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The Objective Of Chess

Before we look at some of the more detailed aspects of chess, including the board, the pieces, and the rules, it's important to understand the game's overall objective. In chess, you aim to win by putting your opponent's king piece in checkmate. Checkmate is the term for a situation where no matter what your opponent does they cannot move their king out of check.

Setting Up Your Board

Pieces

Now you know what you will be trying to achieve by playing chess, let's take a look at some of the most basic aspects. The first of these is setting up your board. To do this correctly you will need a chess board along with 32 pieces in the following categories.

• 2 Kings
• 2 Queens
• 4 Bishops
• 4 Knights (Horses)
• 4 Rooks (Castles)
• 16 Pawns

Half of them will be black and the other half white - denoting the pieces belonging to each player. One of the most significant aspects of chess is that each piece can only move in a specific set way, but more on that later.

Setting up your chessboard

In addition to 32 pieces, you will also need a chessboard on which to play. A chess board should have alternating colored squares and be 8 ranks (rows) by 8 files (columns).

Which way up should my chessboard go?

Before you begin playing pieces on the board, you need to make sure it's the right way up. A nice little phrase for remembering this is”

“White on the right”

This will help you to remember that the first square in the right-hand corner should be white when the board is orientated correctly.

Setting up your first row

The first row or rank as they are also known in chess is the one closest to you. This is where your most crucial pieces sit from your rooks to your king. It's important that they go in the right order though and you can find out how to place them correctly below.

Rooks

To make setting your first rank up easier start with the two rook pieces. These are often made to look like castles. Place one rook in each corner in the first row so you have one on a light-colored square and one on a dark-colored square.

Knights

Knights or horses as they are often known colloquially come next, and you can place these directly next to the rooks in the subsequent squares. Again you should have a knight on both light and dark squares.

Bishops

After your knights, it's time to place your bishops. Again you can put these next to your knights on the inside.

Queen

By now you’ll only have two squares left between you two bishops. These spots are for your king and queen. To correctly place your queen just look for the square of the same color. That means if you are playing darks place your queen on the dark square, but if you are playing lights, put her on the light square.

King

If you follow the plan for setting up your first rank above then placing your king will be easy because there will only be one space left! Remember your king will sit in the first row on the color opposite to his.

Setting up your second row

Now you have all your royal pieces and their attendants in line you’ll need to add your pawns. Pawns can be thought of as the army or foot soldiers of your more important pieces. Their job is to defend them, and sometimes be sacrificed for the safety of pieces on the first rank.

Setting up your pawns is easy as you just put on each square in the second rank so they take up the whole row.

The Basic Rules of Chess

While chess can be a complicated game when played at the highest levels, everyone needs to begin with the basics.

1. Light pieces play first

Yes, the first rule you need to know to play chess is that the player who has chosen the light pieces will make the first move. Simple isn’t it? You can decide by flipping a coin, or choose between you and your opponent. However, if you are given the option to pick, do choose carefully as there is much controversy as to whether the player that moves first receives a tactical advantage or not.

2. Each player takes turns making one turn at a time

The next basic rule of chess is super easy to understand too. The rule is that each player can only take one turn at a time. However, some pieces can move more than one square in a single turn, as you’ll discover below. Moves must be either to a square with no piece, or if a square contains an opponent's piece it becomes captured and removed from the board.

3. Every piece has its own rules on how it can move

OK, so this next rule is where things can get a little complicated as every different type of piece has specific rules on how it can or cannot move. You must learn the ways the different pieces can move if you want to progress in the game. However, when you are just starting it can be helpful to play chess online with a service that will remind you where your pieces can move.

King

Your king is the most critical piece on the board because if it goes into check and cannot move out of it your opponent wins. Your king is also the most vulnerable piece on the board because it can only move one square at a time, albeit in any direction including back towards your first rank.

Queen:

In contrast to her male-designated counterpart, the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. This is because your queen can move any number of squares, in any single direction! For example, a queen can move 7 spaces diagonally but not 3 spaces diagonally and then 4 spaces horizontally.

Bishop:

Arguably your next, most powerful piece after your queen is your bishop. Bishops can only move diagonally, but they can move any number of squares in a single turn. Bishops are great for attacking your opponent from a distance, where you can swoop in and ruin their strategy.

Knights:

Knights are where a lot of beginners can get confused. This is because they can only move in a L shape. They also have to move three squares at a time. That means when you move your knight you need to move it two squares in one direction, and then change to perpendicular direction and one one square. The great thing about knights is that they can jump over pieces, also because of their less regular way of moving they can be ideal for sneak attacks on your opponent.

Rooks:

Also known as castles, rooks are hugely powerful pieces that are ideal for distance attacks. Rook can move any number of free squares on the board at a time. However, in a single turn, they can only move in one direction and this must be either vertical or horizontal.

Pawns:

Maybe the best-known piece from a chessboard with phrases such as “sacrificed like a pawn” being used in common language, your pawns can only move forward vertically on the board unless they are capturing another piece which they must do diagonally. They can also only move a single square at a time unless it's their very first move from the second rank where players can choose to move either one or two squares.

Pawns can seem weak, and yes players do, often sacrifice them for the good of their other pieces and strategy. However, when you remember then chess is essentially a game of war strategy it can help place pawns (foot soldiers/army) into context.

4. Rules of winning/ completing a game of chess

Checkmate

Checkmate is one way to complete a game of chess. A checkmate situation means that the player that checks their opponent's king wins. A checkmate situation arises when your opponent's king is in check and they cannot make any move to get out of being in check.

Your opponent's king is in check when it is under threat of being captured when you take your next turn. Remember that if your opponent can move their king, block your attack with another of their pieces, or capture the piece that is attacking your king, it is not checkmate.

Resign

If a player wishes to end the game because they believe that they cannot win, they can resign at any time.

Threefold repetition draw

The threefold repetition draw rules state that when the same position happens on the board in a game three times a draw can be declared. You can get practice in spotting threefold repetitions by playing online chess games that allow you to turn this feature on.

Stalemate draw

Stalemate is essentially a draw. It occurs when there are no legal moves left but when checkmate has not been achieved. Occasionally players will manipulate their game to achieve a stalemate if they surmise that they cannot win.

Get Some Practice In

The best way to understand chess and to learn how to play it is to do just that, play it! The good news is that you won’t have to invest in an expensive board, or finely crafted pieces, or convince your friends to play when all they want to do is watch Netflix. Instead, a great way to get familiar with the game of chess when you're first starting is to play it online. That’s where 247Chess.com

comes in.

247 Chess is a simple-to-use, intuitive chess website where you can play free games of chess in one-player, 2 player, and online mode. Keep reading to find out more.

How to Use 247 Chess To Improve Your Game

Using 247Chess couldn’t be easier with its simple in-browser gameplay which means there is no need to download anything before you get to the action. 247Chess is also completely free to play so it makes a great option for beginners who don't want to invest in board games until they are sure they love the game, as well as those on a budget.

One of the best things about using 247 Chess to improve your game is that it comes with a range of features that allow you to customize every game to your needs. For example, you can choose to play light or dark, set a time limit of 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes, or remove the time limit completely. It also comes with Satisfying sound effects that make it more like playing with a real board and pieces, and you can turn three-fold repetition on and off depending on your needs (you can find out more about three-fold repetition in the section above on draws).

A great feature that makes 247 Chess especially useful for beginners is the suggestion button, shaped like a lightbulb in the left-hand corner. Press this button when you are struggling and it will show you what movies are available to the piece that is highlighted. Ideal for new players when they can’t quite remember which pieces can move where!

Another great feature of 247Chess is that it has several modes that you can play to help you improve your game.

One Player mode

One-player mode allows you to play against the computer. This means you never have to find an opponent to play as one is always there, so you can practice and hone your game any time of the day or night.

2 Player (pass and play) mode

Two-player pass-and-play mode is perfect for when you want to experience all the thrills of playing against a real person. In this mode, two people can play the same game together in real life. It's an idea for playing on phones and tablets as you can simply pass the device to the other person when it's their turn.

Online play mode

Online play mode allows you to play against a real person from anywhere in the world. There are two options to choose from here. You can either play anyone, which is where the site will match you up with another player using their services within 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can invite a friend to play with someone you know who is not at your physical location.

Hone Your Game With Chess Strategy

Once you have some practice with the basics of the game, and you know off by heart how to set up a board, and where each piece can move, it's time to delve deeper into the strategy of chess. Chess is at its core a military strategy game based on logic and this means the better you can become at mastering this, the better your game will be. Indeed, in chess, the best players know not only what they will play for their current move, but for the one after that as well!

Some of the chess strategies you’ll want to master to excel at the game include:

Starting aggressively is a beginner's error

Just like in any sport you can try and be a hero in chess by aggressively attacking your opponent as soon as possible. However, this is a strategy that rarely ever works, and tends to be the hallmark of beginners, and nervous players. Remember the whole point of chess is to use strategy to win, not brute force or speed!

Prioritize control of the centerboard

Instead of going all out as soon as you begin, it's a much better strategy to do everything you can to get and retain control of the center of the board. Indeed, this needs to be a goal from your very first move.

Your Queen is your quarterback

Another great chess strategy is to think of your queen as a football quarterback. She needs to be held in reserve until she is genuinely required. This is because when your queen is attacked you’ll end up wasting time and move defending her when you should be defending your king, and working towards getting control of the center of the board.

Final Thoughts On How To Play Chess

Chess is a wonderful and challenging strategy game that anyone can learn to play. Before you begin you will need to have a firm grasp of the basics including the objective of chess, which is to put your opponent into checkmate, the rules of chess, including the types of pieces and how they can move, and when to declare a draw.

To improve your game, it's helpful to get as much practice playing chess as possible, either online, or in real life. Lastly, if you want to truly master your game, you will need to learn about chess strategy and the different types of plays that can improve your chances of winning a game.

DISCLAIMER: The games on this website are using PLAY (fake) money. No payouts will be awarded, there are no "winnings", as all games represented by 247 Games LLC are free to play. Play strictly for fun.