Chess Basics

Chess is a strategic board game for two players, played on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. It is one of the world's oldest and most popular board games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.

The Goal of the Game

The objective of the game is to attack the opponent's king in such a way that no escape is possible—this is called "checkmate" (or simply "mate"). Once a king is checkmated, the game ends immediately.

The Board and the Pieces

The chessboard consists of 64 squares, alternating between light and dark colors. At the start of the game, each player has 16 pieces:

• 1 King: The most important piece. It moves exactly one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
• 1 Queen: The most powerful piece. It can move any number of vacant squares diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.
• 2 Rooks: They move any number of vacant squares vertically or horizontally.
• 2 Bishops: They move any number of vacant squares diagonally.
• 2 Knights: They move in an "L-shape" and are the only pieces that can jump over other pieces.
• 8 Pawns: They move straight forward but capture diagonally.

Brief History

The origins of chess can be traced back to India in the 6th century (Chaturanga). From there, it spread to Persia and later throughout the Islamic world to Europe. The modern rules of chess, as we know them today, largely emerged in Europe during the 15th century, particularly in Spain and Italy.