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CHESS
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Chess – game rules
1. General information
Chess is a strategic game in which two players play against each other.
2. Game material
The chessboard
Description
The game is played on a square board that is placed between the two players.
Structure
The chessboard consists of 64 squares of identical size. Of the squares, 32 are light coloured and 32 are dark. The squares lie on 8 lines and 8 rows, with the colours alternating in each case.
Designation of the fields
The lines are labelled with the letters a to h, the rows with the numbers 1 to 8. A single field is therefore labelled with the combination of both characters, for example d6 for the field located in the 4th line (d) and the 6th row (6).
The game figures
The game includes a total of 32 characters, 16 of which are white and the other 16 are black. In each of these sets of pieces there are 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops and 8 pawns.
Chess clock
If it is agreed or prescribed that each player has a limited playing time for each move or for the whole game, a chess clock is required on which it is possible to read how much thinking time the two players have left. Outside of tournaments, however, limiting or measuring the time is usually not mandatory.
Writing material
If it is agreed or prescribed that the players have to write down the moves of the game during the game, appropriate writing material is required. Outside of tournaments, however, note-taking is not usually mandatory.
3. Aim of the game
The aim of chess is to threaten the opponent's king in such a way that it is impossible for him to escape the threat.
4. Preparation of the game
Determining the right of first move
The player with the light-coloured pieces makes the first move. If there is no other way of determining which of the two players will make the first move, a draw is made. If further games are played between the same players after the first game, the right of first move usually alternates.
Setting up the game board
The board is placed between the two players so that there is a light-coloured square at the bottom right from each player's point of view. If the rows and lines of the board are labelled with letters and numbers, it is also important to ensure that the row labelled with the number 1 is directly in front of the player with the light-coloured pieces.
Setting up the game figures
General information about the figure arrangement
All of the player's own pieces are placed in the two rows directly in front of the player. The exact location of the individual pieces can be found in the following paragraphs.
The rooks
The two rooks are placed in the edge squares (corner squares) of the row closest to the respective player.
The knights
The two knights are placed directly next to the two rooks in the same row.
The bishops
The two bishops are positioned directly next to the two knights in the same row.
The queen
The queen is placed on one of the two free squares between the knights. Make sure that the light-coloured queen is placed on a light-coloured square and the dark-coloured queen on a dark-coloured square. The two opposing queens are therefore in a line opposite each other.
The king
The king is placed on the last remaining free square in the row. The kings are therefore also placed opposite each other on a line.
The pawns
The eight pawns are placed on the second row. They are therefore placed directly in front of the other pieces.
5. Game procedure
The players take it in turns to move, starting with the player with the light-coloured pieces. It is not possible to sit out. A move includes the movement of one of your own pieces. An exception is "castling", in which the king and rook are moved together. Both sides try to threaten the opponent's king in such a way that he can no longer evade the threat. At the same time, of course, an attempt must be made to prevent the opponent from doing the same with his own king.
6. The moves
General information
The various pieces have different ways of moving, which are described in the following paragraphs. The piece either moves to an empty square or captures an opponent's piece, which is then removed from the board. Your own piece then takes its place. It is not allowed to jump over your own or your opponent's pieces, except with the knight. It is also not permitted to move beyond the edge of the board, for example to continue the move on the opposite side. There is no obligation to capture an opponent's pieces if this is possible in a position.
The normal moves of the figures
The king
The king can move horizontally, vertically or diagonally in any direction to a neighbouring square if there is no own piece and he cannot be beaten there. If there is an opponent's piece, it is permanently removed from the board and is eliminated from the game. Your own king may not move to squares directly neighbouring the opponent's king. The special case of castling is described below.
The queen
The queen may move in any direction to free squares in its own row, line or diagonal. Unlike the king, a queen's move can span several squares. If the next available piece is one of the opponent's pieces, it may be captured. It is not permitted to jump over an opponent's or an own piece.
The rook
A rook may move in any direction to free squares in its own row or line. In contrast to the king, a rook move can span several squares. If the next accessible piece is one of the opponent's pieces, it may be captured. It is not allowed to jump over an opponent's or an own piece.
The bishop
A bishop may move diagonally in any direction to free squares. Unlike the king, a bishop's move can span several squares. If the next reachable piece is one of the opponent's pieces, it may be captured. It is not allowed to jump over an opponent's or an own piece.
The knight
A knight's move consists of two parts. First, it moves two squares vertically and then one square horizontally, or it moves two squares horizontally and then one square vertically. The knight's move therefore resembles an uppercase L. In this move, the knight is the only piece on the board that can jump over its own or its opponent's pieces. If there is an opponent's piece on the final target square, it is captured and removed from the board.
The pawn
With the pawn, a distinction is made between whether it moves to an empty square or captures an opponent's piece. In both cases, however, it is the only piece that may not move backwards. If it moves to an empty square, it may only move straight forwards. If the pawn is still on the starting square that was assigned to it at the start of the game, you can choose whether to move one or two squares forwards. No other pawn may be skipped. If the pawn is no longer on its starting square, it can only move one square forwards at a time. A pawn that moves straight ahead cannot capture another piece. However, a piece can only be captured if it is directly diagonally in front of it. The two special cases of capturing en passant and pawn conversion are described below.
Special moves
The pawn conversion
If a pawn reaches the last row (opponent's back rank), this pawn is converted into another piece. This is still part of the move and must therefore be done immediately. The player is free to decide whether to convert the pawn into a queen, a rook, a knight or a bishop. The newly created piece is then treated according to the same rules as a corresponding piece that was on the board from the start. Conversions can result in there being more pieces of one type on the board than were initially placed.
Beating en passant
If a pawn moves two squares forwards from its starting position and comes to rest directly next to an opponent's pawn, this advanced pawn may still be captured by the opponent's pawn. It is captured as if it had only advanced one square. After this capture move, the opponent's pawn comes to rest on the square immediately behind the advanced pawn. The captured pawn is removed from the board. This capture move is only allowed immediately after the move in which the pawn has advanced two squares.
The castling
Castling is the only move in which two of your own pieces are moved. These are the king and one of the two rooks. The king moves two squares towards the rook. The rook then moves over the king to the square immediately next to the king. Castling is only permitted if all of the following conditions apply:
- Both the king and the rook are still on their original squares, so they must not have moved yet.
- All squares between the king and the rook are free.
- The king's starting square, the square he jumps over and his target square must not be threatened.
7. During the game
The right to move
The moves are carried out alternately by both players, with the player with the light-coloured pieces starting. It is not allowed to sit out. The right to move changes the moment the player releases the piece they have moved.
Touched – guided
If the player whose turn it is touches one of his pieces, he must make a move with it if this is possible according to the rules. If he touches an opponent's piece instead, this piece must be captured if this is possible according to the rules.
J’adoube
When the player whose turn it is wants to move his pieces on the board, he announces this with “J’adoube”. This means that the “touched – guided” rule does not apply.
Put in check
If a player threatens the opponent's king with a move, he puts the player in check. The king is threatened if it could be captured immediately if the player making the move were allowed to make another move. He can communicate the threat to the opponent with the expression "check". However, there is no obligation to do so.
8. The end of the game
A game of chess ends either with one player winning or with a draw. How these two forms of ending the game can actually occur is described below.
The victory of a player
The checkmate
If a player threatens the opponent's king with a move, he puts the opponent in check. A king is threatened if it could be captured in the next move if the position remains unchanged. If the opponent does not manage to fend off the attack on the king with his next move, he is checkmated and the other player has won.
Giving up the game
If a player gives up the game, the opponent wins.
Expiry of time
If it has been agreed before the start of the game that the players only have a limited amount of time to think for the game or for individual moves, a player whose turn it is has lost if his time runs out and he has not yet made a move.
The drawn game
The stalemate
If the player whose turn it is has no move that he could legally make, he is stalemated and the game ends in a draw.
Not enough figures
If it is no longer possible for either player to checkmate the opponent with the pieces remaining on the board, the game ends in a draw. This is the case when only the two kings remain on the board. Even if a minor piece (bishop or knight) remains on the board in addition to the two kings, it is not possible to mate and the game ends in a draw.
Repetition of positions
If the same position has arisen three times on the board, the player whose move it is can claim the end of the game by drawing. If he fails to do so, game continues until there is another reason for the end of the game. It is also not possible to claim a draw for this reason at a later date. The same position does not have to have been reached in immediate succession by repeating a move. A position is only considered equal or identical if not only the pieces are on the same squares, but also if the playing possibilities are identical. A position is therefore only considered identical if the same castling rights exist, if there are the same possibilities when capturing en passant and if exactly the same moves are possible.
50 move rule
If the player whose turn it is can prove that no piece has been captured for fifty moves and that no pawn has been moved in these fifty moves, he can request an end to the game by drawing. If he does not do this or cannot prove the above, the game continues. The easiest way to prove this is if both players write down the moves during the game.
Draw by agreement
Both players can agree to end the game with a draw.