Learn the basics
Chess is a game between two armies — White and Black. You win by trapping the enemy king so it cannot escape. That is called checkmate. Let's start with how everything works.
The board
The board is 8×8. Columns are called files (labelled a–h) and rows are called ranks (1–8). Each player starts with 16 pieces. White always moves first.
Pick a piece — the board lights up every square it can move to.
Pawn
Moves forward one square (or two on its first move).
Pawns only move straight forward, never backward. From their starting row they may step one OR two squares. They capture differently — one square diagonally forward.
Green dots mark every square the pawn can move to from here.
A few special moves
Castling
A one-time move that tucks your king to safety and activates a rook. The king slides two squares toward a rook and the rook hops to the king's other side.
Promotion
If a pawn reaches the far side of the board, it transforms — almost always into a queen, the strongest piece.
En passant
A rare pawn capture: if an enemy pawn rushes two squares to land right beside yours, you may capture it as if it had only moved one.
How a game ends
Check
The king is under attack. You must respond immediately — block it, capture the attacker, or move the king.
Checkmate
The king is in check and has no legal escape. That ends the game — whoever delivers checkmate wins.
Stalemate & draws
If a player has no legal move but is NOT in check, the game is a draw (a tie). Games can also be drawn by agreement or repetition.
Your first game
Three simple ideas to start with: control the center, develop your knights and bishops early, and castle to keep your king safe. You will learn the rest by playing.