Where to start learning chess. Video lessons: Learning chess online. There are two types of chess game

Many beginners mistakenly believe that there is nothing difficult in playing chess. In fact, in order to learn to play more or less well, it is not enough just to learn the rules and remember the moves of the pieces. So how to learn to play chess and what is the secret of successful learning?

To begin with, it should be noted that in this board game, tactics and strategy play a huge role, the ability to calculate and think through all the moves, to think systematically and logically. In addition, it is extremely important to be extremely careful, precise and patient. It’s not for nothing that chess is classified not only as simple board games, they are also one of the sports.

This is a project for beginners, approved by our readers, in which you or your child can improve their playing skills, complete a chess level, and in a short time grow to a prize-winner of regional tournaments. The teachers are FIDE masters, online training.

Learning to play chess

“I want to learn to play chess”, “How to learn to play chess well” - these are the desires and questions of those people who want to try to make this game their hobby, but have never played it. Where to start learning?

First, choose your chessboard and pieces. After this you can start studying:

• (click on the link to go to the study);

This knowledge is basic, without it, even with a strong desire to participate in chess games, you will not be able to.

• Learn all the rules of chess games;
• Learn about the possibilities of specific moves (capturing on the aisle, castling);
• Find out what checkmate, stalemate, and stalemate are in chess;
• Learn about the stages of a chess game and many other nuances.

Learning to play chess for beginners: where to get information?

Where can I get information to learn chess from scratch? There are many ways. You can buy specialized literature or find the necessary information on the Internet. Many resources offer training in playing chess, and if you really want to, you can learn to play chess from a video. A lot depends on the form in which you best assimilate information - these can be written instructions, oral instructions, or games and moves recorded on video.

The main recommendation when learning to play chess is to never rush, and to carefully and thoroughly go through and study each lesson. Only in this case can good results be achieved. Self-learning chess is an excellent solution for adults and children who want to make this game their hobby and simply enjoy it, regularly devoting a certain part of their free time to it. For these purposes, either online chess training may also be suitable.

You can also ask an acquaintance, friend or relative who plays chess (if you have one) to explain the rules and principles to you. There are advantages here - many people find it easier to perceive information not through reading, watching or listening to theory, but directly through a person with experience. After all, he is able to not only talk about the elementary rules of the game, but at the same time tell about various nuances and possible situations that may arise during a chess game.

After mastering the theory, you can begin practice - real chess games. For starters, they might be suitable computer programs, which can be found on the Internet, but it’s still better that the opponent is real and plays better than you. This will give you the opportunity to strive to improve your skills and level up. Another advantage is that a more experienced player can always give useful recommendations and point out your inaccuracies and mistakes.

Benefits of different ways to learn chess

If you yourself want to become professional player, you will need training in specialized schools and constant training with grandmasters. This method may also be suitable if the goal is, since the vast majority of children are not assiduous enough to understand the essence of the game on their own, whereas in a school with good teachers there are much more opportunities to learn the basics of playing chess. Each of the described methods has both its advantages and disadvantages.

For example, self-study using literature and information on the Internet will cost you absolutely free, but the student will need some perseverance, and most importantly, a desire to learn the material on their own.

Studying at specialized schools or with coaches involves certain costs, but in this case you have the opportunity to learn more about the nuances of the game and at the same time practice with your “colleagues.”

In any case, the main conditions for learning to play chess, no matter what method you choose, are the patience of the future chess player, the ability to concentrate and act consistently. And the most important thing is to have a great desire to learn how to play chess and move towards your goal day after day.

Video on how to play chess

There are a lot of video courses on the Internet on how to play chess. We have selected the most popular ones with which you can start your chess career.

Our step-by-step instruction will help you easily master the game of chess.

It's never too late to learn to play chess - the most popular game in the world! It's easy to learn the rules of chess:

Step 1. How to install the board

Before the game, the board is positioned so that there is a white field in the lower right corner in front of each player.

Step 2. How the pieces move

Each of the 6 figures moves differently. Pieces cannot jump over other pieces (with the exception of a knight) or stand on a field where there is already a piece of the same color. However, they can take the place of an enemy piece that is considered captured. Pieces are usually placed so that they threaten the opponent's pieces with a capture (stand on the square where the captured piece stood and replace it), defend their own pieces that are in danger of being captured, or control important squares on the board.

How to move the king in chess

The king is the most important figure, but also one of the weakest. The king can only move one square in any direction: up, down, sideways and diagonally. The king can never stand on a broken square (where it can be captured by an opponent's piece). When the king is attacked by another piece, it is called "check".

How to move a queen in chess

The queen is the strongest piece. He can move in a straight line in any direction - forward, backward, sideways or diagonally on any number of squares, but he cannot jump over other pieces. If the queen or any other piece captures the opponent's piece, the move ends. Watch as the white queen takes the black one, forcing the black king to move.

How to move a rook in chess

The rook can move any number of squares, but only forward, backward and sideways (not diagonally). Rooks are especially strong when they protect each other and work together!

How to move the bishop in chess

The bishop can move in a straight line for any number of squares, but only diagonally. During the game, each elephant always moves to squares of the same color (white or black). Bishops work well together because they cover each other's weaknesses.

How to move a knight in chess

Knights move differently than other pieces - two squares in one direction and then one square at an angle of 90 degrees, in the letter "L". The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.

How to move a pawn in chess

A pawn is an unusual piece; it moves and captures in different ways: a pawn can only move forward, but can only capture diagonally. A pawn can only move one square at a time, except for the very first move, when it can move forward one or two squares. A pawn can only capture diagonally one square in front of itself. The pawn cannot move or recapture. If another piece is directly in front of a pawn, the pawn cannot move forward and cannot capture that piece.

Step 3: Learn the special rules of chess

Chess has several special rules that may seem counterintuitive at first. They were invented to make the game more fun and interesting.

How to promote a pawn in chess

A pawn has one wonderful feature - if it reaches opposite side board, it can become any other piece (this is called “pawn promotion”).

A pawn can be promoted to any piece. There is a misconception that a pawn can only transform into one of the previously captured pieces. This is wrong. As a rule, a pawn is promoted to a queen. Only pawns can transform into other pieces.

How to perform an en route take

The last rule regarding pawns is called "". A pawn that has just advanced two squares in one move from its original position can be taken by an opponent's pawn occupying a square on the same horizontal and on an adjacent vertical, as if the last move of the captured pawn was only one square that it passed.

Such a capture is only possible in a move following an advance two squares, and is impossible subsequently. Study an example to better understand this unusual but important rule.

How to castle

Another special rule of chess is called. Castling allows you to do two important things in one move: secure (if possible) your king and move your rook out of the corner, bringing it into play. When castling, a player moves his king two squares towards a rook, then that rook moves onto the square that the king just crossed (see example). Castling can only be performed if the following conditions are met:

• the king never moved before castling
• before castling, the corresponding rook had never moved
• there should be no other pieces between the king and the rook
• the king cannot be in check or cross a square attacked by an opponent's piece

Please note that when castling to the kingside, the king is closer to the edge of the board. This move is called "short castling". Castling to the other flank, across the square where the queen was located, is called “long castling.” Both with short and long castling, the king moves only two squares.

Step 4. Who goes first?

The chess player playing with white always goes first. To decide who will play as white, chess players usually flip a coin or one of them guesses the color of a pawn hidden in the opponent's hand. Then the whites make a move, then the blacks, then the whites again, then the blacks, and so on in turn until the end of the game. The ability to move first is a small advantage that gives White the opportunity to immediately launch an attack.

Step 5. Let us remind you how to win a game of chess

A chess game can end in several ways: checkmate, draw, surrender, defeat by time...

How to checkmate in chess

The goal of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. Checkmate occurs when the king falls into check and cannot escape. There are three ways to protect yourself from check:

• retreat to another field (not castling!),
• protect yourself from the check with another piece
• or take the piece that attacked the king.

If the king cannot avoid checkmate, the game is over. Usually the king is not taken or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over.

When the game ends in a draw

Sometimes a chess game ends not in victory, but in a draw. There are 5 reasons why a game can end in a draw:

• " " appears on the board if the player who must move does not have any possible moves and his king is not in check

When moving the queen to c7, Black is not in check, but he cannot make a move either. The board is stalemate and the game ends in a draw.

• Players can simply agree to a draw and end the game.
• There are not enough pieces on the board to checkmate (for example, a king and a bishop against a king).
• A player declares a draw if the same board position is repeated three times (not necessarily three times in a row).
• The last 50 moves were completed by each player without advancing pawns and without capturing.

Step 6: Learn Basic Strategic Techniques

There are four simple things that every chess player should know:

Protect your king

Move your king to the corner of the board, where he is usually in less danger. Don't delay castling. Usually castling should be done as early as possible. Remember: it doesn't matter how close you are to checkmate your opponent's king if your king gets checkmate first!

Don't give up the pieces

Don't lose your pieces just like that! Every figure is valuable. You can't win the game without pieces to checkmate. There is a simple system by which most players determine the relative value of each piece:

• Pawn - basic unit - 1 point
• A horse is worth 3 points
• Bishop is worth 3 points
• A rook is worth 5 points
• The queen is worth 9 points
• The king is priceless

These points do not affect the outcome of the game in any way - it is just a system that you can use to make decisions during the game. It helps you understand when it is better to take an opponent's piece, exchange pieces, or make a different move.

Control the center of the chessboard

You need to try to control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. If you control the center, you will have more room to maneuver your pieces, and it will be more difficult for your opponent to find good squares for his. In the above example, White, trying to control the squares in the center, makes strong moves, and Black makes weak ones.

Use all your shapes

In the example above, White has used all of his pieces! Your pieces are useless as long as they are on the first rank. Try to develop all your pieces so as to gather more forces to attack the enemy king. In a game with a worthy opponent, attacking the king with one or two pieces will not work.

Step 7: Practice by playing as much as possible

To improve at chess, the most important thing for you is to play! Whether you play at home with friends or family or online, you need to play a lot to get better. Nowadays it's easy to find opponents online!

How to play chess variations

Although most people play chess using standard rules, some people like to play chess with modified rules. These are called "chess variations". Each option has its own rules.

• Chess-960: In chess-960 (Fischer chess), the initial arrangement of pieces is chosen randomly. The pawns are positioned as in regular chess, and the remaining pieces behind them are placed randomly.
• King of the Hill: In this variant of chess, you can achieve victory by occupying with your king one of the squares in the center of the chessboard, the so-called “top of the mountain.”
• Swedish chess: This game is played in pairs. When one player takes an opponent's piece, his partner can use it. For example, if I play white, and my partner, playing black, takes the white knight from his opponent, then with any future move I can place it on any free square of the board.
• Crazyhouse: Very interesting game, where you can use pieces taken from your opponent. For example, if I play white and take a black pawn, it turns into a white pawn, which I can put on the board as my piece with any future move.
• Up to three checks: In this game, the first one to give three checks to the opponent's king wins.

Enjoy these amazing chess variations.

How to play chess-960

How to play according to the rules of chess tournaments

Many tournaments use a set of general, similar rules. These rules do not apply to games played at home or online, but you may still want to use them.

• Touched - go- If a chess player touches his piece, he is obliged to make a move with this piece, if possible. If a chess player touches an opponent's piece, he must take it. A chess player who wants to touch a piece to correct it must first indicate his intention by saying “correcting.”
• Chess clock- Most tournaments use chess clock, allowing you to set the time for the game, and not for the move. Both opponents receive the same time for the entire game and decide independently how to spend it. After making a move, the chess player presses a button or lever that starts the opponent's clock. If a player runs out of time and the opponent declares this, the player who overstayed loses the game (if the opponent has enough pieces to checkmate, otherwise a draw is awarded).

Frequently Asked Questions about Chess (FAQ)

This amount of information may be a little confusing. That is why we provide answers to the most frequently asked questions that people who are just starting their journey into the world of chess usually face. We hope you find them useful!

How can I improve at chess?

Knowing the rules and basic strategy is just the beginning: chess is so difficult that a lifetime would not be enough to master everything! To improve, you need to do three things:

1. Play a lot- just keep playing! Play as often as possible. Learn from every game, won or lost.
2. Learn chess lessons- if you really want to make progress quickly, you should take some online lessons. You can find it here.
3. Enjoy- Don’t be discouraged if you can’t win all the games in a row. Everyone loses - even world champions. If you enjoy the game and know how to learn lessons even from lost games, you will always love chess!

What is the strongest first move in chess?

Although there is no universally recognized strongest move in chess, it is important to fight for the center of the board from the very beginning. For this reason, most chess players make the first move of one of the central pawns (from the king or from the queen) two squares forward: 1. d4 or 1. e4. Others prefer 1. c4 or 1. Nf3. Most of the other moves aren't as good. Bobby Fischer considered the best move with the king's pawn to be 1. e4.

What color goes first?

The player with white pieces always goes first.

Can a pawn move backward?

The pawn cannot move backwards. Once it reaches the opposite edge of the board, it can transform into another piece (for example, a queen). The piece you promoted the pawn to can, of course, move backwards.

Is it possible to move more than one piece at a time?

During your turn, you can only move one piece, but there is one exception! When you castle, you move the king and rook in one move.

What is the most important piece in chess?

The king is the most important chess figure. If you lose the king, you lose the game. However, the most powerful chess piece is the queen.

When was chess invented?

The origins of chess are not completely known. According to the most common version, chess arose in India almost two thousand years ago from other similar games. Modern chess has been known since the 15th century, when the game became popular in Europe.

What was the longest game in the history of chess?

The longest tournament game (by number of moves) in chess history was played by Ivan Nikolic and Goran Arsovic in Belgrade, Serbia in 1989.

What is chess notation?

The notation was invented so that it was possible to analyze played chess games. Thanks to it, we have the opportunity to record all the moves of the game and play it back as many times as we like. You just need to correctly record your own moves and your opponent’s moves.

Chess notation allows you to store all your games...

Each field has coordinates and each shape is labeled capital letter(K - knight, C - bishop, F - queen, L - rook and Kr - king).

What is the purpose of chess?

Chess is a game between two opponents on opposite sides of a board lined with 64 squares of light and dark colors. Each player has 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights and 8 pawns.

A board, two chess players and 32 pieces are all you need to start the game.

The goal of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. Checkmate is a situation where the king is threatened by an opponent's piece (the king is in check) and he cannot avoid this threat.

Hello dear guest of our chess site. If you are here, it means you want to learn the rules of chess. Right? Most likely you are a beginner, you know little about chess and have only once heard the catchphrase “Walk the horse, you won’t see the will forever”...

Introduction

We want to make you happy. On this site you will find everything you need to know about chess from A to Z. And this article will become for you the main base that will guide you from scratch to a complete study of all chess rules and even those that many chess players who, like this, do not know Let's say, they've been carving in the courtyards on benches for years. Let's get down to business.

(subscribe for updates).

First things first. You don't need months of study or even weeks to learn the rules of chess. 2-3 hours is enough.

Below we will give you all the comprehensive information on all the rules and give you all the necessary links to study other articles on our site, and in just a few hours, you can safely be proud that you know all the chess rules 100%. We'll even give you a download link. official rules FIDE chess. How... Well, let's begin...

Basic Game Theory

Let's start with the most important thing, dear friend. Chess is usually played by 2 people. Sometimes, of course, they play in pairs or teams, but official tournaments, championships and competitions are a struggle between two people. One plays with white pieces, the other with black pieces.

Players take turns. The one who plays white goes first.

If we are talking about playing in the yard or in the kitchen with a neighbor over a glass of beer or a cup of coffee, then you can play without a clock or time. Players simply take turns until one of them wins or draws.

Well, at competitions, tournaments and championships, naturally, players play with a chess clock where each player is given a certain amount of time for his thoughts. Time is not given for a move, time is given for the entire game.

The essence of the game in chess is to win another player by checkmating his king or to create for yourself a position in the game in which the opponent will simply surrender and shake your hand.

Usually this is a position when you have eaten up more pieces from your opponent than he has from you, or he understands that in a few moves he will be checkmated.

You can also win by time. It seems like they’ve eaten up a bunch of your pieces and you’re about to be checkmated, but your opponent runs out of time, and he’s considered a loser, and you’re considered a winner.

Let's look at what it is:

Shah- a position on the chessboard when a piece has attacked the king (the king is under attack), but he can leave the battlefield, or another piece can cover him with his body. That is, you can escape the Shah.

Mat– a position on the chessboard when a piece has attacked the king (the king is under attack), but he cannot escape the attack. Any field wherever he steps is beaten. And no figure of his can cover him with his body.

Pat- a position on the chessboard when the player cannot move at all. In this case, it's a draw.

More details about what checkmate, checkmate and stalemate look like on the board will be given below. You still need to first learn how the pieces move, attack each other, and eat.

Types of chess game options

Chess games have their own names. There are only three types:

Bullet
Blitz
Classic

In pool, each player is given 1 minute for the entire game. Can you imagine? 1 minute. That's why the bullet. There is no time to think, you just have to have time to rearrange the pieces, and then figure it out later on the fly.

In blitz, the player is given somewhere between 3-15 minutes. Blitz is also called rapid chess. There is time to think about how to go. Rook or horse. =))

Classic times range from 20 minutes to several hours. At official championships, it also happens that a player goes and goes to a cafe to drink tea, while another player is thinking about how to go. You have plenty of time and you can even take a nap in your room.

There is a type of game when, after its own move, the clock automatically adds 3-5 seconds to your time.

Rules for placing pieces on the board

So. Each player initially has the same number of pieces, namely:

8 pawns
2 rooks
2 horses
2 elephants
1 queen
1 king

All the pieces on the board are arranged like this:

The pawns are on the 2nd and 7th lines. They are a kind of fortress, a line of defense. Some call them suicide bombers because they are the first to go into battle.

Rule 1: White is placed on lines 1 and 2. Black bets on lines 7 and 8.

Rule 2: The queen loves her color. That is, if the queen is white, then it is placed on a white cell, if it is black, then on a black one. Accordingly, the white king is placed next to the black square, and the black king stands next to the queen on the white square.

Chess notation

Of course about chess notation could be told at the end of this article or even left out altogether, but still we decided to include it in the post, since we will further talk about how the pieces move, what fields (cells) they stand on and so that you understand us when we write e4-e5, Be5xd6 or 0-0.

Chess notation is actually simple, and so as not to repeat what has already been written, we recommend that you read this one on our website about chess notation. After you read it, come back to this article and continue reading.

Rules for the movement of each piece in chess

Now let's talk to you about how the pieces move. This is probably the most important thing in chess. If you don’t need to know chess notation to play the game, then you need to know 100% how the pieces move.

Many people still play chess and do not know the basic rules, such as: a pawn does not eat back and capturing a pawn on the aisle.

In order for you to know how pieces move in chess, we suggest you read this series of articles that we have prepared for you. Here everything is written for each figure from A to Z, in clear and simple language.

In addition to the fact that you will now know how the pieces move, know the following:

• Kings on a chessboard cannot stand next to each other end to end. There must be a gap of at least 1 square between them.
• The king in chess cannot be eaten
• At proper game The rule applies: “If you pick up a piece, go to it”
• The player who has the right to move can offer a draw at any time, even after leaving. An opponent can accept a draw only before he resigns.

That is, after a response move, after which he suddenly realizes that he made a mistake, he cannot accept a draw.

Let's return to our checks, checkmates and stalemates. Since now you know how pieces move in chess, we can show you with pictures with comments what check, double check, checkmate and stalemate look like.

Let's look at examples of how a pawn, rook, bishop, knight or queen puts the king in check.

Example of check by queen:

The queen attacks the king. The king has nowhere to move, because the g8 square is captured by White's bishop standing on c4. But Black's knight can block the queen's path and, so to speak, protect the king with its body. Yes, the poor conic will be eaten on the next move and there will be a mate. But now there is only check from the queen.

Tax. And who will find a good move for Black to check from the queen? Write it in the comments.

An example of a rook check:

The rook checks the king, but the king can go to h7, or the bishop, standing on f8, can cover the king with its powerful body.

An example of a check with a knight:

The king can only retreat to f8. The squares h7 and f7 are captured by White's pawn. And the square h8 is captured by the queen. And there is nothing to eat the horse with.

An example of a check with a bishop:

The only defense against this check is to block the bishop's attack with the rook. It is impossible to move the king to g8, since this square is captured by the queen.

An example of a check with a pawn:

The pawn moves to h7 and puts the king in check. A retreat is only possible on h8 since the f8 square is captured by White's bishop. But there is one more defense against check. You can simply use the king to sit down the attacking pawn, since it has no defense.

An example of another rook check:

With this check variation, Black has a huge choice of defense. With the king you can go to the d6 square, or you can defend with your own pieces, that is, block the attack of the rook. You can close with a knight on e6 and a bishop on e6, or you can close with a queen or bishop on e7.

Well, in conclusion, let's look at the double check option:

In order to double check Black's king, White simply jumps with his knight to f7. As a result, check comes from both the knight and the queen on h7.

The only defense against check is for the king to retreat to g8. Yes, Black's queen can eat White's queen, but the knight remains in check. Black can also eat the knight with the bishop, but then the queen remains in check. There is only one way out in case of double check - move only with the king.

Now let's look at the mat options.

Example of checkmate by queen:

The king cannot eat the queen since he is under the protection of the rook. There is also nowhere to go.

Example of checkmate by rook:

Black checkmate. It is impossible for the king to run to the 2nd line, since it is penetrated by the rook on f2. And there is nothing to close it with.

Example of checkmate with a knight:

Very beautiful mat. This type of swearing is also called stale. The king is trapped by his own pieces.

Example of checkmate by bishop:

The bishop is aimed at the king. The king has nowhere to go. Squares h7 and h8 are penetrated by White's knight and rook. There is nothing to close it with. Yes, there is a rook on f8 and, in theory, you can hide behind it, but alas, if it leaves its place, it opens another check from the queen standing on b2. If such a move is made in a real game, it will be considered impossible. And if a move is impossible, the player is automatically assigned a defeat.

Example of checkmate with a pawn:

The king is squeezed again and the pawn cannot be eaten, since it is protected by the bishop on d3.

Well, let me show you the last version of a beautiful mat:

The queen places it. White's king has nowhere to move since the kings cannot stand next to each other.

Now let's look at the stalemate.

This is the first example of a stalemate. Now it's Black's move and he has nowhere to go. The pawns are against White's pawns, and the king's move is prohibited, since the queen controls all the squares.

The second stalemate option:

Black's move. But they can't go anywhere. The king cannot stand next to another king, and besides, the 7th line is broken through by the rook standing on a7. The knight also cannot leave its square since it will open a check to the king from the rook on c8.

The ratio of the strength of a particular figure

Let's talk about the power of pieces now. We will tell you not only about who is stronger than whom, for example, a knight or bishop, queen or rook, but also about which piece is worth how many other pieces or pawns. If you don’t understand, then everything will be clear now... So...

The weakest piece in chess is it's a pawn. She is so small, harmless and walks only 1-2 squares forward, eats diagonally one square or hits on the pass. BUT!

Do not forget that a simple pawn can turn into any piece (except the king) when it reaches the last line of the chessboard. Let's also remember the cases when a pawn put a checkmate and decided the outcome of the game. And look here:

Looking at the position on the board, it is clear to the naked eye that Black is winning. They are facing mate on c2 with the queen. Black has a queen, a rook, and also 2 minor pieces - a bishop and a knight. White has only a rook of strong pieces. BUT! White has a pawn and his move.

The question is: what does a pawn turn into when it stands on the last line of the board, namely the f7 square? That's right - onto the horse. And black gets a nice mate. Here's a weak pawn for you...

In general, of course, the pawn is the weakest of all the pieces.

If we talk about who is stronger, a knight or a bishop, then everything depends on the position on the board. In some positions the knight is stronger than the bishop, and in others it’s the other way around. Much is still decided by which bishop the player remains with, light-squared or dark-squared.

If a player has 2 knights left, and his opponent has 2 bishops, then it is considered that 2 bishops are stronger than 2 knights in the game. Well, that is, it turns out that the first one has no bishops, only 2 knights, and the enemy has no knights, only 2 bishops.

In fact, if you study the theory very seriously chess game and its strategies, then you will know everything from A to Z regarding the strength of pieces in a given position.

Well, the most powerful piece on the board is the queen. And why, you probably already understand. Because the queen goes wherever she wants.

The king is neither a strong nor a weak piece, he is simply a valuable piece. The king must be protected and protected.

Now let's talk about which figure is worth how many others. Let's not talk about the pawn. A pawn, as they say, is worth a pawn.

The bishop, like the knight, is equal to approximately three pawns.

The queen is equal in strength to two rooks or three minor pieces.

A rook plus a pawn is approximately equal in strength to two minor pieces.

You also need to know that 2 minor pieces are usually stronger than 1 rook. And a rook and 2 minor pieces are stronger than a queen.

Chess situations during the game and their solutions

In principle, knowing everything that was written above and having studied all the information from the links in this article, you can safely play chess and proudly tell everyone around that you know the chess rules perfectly.

However, let's look at some more chess situations, figure out what they mean and what to do in this or that situation.

Somehow the position on the board got lost. Well, anything can happen. A person walked by and touched the board, or you caught the edge of the board with your sleeve and knocked down the pieces.

In this case, the competition judge restores the position after recording the game. If you played with a friend in the yard or in the kitchen and the game was not recorded, then you just need to play again.

Initially, when the game began, the pieces were placed incorrectly, and you discovered this in the middle of the game.

It happens. Rare, but accurate. And again. If this is a championship or competition, then the judge is called and corrects the pieces. Let's say you placed the queen and king in the wrong way, changing their places. Or a knight with an elephant.

If initially the white pieces were on the 7th and 8th lines, and the black ones on the 1st and 2nd, then the game is transferred to another board with the same position, only the pieces are placed as they should be, the whites go 1st and 2nd lines up to 7-8, and the blacks vice versa.

An example of incorrectly placed figures:

The player castling incorrectly.

Believe me, this often happens to beginning chess players; they castling not with the king and rook, but with the queen and rook. In this case, the rule applies - “Take it - go.” That is, the player will need to move the piece he took on, and castling is cancelled. We provided a link to an article with the topic - how to properly castling - above.

The player touched one piece and moved another.

The judge is called. As a result, a decision is made on an impossible move and the player who made it is considered a loser.

The player made a move and checkmated his opponent. BUT! The opponent suddenly looks at his watch and shouts “Figurines, you’ve run out of time”...

The clock no longer plays a role. There is a checkmate on the board and the one who delivered it is declared the winner, even if time has already run out. I had to scream until the checkmate on the board that time was up. And not after the checkmate is already in place. It's the same with stalemate.

The player stopped the clock.

So he gave up.

There is a situation on the board where there are not enough pieces on the board for any player to win.

Well, for example, there are only 2 kings left on the board. In this case, the game ends in a draw.

The player ran out of time when his opponent had only one king left.

In this case, it is declared a draw. Because the king alone cannot checkmate.

The same position appears on the board three times in a row.

In this case, the game ends in a draw. Here is an example of such a situation:

The blacks understand that they are screwed. White's pawn advances and threatens checkmate for their king. As a result, Black ends the game in a draw. Well, at least it's not a defeat.

The queen moves to c2 and puts in check. The king should only go to a1. Then the queen goes to c1 and checks again. The king should only go to a2. The queen on c2 is in check again... And so 3 times. The result is a draw.

That's all friends actually are. Just as promised at the beginning of the game, keep the link to download the official FIDE rules - DOWNLOAD. Read it, maybe you’ll find something useful, but overall this article contains absolutely everything you need to know about the rules of chess.

If you think that the article is not complete, then please write about it in the comments and suggest adding something. We will definitely do this.

We hope the post was useful to you. See you soon…

You, like your opponent, have a team of warriors at your disposal. Your goal: be the first to capture your opponent's king (before your opponent captures your king)! The situation when you attack the opponent’s king in such a way that he cannot escape from this attack is called “checkmate” and means that you have won!

Each of you starts the game with a reliable army of 16 pieces: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.

Beginning of the game

Before the game, the board is set up so that each player has a white (or light) square in the lower right corner. Then the pieces are placed on the board on the same squares each time. The second row is occupied by pawns. The rooks stand in the corners, then next to them are the knights, after the knights are the bishops, then the queen is placed on a square of the same color as itself (white queen on a white square, black queen on a black one), and finally the king takes his place on the remaining square.

The player with white pieces always goes first, so to keep everything fair, you need to play with white and black pieces in turn. On each of his moves, a player can move one of his pieces (with the exception of one special move). After your move, it is your opponent's turn. And so on, players take turns until one of the kings is captured... or until your entire army is used up!

How the pieces move

Each of the 6 figures moves differently. Most pieces cannot jump over other pieces - only knights can jump over anyone who stands in their way! Also, no piece can stand on a square where there is already a piece of the same (its) color. However, a piece can take the place of an enemy piece: this is how you capture enemy pieces!

King

The king is the most important piece because losing it means the end of the game. But he is also one of the weakest figures. Therefore, very often he needs the protection of friends. The king can move one square in any direction - up, down, sideways and diagonally.

The king cannot move to an attacked square where it will be captured (in the example these are red squares). If your opponent lands his king on the square you attacked, do not rush to joyfully grab his king with the words “Ha ha ha, I won!” Instead, you should explain to your opponent why his king cannot move there. After this, your opponent can return the king to its place and choose some other move.

Checkmate

When another piece threatens to capture the king, it is called "check". When the king cannot avoid check in any way, it is called checkmate. As stated earlier, capturing the king is a victory. There are only three ways to escape the check: move away from the threat, cover the check with another piece, or take a piece that threatens the king. If the king cannot escape the check, the game is over. Usually the king is not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over.

Queen

The queen is the most influential figure. Like the king, it can move in any direction in a straight line - forward, backward, sideways and diagonally - but unlike the king, the queen is very fast. After all, he can move any number of squares, although he cannot jump over other pieces. And, like all other pieces, when the queen captures an opponent’s piece, it stands on the square of the captured piece.

Check out the diagram below to see how the queens move. Notice how the white queen captures the black queen and then the black king is forced to move.

Rook

The rook moves almost the same way as the queen: to any number of squares in a straight line, but only forward, backward and to the sides (not diagonally).

Elephant

The bishop is the “other half” of the queen. He moves to any number of cells, but only along diagonals. In the initial position you have two bishops - a light-squared bishop and a dark-squared one, and, as you can see, during the game the light-squared bishop will always move only on white squares, and the dark-squared bishop will always move only on black squares. Bishops work well in pairs, as one of them covers squares that the other cannot.

Horse

Knights move differently than other pieces - two squares in one direction and then one square at an angle of 90 degrees. The knight's move resembles the letter "G". The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces when making a move. Because of this special ability, horses are often said to “jump.” Look at these horse jumps:

Pawn

Half of your starting team is pawns, so it's important to understand how to use these little guys even though they aren't very strong. Pawns are special - they move in one way and capture in another. When they walk, they only move straight forward, and take - diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square, with the exception of the very first move, when they can move forward one or two squares. A pawn can only capture the opponent's piece that is one square diagonally in front of it. The pawn can neither move nor take back.

Because the pawn moves and captures in different ways, it is the only piece that can be blocked by an opponent's piece: if there is another piece directly in front of the pawn, the pawn can neither move nor capture that piece.

Transformation

The pawns may be small, they move slowly, and they have a hard time fighting against the faster pieces on the board, but the pawns are big dreamers! They dream of becoming heroes who will rule the board and bring you victory. And the pawns have one super power that can help their dreams come true.

If a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board, it can become any piece other than a pawn or king (this is called "pawn promotion"). [NOTE: There is a misconception that a pawn can only be promoted to one of the previously captured pieces. This is NOT true.] Typically, a pawn is promoted to a queen because it is the strongest piece. Only pawns can transform into other pieces: no other piece can do this!

Taking on the pass

The last rule regarding pawns is called "capture en passant" from the French "en passant", meaning "while passing". If on the first move a pawn moved two squares and at the same time stood side by side with the opponent’s pawn (having missed a square where the opponent could have captured it), then the opponent’s pawn can take this slipped pawn as if it had moved only one square instead of two . This opportunity can only be used immediately (the next move) after the slipped pawn has moved two squares forward. If this opportunity is not used immediately, it is lost and in the future it will be impossible to capture the slipped pawn “on the pass”. Click on the example below to better understand this difficult but important rule.

Castling

Another special rule is called "castling" - a single move in which two pieces are moved. Castling allows you to do two important things in one move: secure (if possible) your king and remove the rook from the corner, thereby including it in the game. When castling, a player can move his king two squares to the right or left and move the rook from the corresponding corner to the square next to the king on the opposite side (see example below). Castling can only be done if the following conditions are met:

• the king never moved before castling
• before castling, the corresponding rook had never moved
• When castling, there should be no other pieces on the squares between the king and the rook
• the king cannot be in check or cross a square attacked by an opponent's piece

Please note that when castling towards the kingside, the king is closer to the edge of the board. This move is called short castling. Castling in the other direction across the square where the queen was located is called long castling. In both short and long castling, the king moves exactly two squares.

Draw

Sometimes a chess game ends not in victory, but in a draw. There are 5 reasons why a game can end in a draw:

1. A stalemate occurs on the board when one of the players has a turn to move, but he does not have a single possible move and his king is NOT in check
2. Players can simply agree to a draw and stop playing
3. There are not enough pieces on the board to checkmate (for example, a king and a bishop against a king). Draw due to lack of pieces!
4. A player declares a draw if the same board position is repeated three times (not necessarily three times in a row).
5. Each player made 50 moves in a row without a single capture or pawn move. This means that there is no progression in the game!

Fischer Chess-960

Chess-960 (also called "Fischer Chess") is chess according to standard rules, with the exception of the initial position of the pieces on the last horizontal line, where the pieces are placed in a random order before the start of the game.

When placing pieces arbitrarily, only two rules are observed: bishops must be of opposite sides, and rooks must be aligned. different sides from the king. The opponent's pieces are mirrored.

There are exactly 960 possible starting positions of the pieces given these two rules (hence the "960" in the name).

The only difference in the rules concerns castling: the rules here are, for the most part, the same as in ordinary chess (before castling, neither the king nor the rook has moved yet and the king cannot pass through attacked squares or stand on an attacked square), with an additional rule is that immediately before castling, all squares between the initial and final position of the king and the initial and final position of the castled rook are free, without taking into account the castled pieces themselves. Instead of moving the king exactly two squares towards the rook, castling is always done so that in the final position the castled pieces stand, as in ordinary chess: when castling on the king's side, the king always goes to g1, and "on the queen's side" - on c1.

Some tournament rules

Many tournaments use a set of general, similar rules. These rules do not necessarily apply to games played at home or online

Take it - go!

If a player touches his piece, he must move that piece if a move is possible (of course, you cannot “touch” a virtual piece online, so this tournament rule is not relevant for our site). If a player touches an opponent's piece, he must capture it. A player who wants to touch a piece to correct it must first indicate their intention by saying “correcting.”

Introduction to Clocks and Timers

Most tournaments use a time control that limits the time for the entire party, not a move. This is because when the first chess tournaments began in the 1800s, some guys, realizing that they were losing, simply sat and did not make moves. With such a great strategy, they still didn’t lose... and the tournaments still didn’t end! After this, the chess clock was invented and became the norm in most tournaments.

Each player gets the same amount of time for the entire game and can decide for himself how to use this time. After making a move, a player presses a button or lever on the clock, pausing his own clock and starting his opponent's clock. If one of the players runs out of time to play and his opponent declares that time has expired, the one whose time has expired loses (unless his opponent does not have enough pieces to checkmate, in which case it is declared a draw). Click here to see how fast players move in timed games!

Basic strategy

There are four simple things that every chess player should know:

#1 Protect your king

Move your king to the corner of the board, he is usually safer there. Don't delay castling. Basically, castling should be done as early as possible. Remember: it doesn’t matter how close you are to checkmate your opponent’s king if your king is checkmate first!

No. 2 Don’t give away pieces just like that

Don't lose your pieces just like that! Every figure is valuable. You can't win the game without pieces to checkmate. There is a simple system by which most players determine the relative value of each piece:

• Pawn - basic unit
• A knight is worth 3 pawns
• A bishop is worth 3 pawns
• A rook is worth 5 pawns
• The queen is worth 9 pawns
• The king is priceless

At the end of the game, these points mean nothing - they are just a system that you can use to make decisions during the game. It helps you understand when it is better to take, exchange or make other moves.

#3 Control the center

You need to try to control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. If you control the center, you will have more space to advance your pieces. At the same time, it will be more difficult for the opponent to find good squares for his pieces. In the example below, to control the central cells, White makes good moves and Black makes bad moves.

#4 Use all your pieces

In the example above, White has used all of his pieces in the game! Your pieces are useless as long as they are stuck on the first rank. Try to develop all your pieces so as to gather more forces to attack the opponent's king. In a game with a worthy opponent, attacking the king with one or two pieces will not work.

How to improve your game level?

Getting to know the rules and basic strategy is just the beginning: there are so many aspects to chess that it wouldn't take a lifetime to learn them all! To improve your level of play, you need to do three things:

#1 - Play

Keep playing! Play as much as possible. You need to learn from every game, whether you win or lose.

#2 - Learn

The site has many resources to help you learn and improve your skills.

#3 - Have fun

Don't be discouraged if you can't win all the games at once. Everyone loses - even world champions. If you enjoy the game and know how to learn lessons even from lost games, chess will always bring you pleasure!

Solving tactics, studies and chess compositions should be the first step for anyone who wants to improve themselves.

Step 2.

The next step should include studying the Masters/Grandmaster games. However, you should not jump to this step quickly. First you must get to know simple tactics , such as fork, double attack, pin, through attack, simple mating networks, etc. Without knowing the basic techniques, it will be difficult for you to analyze the games of strong players.

I would also like to add a few words about the masters' games. Ideally, when you watch a game for the first time, you study it without reading comments and see how much you can understand the different moves. Pay attention to the game plan, tactics, mistakes, transition from middlegame to endgame, etc. Put yourself in the player's shoes and try to analyze the position from their point of view. As you watch the game, stop and ask yourself: “ How would I play here?" Try to understand the ideas behind the moves.

After the preliminary work has been done, you need to re-look at the game with comments and fill in the gaps that you missed during self-analysis. This approach to learning is more productive and profitable than simply reading comments and watching the game. Some chess coaches recommend reviewing games even 4-5 times in order to better understand and remember the material studied.

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Each player must apply knowledge in practice. Playing games is absolutely necessary to improve your chess skills.

Another important condition without which self-improvement is impossible is motivation. Only a well-motivated person can spend hours playing chess, study theory productively, play practice matches and not give up further practice, regardless of the result. It is these players who quickly achieve serious growth.

Step 3.

To understand the analysis given in the books, you must understand chess notation and have a good knowledge of special notations. When you study chess game, You will have to interpret the moves and specials. notations automatically, without wasting time on understanding and using cheat sheets.

Some players, despite playing chess for a long time, are unable to read chess notation or quickly find the right square on the board to make a move.

If you do not know chess notation, then I can offer you a very simple exercise. When you play the game, use an unmarked board (no numbers or letters) and try to write down your move as quickly as possible. It is also necessary to quickly define fields and name them, e.g. d2, h5, a3 etc., without calculating their coordinates.

Step 4.

Every chess player should be able to identify mistakes in their own games. When analyzing your games, you should always look for ways to strengthen your game and write appropriate comments. When analyzing you need to try to answer 3 questions:

• 1. Where were the main mistakes made and how could you have played better? (for both players)
• 2. What was each side's plan?
• 3. What was the reason for your mistake? (little time, option not calculated deeply enough, gross mistakes, etc.))

Analyzing and commentating your games is extremely important to improve the quality of your game.

Another important point is the importance systematic training. Working on chess throughout 30 minutes 3-4 days a week You will achieve greater success than spending 2 hours training, but once a week.

Many players adhere to the wrong learning strategy, concentrating on one chess topic for a long time. For example, after studying for a very long time opening schemes or patterns of play in the middlegame. As a result, this does not give the necessary progress in chess.

Some outstanding chess coaches believe that the most effective method– study several topics during one lesson. For example, first a little theory, then analysis of the classical game, tactics and endgame.

Step 5.

The next step in chess development is to study the history of chess, along with the biography of your favorite players and their games. Choose games from such outstanding players as Botvinnik, Smyslov, Nimzowitsch, etc. and study their ideas that they applied in games.

You can also study the games of modern players, but do not forget about the classics, since the plans and ideas of the great masters of chess history are easier to understand and apply in your own games.

Another very important part of learning is participating in good chess competitions. For a player to grow, it is recommended that he participate in 5-6 tournaments a year. This way you can test all the acquired skills and theoretical knowledge through good practice.

Let's summarize.

There are 5 steps that are essential to improve your game:

• 1. Solving tactics, studies and chess compositions.
• 2. Studying master games, practice matches and working on motivation.
• 3. Improving the skills of reading/writing chess notation.
• 4. Analysis of your own games, study of the endgame.
• 5. Chess history and participation in chess tournaments(5-6 tournaments per year).

Note: If you are aiming for sharp increase in chess level, then it is necessary to systematically work on all elements of the game:

• Tactics
• Positional play
• Attack Skills
• Endgame technique
• Analysis classic games
• Psychological preparation
• And much more

At first glance, it seems like there is a lot of work to be done. But thanks to our training course Your training will be easy, efficiently and with minimal time. Join the "" training program right now!