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Statistics of won games
white	209301 (47.85 %)
black	205210 (46.92 %)
Draws	22844 (5.22 %)

Chess

Start position and game object

The tactics, strategy and object of playing chess aren’t difficult to comprehend; trap the leader of the opposing army—the king—in a checkmate. Your guide to playing chess, from novice to expert. Instantly play chess online for free! No downloads or installs needed -challenge yourself today!

Chess is played on a standard 64 square chess board. Each player starts to play with 16 pieces - one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. In the start position, all pieces of each player are located in two rows on the player's side, see the following picture.

How to Play Chess: This is an explanation of the rules of chess. I love the game, and I wanted to do my own illustrated tutorial. I know that there are other Chess Instructables, and I hope that.

The object of this game is to checkmate the opponent's king. It means that the player must attack the opponent's king and the king cannot move to a square which is not being attacked by the player's pieces. All kinds of game ends will be described in the next sections.
Movement of pieces
Many people think that it is pretty difficult to learn how to play chess because 'each piece moves in a different way'. Although each piece really follows its own move pattern, it is not a problem to learn quickly all basic movements on a chess board. The following pictures show all pieces and their move abilities (shown by green crosses).
King


A king can move only one space in any direction. The only exception is castling when a king and a rook of the same color make a move together. It is performed by moving a king two spaces horizontally to the left or right and a rook jumps over the king in the opposite direction. The rules distinguish between short and long castling shown by these pictures (the position before and after the castling).
Short castling


Long castling


In order to make a castling, these conditions must be fulfilled:

• The king and the rook which are to make a castling did not move since the game had started.
• The king is not in a check (see below).
• There are no other pieces between the king and the rook.
• The king would not cross a square that is being attacked by an opponent's piece or it would not finish its move on such square.

The other exception of king's moves is that a king cannot move to a square which is being attacked by an opponent's piece. If a king is being attacked (it means that if the king would not move, the opponent would capture it in the next move), the position is called check. The player who has his/her king in a check must immediately make a move to cancel the check by one of these ways:

• Captures the opponent's piece which is attacking his/her king.
  
• Moves his/her king to a square that is not being attacked by opponent's pieces.
  
• Moves any other piece between his/her king and the opponent's checking piece to cross its attacking line and cancel the check.
  

If the player cannot cancel the check, loses the game. The situation is called checkmate.
Queen


A queen is the most powerful piece on the chess board because it can move any spaces in any direction.
Rook


A rook can move any spaces vertically or horizontally and it is the second most powerful piece just after a queen.
Bishop


A bishop can move any spaces diagonally. It means that a bishop never stands on a square of an opposite color to its starting square. Each player has two bishops - one is on white squares and the other is on black squares.
Knight


Knight's moves are L-shaped - it moves one space vertically or horizontally and then one space diagonally. A knight can jump over other pieces standing in its move line.
Pawn
Pawns, although they are the weakest pieces on the chess board, are powered by several interesting features and they often determine the game result:

• A pawn can move only one space vertically forward and on its column, never horizontally or backward. If a pawn stands on its starting position, it can move two spaces vertically forward if no other piece blocks its move line.
  
  
  
• A pawn can capture an opponent's piece that stands one space diagonally forward.
  
  
  
• If a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board (the last row), it promotes to a queen, a rook, a bishop or a knight (the player can choose) of the same color. The functionality of this new piece is immediate. It means that e.g. a queen created from the promoting piece can make a check or a checkmate in the same move.
  
  
  
• If an opponent's piece moved two spaces forward in the previous move and it finished its move at the same row as the player's pawn but at the next column (left or right), the player can capture this pawn in the same way like if the opponent's pawn moved one space only. This move is called en passant and must be performed immediately after the opponent's piece moved two spaces forward. The right to make en passant move disappears in the next moves. The following picture shows an example (the position before black's move, after black's move and after the en passant move).
  
  
  

How to capture opponent's pieces
If it is the player's turn and one (or more) of his/her pieces can move to a square occupied by an opponent's piece, the player can capture this piece. The capturing means that the player removes the opponent's piece from the board and moves his/her own piece (that made this move) to its place. The captured piece will appear under (or over, depending on the board orientation) the board in Captured pieces field to inform the players about the game status.


The player cannot capture an opponent's piece if other pieces stand in the move line of his/her piece (between the player's piece and the opponent's one). The only exception is a knight who can 'jump' over all pieces.


Both players can capture all opponent's pieces except the kings.
How to finish the game
The game is finished if one of the following conditions is fulfilled:

• The player attacks the opponent's king (puts the opponent in a check) and the opponent cannot cancel the check in the next move. The situation is called checkmate and the player who has his/her king in a checkmate, loses the game.
  
• The player cannot make a move without moving his/her king into a check and his/her king is not momentarily being attacked. The situation is called stalemate and the game is a draw.
  
• One of the players resigns the game and loses.
  
• The players agree with a draw.
  
• Other draw conditions (insufficient material to checkmate, three times repeated position, 50 moves without capturing a piece or moving a pawn) are not currently supported. If you think that your game should be finished as a draw because of one of the mentioned rules, please contact us at info@brainking.com and we will finish your game.
  

Other important rules

• The player can capture only the opponent's pieces, never his/her own ones.
  
• The player cannot make a move that would put his/her own king to a check. If BrainKing.com does not allow you to move with some piece or to some square, the most likely reason is that your king would be in a check.
  

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See also:Chess, Chinese Chess, Japanese Chess, Corner Chess, Fortress Chess, Horde Chess, Loop Chess, Anti Chess, Extinction Chess, Maharajah Chess, Three Checks Chess, Dark Chess, Atomic Chess, Janus Chess, Embassy Chess, Screen Chess, Crazy Screen Chess, Cylinder Chess, Amazon Chess, Berolina Chess, Fischer Random Chess, Legan Chess, Knight Relay Chess, Grand Chess, Capablanca Random Chess, Los Alamos Chess, Ambiguous Chess, Minishogi, Dice Chess, Recycle Chess, Ice Age Chess, Behemoth Chess, Cheshire Cat Chess, Knightmate Chess, Racing Kings, Dice Chess 10x10, Massacre Chess

Chess is a game that people have been playing for centuries in some form or another. The original form of chess likely came from India sometime between 280 and 550 BCE. This original game was played with pieces known as the infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariot. Eventually, these pieces became the modern pawns, knights, bishops and rooks.

The Silk Road enabled the spread of the game throughout the Muslim world and the European and Asian continents. The oldest known chess manual has been referenced in various written works and dates back to approximately 840 to 850 BCE. This manual was written in Arabic and although the original document was lost, several other manuscripts refer to its existence. Other evidence of the existence of chess throughout history includes chess pieces dating back to approximately 760 BCE that were discovered in Uzbekistan.

By the year 1000, chess had spread throughout the European continent. Around 1475, chess began to evolve into its modern form. Several important things occurred around this time, including the introduction of the queen piece. Later in the nineteenth century, chess rules began to take on a more standardized and official form than they had previously had.

Modern chess boards are made up of eight rows and eight columns that make up a total of 64 squares. These squares are alternatingly light and dark colored. Boards are placed so that the light squares are at the right-hand sides of each player. Chess pieces are typically white and black, with 16 total pieces per player: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.

The pieces on the back row are placed from the right-hand side of the board to the left-hand side in the following order: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, and rook. The second row of pieces consists entirely of pawns. Each player’s queen must go on the square that has the same color of the piece; the white queen goes on the white square and the black queen on the black square.

The player with the white pieces makes the first move. Both players may only make one move per turn and must move their pieces to either an empty square or to a square with their opponent’s piece so as to capture said piece. Captured pieces are removed from the board. Players cannot make moves that would leave the king piece vulnerable or in check. They also cannot pass turns. If a player cannot make a legal move during his or her turn, but is also not in checkmate, then the game will end in a draw.

The rules for moving individual pieces are as follows. Pawns may only move forward one space at a time, with the exception of the very first turn when a pawn may move forward two spaces. Pawns capture other pieces by moving forward by one space in a diagonal direction. Pawns cannot capture pieces that are directly next to them horizontally or vertically. Rooks can move as many squares as the player would like in either a horizontal or vertical direction along the board, as long as the piece does not jump over another piece. Knights move in an ‘L’ shape, meaning that in one move they can go one space horizontally and two spaces vertically or two spaces horizontally and one space vertically. Unlike other pieces, knights are permitted to jump over other pieces. Bishops, like rooks can move as many spaces as the player would like as long as they do not jump over other pieces. The difference between rooks and bishops is that bishops may only move in a diagonal position along the board. The queen can move in any direction and as many squares as the player wishes as long as the piece does not jump over any other pieces. The king can move one square in any direction.

The object of chess is to put the king in checkmate, which means that piece is under attack and cannot legally move to another space so as to avoid the attack. The move prior to checkmate is referred to as being in check. The only legal move while in check is to move the king to a space where it will not be under attack.

Chess is played throughout the world. Additionally, many variations of chess exist. These variations typically entail a change in the rules, piece placement, board size, board shape, or some combination of these things.

Comparisons to other types of games

How Many Spaces Can A King Move In Chess Machine

Other games that use strategy and predictive maneuvering can be found in the games of casinos. Many have compared the game play of poker, blackjack and even Roulette to the same strategy patterns applied to the game of chess. More information can be found here.

How Many Spaces Can A King Move In Chess Moves

Go is another strategy board game that is often compared to chess. Go is a game that combines both strategy and intuitive decision making. More information on Go can be found here.

How Many Spaces Can A King Move In Chess Against

Some variations of chess utilize a standard chessboard and standard chess rules but with a different number of pieces or different starting positions for the pieces. Examples of games with different starting positions include chess960, displacement chess, Moab chess, upside-down chess and monster chess. Some variations such as chess960 or Moab chess involve pieces that are selected and placed randomly. Others such as upside-down chess have pieces that are placed on the opposing player’s side of the board, with player’s playing the game in an ‘upside-down’ manner. Additional online games can be found here.

Variations that use different numbers of pieces include charge of the light brigade, Dunsany’s chess, endgame chess, handicap chess, peasants’ revolt and weak. In these games, players may have the same pieces as each other, such as in endgame chess where both players have only pawns and one king. Others such as charge of the light brigade entail players having different pieces from each other. In this variant, both players have similar pieces with the exception of one side having three queens and the other having seven knights.

Chess games played on non-traditional boards include active chess, chess attack, circular chess, cylinder chess, hexagonal chess, double chess, infinite chess, three-dimensional chess, and many others. Board shapes can vary greatly and may include two combined chessboards with two full sets or pieces as in doublewide chess, or they may be unusually shaped such as with infinite, hexagonal or cylinder chess.

Another chess variant involves a standard chess board with standard pieces but different rules. These rules could affect the pieces’ abilities, allow players to make multiple moves per turn or add some element of luck or chance to the game. Examples of these include friendly fire chess, where a player is able to capture his or her own pieces in addition to the opponent’s pieces, Marseillais chess, where players can make two moves per turn, and dice chess, where players roll dice to determine their moves.

Players have several unique moves available to them so as to strategically place their pieces. An important element of chess is for a player to control the most space on the board, as having more space can be equated with having more options as far as making a move. Some special chess moves exist that may allow a player to gain the advantage over his or her opponent. These moves are referred to as capturing en passant, castling and pawn promotion.

How Many Spaces Can A King Move In Chess

A pawn can capture another pawn en passant. The term en passant is French for ‘in passing’. The opportunity to make this move occurs when an opponent pawn moves to a square that is adjacent to one’s own pawn. This move must be made immediately after the opponent places his or her pawn in this position and is made by moving the pawn to the diagonal square above the square containing the opponent’s pawn. The opponent’s pawn is then captured en passant.

Castling is a move that uses both the king and a rook. In order for a player to utilize this move, he or she cannot have yet moved either the king or the rook. Also, the king cannot be in check and there must be no other pieces between the rook and the king. The move is made by moving the king two squares toward the rook. The rook then goes onto the square that the king crossed. This is the only chess move in which two pieces are permitted to move during the same turn.

How Many Spaces Can A King Move In Chess Games

Pawn promotion is an interesting move that allows a player to exchange a pawn for another piece of his or her choosing. Pawn promotion occurs when a pawn reaches the opposing player’s side of the board. At this point, the player can select which piece the pawn should become. He or she is allowed to choose any piece, which means that pawn promotion may allow for two queens to exist within the game.

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