Rules of Chess

Overview
Chessboard
Chess Pieces
Pawn moves
En passant
Pawn promotion
Bishop moves
Knight moves
Rook moves
Queen moves
King moves
  Castling
Drawn games
  Stalemate
  50 move rule
  Insufficient material
  Perpetual check
  Threefold repetition
  Mutual agreement
Tournament rules
  Chess clocks
  Touch move
  Recording chess moves
  Chess etiquette

Chess Rules Sitemap

The Rules of Chess Explained

Chess is a strategy board game played between two people. Chess has a long and colorful history. The modern version of the game has been played since the early 1500s, but ancestors of chess can be traced back to various cultures for millennia.

What is chess?

chess is WAR
chess is ART
chess is a GAME
chess is SPORT
chess is a SCIENCE
chess is a HOBBY

The purpose of this website is to provide new or novice players an introduction to this fascinating game. Here you can find the complete rules of chess as well as rules for tournament play. Training exercises and quizzes throughout will help you learn and remember how to play this popular game. Use the links to the left to navigate to a specific area of interest, or just click here to start learning the rules.