Introduction to Chess

INTRODUCTION:    The game of chess is more than 1500 years old and is a popular game in the world.
Chess is easy to learn but difficult to master.  Chess game is a tool for developing mental abilities.

Chess is played by two persons and is a board game. The chess simulates battle between two opposing armies.

You can see 64 squares of alternating colors ( white and black).  Each player has a set of 16 pieces as shown in the picture.  One player has a set of black pieces and the other player has the white pieces.  The set of pieces with each player is listed below.

8 Pawns

2 Bishops

2 Knights

2 Rooks, or Castles

1 Queen

1 King

STARTING THE GAME:
Before starting the game, the chess board is laid in such a way that each player has the white color square in the bottom right-hand side.  The chess pieces are arranged in such a way that the second row is filled with pawns.  The rooks go to the corners, then we have to place knights next to them followed by bishops and finally the queen who always go on her own matching colour ( white queen on white and black queen on black) and remaining square is filled with king.

The player with white pieces starts the game.  So the players normally decide who get the change of white pieces by flipping a coin or having one player guessing the color of hidden pawn in other player's hand.  White then makes a  move followed by black, again white and so on.....

DESCRIPTION OF PIECES IN CHESS:

Pawn: 
The pawn is the weakest piece on the chess board.  The pawn moves laterally one square at a time as shown in the figure with one exception.  Each pawn can be moved two squares in the first move.  Pawns can only move forward.  When they reach the last row on the opposite side, they can be promoted to any type of piece on the chess board except the King.  Generally they are promoted as queen because queen is the most powerful piece in chess game.  So there can be more than one queen in chess game in each side.   The pawns can capture other pieces diagonally in forward direction as shown in the picture.  They are the only pieces which do not capture opponents in the same direction in which they move.

Bishop: 
The Bishop moves diagonally as shown in the picture.  It has a strength of about three pawns.  The bishop can move forward or backwards also. It can also move more than one square as long as it moves in straight line.
So a bishop can move across the entire chess board. The bishop can not jump over a piece and it cannot move to a square of opposite color. The bishops capture by moving in their normal way to the square occupied by opponent's piece and replacing it.

Knight:
Knights have same strength like Bishop ( three pawns).  The moves of knights is very different from other pieces - going two squares in one direction, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, like the shape of 'L'.  Knights are the only pieces that can move over other pieces.  Knights can move forward or backward and they capture opponent by moving in their normal manner to a square occupied by opponent's piece and replacing it.

Rook:
The rook also called as castle, has strength of five pawns.  The rook can move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides. You can see the movement of rook in the figure to the right.  In a given move, a rook can move in one direction along a straight line.  To capture a piece, rooks are moved in their normal manner to the occupied square where they replace the captured piece. The rooks are very powerful pieces particularly when they are protecting each other and working together!




Queen : 
 The queen is the most powerful piece in the chess board and its strength is equal to about 9 pawns. A queen can move in any straight - forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - as far as possible as long as she does not move through any of her own pieces. A queen cannot move a corner like a bishop.  if the queen captures opponent's piece, her move is over.



King :
The king is the most important piece in chess board, but is one of the weakest piece.   The king is a little powerful than a pawn but is not an important piece in chess board.   The king can move only one square in any direction - forward, backward, laterally or diagonally.  You can see the figure here to know about the moves that a king can make.  A king cannot move to a square where it would be in danger of being captured.  A king can capture the opponent's piece on any square where it can legally move.  The king should never move himself into check.


Here are the links to other articles in this blog.

History of Chess
Introduction to Chess
Special Rules in Chess
Check and Check Mate
How Games are Drawn
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