Learn Chess
Chess (Western chess) is a board game that is played between two players with a chess board. The chessboard is square-shaped and contains 64 squares arranged on an 8 by 8 grid. Each player during a chess match starts with sixteen different pieces. Each player has one king and queen, two rooks, knights, and bishops, and eight pawns. Every unique piece on a chess board has unique ways of traveling up and down the chessboard. Both player in a game of chess has the goal of using the pieces to checkmate the opponent’s king. This means that the king is under attack, and there is no possible move that will deem the king safe from the attack. If a king is in check, it means it is being attacked, but there is a move that will keep it safe, either by moving the king or another piece to block the attack.
For a player to learn to play chess, it is an easy task, but to master it is one of the hardest tasks for even the best players in the world. The following is a quick guide to learn to play chess and to get the basics of the game down.
The Chess Board:
Before you start beginners chess, one should get familiar with the chess board and the pieces of the chess board. The chess board is made up of 64 checkered squares arranged in an 8 x 8 pattern. Each row of squares is called a rank and they are identified using numbers 1 through 8. Each column is called a file, identified by a letter A through H. Diagonals are also important because a few select pieces are allowed to move diagonally across squares.
Setting Up the Board to Play:
When starting beginners chess, one should understand the manner in which the pieces are set up on the board. The player with the white pieces sets up his pieces on the side of the board with a “white” square on the bottom right hand corner. If you are a white player, the queen is set up on the left side and the king on the right side. If you have the black pieces, your queen is set up on the right side and the king on the left side. The rook pieces are put on both bottom corners, and next to the rooks are the knights. Then comes the bishop pieces and finally, the pawns are placed on top of those pieces on both sides.
Piece Moves:
One of the essential parts of beginners chess is to understand how each piece is able to move on the chess board. The pawn can only move one square forward, unless it’s the pawn’s first move, in which case it may move up two squares. A rook can move along ranks and files any number of spaces, as long as it is not obstructed by another piece. A bishop can move any number of spaces diagonally. The knight can move in ‘L’ shaped patterns only, and is the only piece that can move through other pieces. A queen can move along ranks, files and diagonally any number of squares. Finally, a king can only move one square in any direction, along ranks, files and diagonally.
