Chess

• Players: 2
• Equipment: 8 by 8 checkerboard, each side (white and black), has 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, 1 queen, 1 king
• Goal: The first player to capture the other player's king wins.

Setup

Each square on the board is labeled. Columns (files) are labeled with letters a-h, starting on white’s left. Rows (ranks) are labeled with numbers 1-8, starting with the closest to the white. Ensure that a8 is a white square. Black mirrors white across the midway rank of the board. White places one pawn in each square of rank 2. White places their king on e1, their queen on d1, their bishops on c1 and f1, their knights on b1 and g1, and their rooks on a1 and h1.

Play

White moves first. Each turn consists of one move of one piece. Pieces move according to the rules listed below. Pieces may only land in open squares, or in squares occupied by the opponent’s pieces. When you land on an opponent’s piece, that piece is captured and is removed from the board. Pieces (except for the knight), cannot move through any other piece -their paths must be clear.

• Kings: may move one space in any direction (including diagonal)
• Queens: may move an unlimited number of spaces in any one direction
• Rooks: may move an unlimited number of spaces forward, backward, left, or right (not diagonal)
• Bishops: may move an unlimited number of spaces in any diagonal direction
• Knights: may move spaces in one non-diagonal direction, then make a 90-degree turn to move one space in another direction. Their paths need not be clear -they “hop” over the other pieces.
• Pawns: may move one space forward, unless they are in their starting position, in which case they also have the option of moving two spaces forward. However, pawns cannot move forward to capture an opponent’s piece, they must move diagonally forward one space to capture, and they may only move diagonally if it results in a capture.

Other Movement Rules

Pawn Promotion: If a white pawn reaches rank 8, or a black pawn reaches rank 1, that player must exchange it for a queen, a rook, a bishop, or a knight. It doesn’t matter if that new piece has been previously captured -if there isn’t a suitable piece to use, make an agreed-upon substitute (for example, an upside-down rook often indicates a queen).

En Passnat: If a player moves a pawn forward two spaces, an opposing player may act as if that pawn only moved one space, and capture it. This may only be done on the turn immediately following the two-space advance and only by a pawn. Example: White -a4, Black -bxa3.

Castling: If there are no pieces between a player’s king and a rook, and both have never moved from their starting positions, that player may “castle.” To castle, move the king two spaces towards the rook, and move the rook to the space immediately on the other side of the king. Castling cannot be done if you are in check, end up in check, or pass through check.

Endgame

Check and Checkmate: When you have at least one piece that could kill the opponents king on your next turn, your opponent is in check. On their turn, they must make a move that gets them out of check. If there are no such moves, they are in checkmate, and you have won the game. Players may never make a move that results in them being in check.

Conditions for a Draw: If any of the following occur, the game ends in a tie

• One player is not in check but has no legal moves (this is known as a stalemate)
• Players are left with only the following pieces (no checkmate is possible)
  • King vs. king
  • King vs. king and bishop
  • King vs. king and knight
  • King and bishop vs. king and bishop (as long as both bishops are on the same color square)
• The same exact board position has occurred at least three times, with the same player to move and the pieces all having the same rights to move. This must be noticed and called by a player in order for a draw
• There have been no captures or pawn movements in the last fifty moves. This must be noticed and called by a player
• If both players agree to draw the game