Here is the plan I propose for this lesson:
Ok, we understand now the chessboard and how all the pieces move. But we are not there yet, before sitting in front of a chessboard and play a game, there is still an important thing to learn: how do we play the game?
For a beginner, it can be difficult to assimilate all the rules of the game in one single lesson. My approach will then be to separate the explanation of the rules in two lessons: the basic rules (the current lesson) and the advanced and special rules (next lesson).
You will be able to play and understand simple games after this lesson.
In the advanced rules lesson, we will learn exception and special cases like draw games, the promotion of chess pieces and casting.
Are you ready? Let’s begin immediately by starting with the goal of the game.
Basic Chess Rules: The Goal of the Game
“The pupil wants not so much to learn, as to learn how to learn.”
Samuel Boden
To win a game of chess, we have to capture the opponent’s King. In order to succeed, a player must build an attack with his pieces, while restricting the enemy pieces, so he can build a wall around the enemy King to prepare its capture. The first player succeeding in this operation wins the game. A player can also be victorious when his opponent loose faith in his position on the board (not enough material to capture the enemy King or an undefendable position) and forfeits the game.
The Check
When a piece is attacking the opponent king, threatening to capture it on the next move, we say the King is in “Check”. In the example below, it is White who moves. If the White Queen is moving to the b3 square, it will threaten to capture the Black King on the next move. The Black King will then be in check. While playing a move attacking the opponent’s King, a player usually says “check”.
When a player’s King is in check, he is required to do something about it before executing any other plan. To remove the check, he can use three of the four options we saw in lesson 3 “Attack and Threat”: moving the King to a safe square (which is not controlled by an enemy piece), blocking the check with a piece or capturing the piece giving the check. In the example below, the black King is in check by the bishop sitting on c5:
According to the rules, it is illegal to play a move that is not neutralising a check when the King is attacked, or move the King to a square controlled by an enemy piece. If a player makes such a move, his opponent must notify him to play another move aiming to stop the check.
The Checkmate
“Chess is a game sufficiently rich in meaning that it is easily capable of containing elements of both tragedy and comedy.”
Luke McShane
If a player gives a check to the opponent and the attacked King cannot be protected from it, we say that the attacked King is “checkmate”. The game is over and the player having checkmated the other is the winner. The number of captured pieces or any other factors are irrelevant to the game outcome: the only thing that matters is the checkmate.
In the following diagram, the White King is checkmated by the Rook-Bishop tandem. We can see that the White King is in check by the Black Bishop and that the Rook is controlling the escape squares of the King on the d file. It means that White cannot neutralise the attack by moving the King. Also, the black Bishop cannot be captured and its attack cannot be blocked by a white piece. The game is over and Black is the winner.
Lesson 8 is dedicated to the mating patterns. It will be important to learn them not only for mating your opponent, but also to avoid being surprised yourself by a checkmate!
Here is an example of one of the most frequent mating pattern: the back rank mate (or corridor mate). In the diagram below, the Black King feels very safe since it is well protected by the f7, g7 and h7 pawns. But trouble is around: these pawns are building up a tumb instead of a giving it protection! White only needs to play his rook on b8 and the Black King is doomed!
There are other versions of the back rank mate where the attacked King is squeezed in a deadly corridor. We will see these other patterns in lesson 8.
Other Chess Rules: Who Starts The Game and the Touch-Move Rule
“The laws of chess do not permit a free choice: you have to move whether you like it or not.”
Emanuel Lasker
Here are other rules that must be followed when playing a game of chess:
- White is always starting the game by making the first move.
- The Touch-Move rule: if a player touched a piece on his turn to play he is required to move this piece if it is one of his own or capture it if it is an enemy piece. He will be allowed to play another piece only if the touched piece has no legal move to do. A player can touch the pieces on the board only to replace them properly on their square if they are misplaced. The player has to signify his intention to his opponent before replacing the pieces by using the French expression “J’adoube”.
Ok, that’s enough for now! We will cover the remaining of the rules in the next lesson on advanced rules. For now, you can introduce yourself in the fantastic chess world by practicing on a real chessboard. You do not master all the tricks and rules yet, but you know enough to start playing with friends and have fun.
If you want an advice, try to play around twenty games before working on lesson 5. If you do not have playing partners you can start by playing online at chess.com. You have to register (free) before playing if you do not already have a chess.com account.
