup
Chess is played on an 8x8 board of 64 squares, alternating light and dark. The board is oriented so that each player has a light square in their near right-hand corner, remembered by the phrase "light on right". Get this wrong and the whole setup is mirrored incorrectly.
Each player starts with 16 pieces on the two rows nearest them. The back row, from the corners inward, runs rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook, with a row of eight pawns in front. The one placement people get wrong is the queen and king: the queen goes on her own colour (the white queen on a light square, the black queen on a dark square), and the king takes the remaining central square. Our full guide on how to set up a chess board walks through it square by square. White always moves first, and players then alternate turns.
How the pieces move
Each of the six pieces moves in its own way. No piece except the knight may jump over another, and you may never move onto a square occupied by your own piece.
The king moves one square in any direction. It can never move into check (a square attacked by an enemy piece).
The queen moves any number of squares in a straight line: horizontally, vertically or diagonally. She is the most powerful piece.
The rook moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically.
The bishop moves any number of squares diagonally, staying on its starting colour for the whole game.
The knight moves in an L-shape: two squares in one direction then one at a right angle. It is the only piece that jumps over others, which makes it deadly in crowded positions.
The pawn is the most complicated. It moves straight forward one square, or two squares on its first move, but it captures differently: one square diagonally forward. A pawn can never move backwards. Pawns are also involved in two of chess's special rules, en passant and promotion, covered below. For a fuller look at each piece and its value, see our guide to chess pieces and their meanings.
Capturing
You capture an enemy piece by moving one of your pieces onto its square, removing it from the board. Most pieces capture the same way they move. The exception is the pawn, which moves straight but captures one square diagonally forward, so a pawn blocked directly ahead cannot take the piece in front of it, only pieces on the forward diagonals. Capturing is never compulsory in chess, unlike in draughts.
Castling
Castling is the only move that lets you move two of your own pieces at once, the king and a rook, and it is the main way to get your king to safety. The king moves two squares toward a rook, and that rook jumps to the square the king crossed.
Castling is only legal when all of these are true: neither the king nor that rook has moved earlier in the game; there are no pieces between them; the king is not currently in check; and the king does not pass through or land on a square attacked by an enemy piece. You can castle kingside (short) or queenside (long, with the more distant rook). Because it both protects the king and activates a rook, castling early is one of the soundest habits in chess. We cover the timing and the common mistakes in our dedicated guide to castling.
En passant
En passant, French for "in passing", is the rule that most surprises improving players. It applies only to pawns. If your opponent moves a pawn two squares forward from its starting position, and in doing so it lands directly beside one of your pawns, you may capture it as if it had moved only one square, by moving diagonally into the square it skipped over.
The crucial condition is timing: en passant can only be played immediately, on the very next move. If you do not take the chance straight away, the right to capture that pawn en passant is lost. It exists to stop a pawn using its two-square first move to slip past an enemy pawn unchallenged.
Pawn promotion
When a pawn reaches the far end of the board, the eighth rank from where it started, it is promoted: it must immediately become a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its own colour. Almost always players choose a queen, since she is the most powerful, which is why promotion is often called "queening". But you may choose any of the four, and occasionally a knight is the better choice because it moves in a way the queen cannot.
There is no limit on promotion. In theory you could have several queens on the board at once if you promote multiple pawns. Promotion is what gives even a lone pawn long-term value: every pawn is a potential queen.
Check and checkmate
When the king is under attack, it is in check, and the player must get out of check immediately. There are three ways to do so: move the king to a safe square, capture the attacking piece, or block the attack by placing a piece in the way. You may not make any move that leaves your own king in check, and you may not ignore a check to do something else.
Checkmate occurs when the king is in check and there is no legal way to escape it: no safe square, no capture, no block. Checkmate ends the game immediately, and the player delivering it wins. The whole of chess strategy is, ultimately, in service of reaching this position, or preventing it.
How a game can be drawn
Not every game ends in a win. Chess has several ways to draw, and knowing them settles many disputes.
Stalemate. If the player to move has no legal move but their king is not in check, the game is a draw. This is the one that catches people out: a player with a huge advantage can throw away the win by accidentally stalemating a lone enemy king. Stalemate is a draw, not a win.
Insufficient material. If neither side has enough pieces to force checkmate, for example king against king, or king and a single bishop or knight against king, the game is drawn because a win is impossible.
Threefold repetition. If the exact same position occurs three times, with the same player to move and the same possible moves, either player can claim a draw.
The fifty-move rule. If fifty consecutive moves are made by each player without any pawn moving and without any capture, either player can claim a draw. It exists to stop a game continuing forever with no progress.
Agreement. Players may simply agree to a draw at any point, common when the position is balanced and neither side can make progress.
Touch-move and other conduct rules
In serious play a few conduct rules apply. The best known is touch-move: if you deliberately touch one of your pieces, you must move it if it has a legal move; if you touch an enemy piece, you must capture it if you legally can. Once you release a piece on a new square, the move is complete and cannot be taken back. To adjust a piece on its square without committing to move it, a player says "j'adoube" or "I adjust" first. These rules matter in tournaments and are worth adopting for serious games at home, though casual games are often more relaxed.
Frequently asked questions
What are the basic rules of chess?
Each player has 16 pieces and takes turns moving one piece at a time, with White going first. Each piece moves in its own way, you capture by landing on an enemy piece's square, and the goal is to checkmate the opponent's king, attacking it so it cannot escape. Special rules cover castling, en passant, pawn promotion, and the several ways a game can be drawn.
What is the en passant rule?
En passant lets you capture an enemy pawn that has just advanced two squares from its start and landed beside one of your pawns, taking it as if it had moved only one square. It can only be done immediately, on your very next move; the right is lost if you delay. It applies only to pawns.
What is the difference between stalemate and checkmate?
In checkmate the king is in check and has no legal way to escape, and the game is lost. In stalemate the player to move has no legal move but is not in check, and the game is a draw. The key difference is whether the king is under attack: checkmate is a loss, stalemate is a draw.
Can a pawn become any piece?
When a pawn reaches the far end of the board it must promote to a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its own colour. It cannot stay a pawn or become a king. Players almost always choose a queen as the strongest piece, but any of the four is allowed, and there is no limit on how many promoted pieces you can have.
What are the rules for castling?
You can castle only if neither the king nor the chosen rook has moved, there are no pieces between them, the king is not in check, and the king does not pass through or land on an attacked square. The king moves two squares toward the rook and the rook jumps to the far side of the king. You can castle kingside or queenside.
How many ways can a chess game end in a draw?
There are five common ways: stalemate, insufficient material to checkmate, threefold repetition of a position, the fifty-move rule (fifty moves each with no capture or pawn move), and mutual agreement. Any of these results in a drawn game rather than a win for either side.
Putting the rules into play
Knowing the rules is the foundation, but chess opens up once you start applying them. When you are comfortable with how everything moves, our guide to chess openings for beginners shows how to start a game well, and how to become a better chess player covers the habits that raise your game from there.
And the best way to absorb the rules is to play them out on a real board. When you are ready for a set of your own, browse our full range of chess sets, from first sets to heirloom pieces. Every Sterling Chess order is backed by our 100 day free returns, so you can choose with complete confidence.
Written by Blake Sterling, founder of Sterling Chess. Blake has settled more mid-game rules disputes than he can count, usually about stalemate or en passant, and wrote this as the reference he wishes he could have handed every customer who has ever asked. He believes knowing the rules cold, especially the draws and the special moves, is what lets you stop worrying about the mechanics and start actually playing.
