This is a complete summary of the official rules of chess according to FIDE (the International Chess Federation), translated into plain, accessible language. Everything you need to know to play by the international standard, without having to read the original 60-page rulebook.
Chess is played on a board of 64 squares (8x8) in alternating colors. The square in each player's right-hand corner must be white. The pieces start on the first two ranks on each side.
Order of the pieces on the first rank (from A to H):
The queen always starts on a square of its own color: the white queen on a white square, the black queen on a black square. The pawns fill the entire second rank. The player with the white pieces moves first.
Each piece has its own way of moving. Here is the summary:
Moves one square forward. On its first move, it may advance two squares. It captures diagonally, one square forward. It never moves backward.
Moves in a straight line (horizontally or vertically), as many squares as it likes. It captures on the destination square. It cannot jump over other pieces.
Moves diagonally, as many squares as it likes. Each bishop always stays on its starting color.
Combines the moves of the rook and the bishop. It moves in any direction, in a straight line or diagonally, as many squares as it likes.
Moves in an "L" shape: two squares in one direction and one more square perpendicular to it. It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.
Moves one square in any direction. It cannot move onto a square attacked by an enemy piece.
The king and one rook move together: the king moves two squares toward the rook, and the rook jumps to the other side of the king. There is kingside castling (the king's side, the more common one) and queenside castling (the queen's side).
Conditions for castling:
If an enemy pawn advances two squares on its first move and ends up beside your pawn, you may capture it on your next move as if it had advanced only one square. It is only valid on the very next move — if you don't capture, you lose the right.
When your pawn reaches the last rank of the board (the 8th for White, the 1st for Black), it must be turned into another piece of your choice (queen, rook, bishop or knight). Thanks to promotion, there can be more than one queen on the board.
The king is under direct attack. You are required to escape check immediately, in one of three ways:
The king is in check and none of the three options above is possible. The game is over. Whoever delivered the checkmate has won.
A player may resign at any moment. This usually happens when the player realizes the game is lost and wants to save time. A resignation counts as a win for the opponent.
The player to move is not in check but has no legal move available. The game ends in a draw. This is one of the most important endgame rules — you can be up a whole queen, but if you stalemate the opponent's king, the game ends in a draw.
The two players can agree to a draw at any moment. In official tournaments, there are additional rules about when this is allowed.
If 50 consecutive moves go by with no capture and no pawn move, either player can claim a draw. The rule exists to prevent endless games in endgames that make no progress.
If the same position occurs three times during the game (with the same player to move), a draw can be claimed. The repetitions do not have to be consecutive.
When neither side has enough pieces to deliver checkmate, the game ends in a draw automatically. Examples:
In games played with a clock, each player has a total amount of time. When a player's time runs out, that player loses — unless the opponent doesn't have enough pieces to deliver mate (in which case it's a draw). The main formats are:
See the dedicated article on Classical, Rapid, Blitz and Bullet Chess.
A few lesser-known but equally valid rules:
Practice on Chess Online with Learner mode: 12 interactive lessons that teach each rule hands-on.
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