Reference

Chess rules

The complete rulebook for standard chess. Every move, every special rule, every edge case — written for humans, not lawyers.

A hand about to place a wooden rook onto a board, fingers softly lit

En passant

Black has just played d7-d5, sliding past the white pawn. White may capture en passant with exd6 — but only on this move.

1. The board

Chess is played on a square board divided into 64 smaller squares — 8 rows by 8 columns. The squares alternate between light and dark colors. The board is positioned so each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner.

The rows are called ranks and numbered 1 to 8 from White's side. The columns are called files and labeled a to h from White's left. Each square has a unique name like e4 or g7 — see our notation guide for details.

2. The pieces and their starting positions

Each player starts with 16 pieces of one color (White or Black):

Back rank (rank 1 for White, rank 8 for Black), left to right: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook.
Second rank (rank 2 for White, rank 7 for Black): eight pawns.
The queen always starts on her own color (white queen on d1, a light square; black queen on d8, also a light square from her perspective).
The king starts on e1 (White) or e8 (Black) — next to the queen.

3. Movement of each piece

Each piece has its own rules. No piece can move to a square occupied by a piece of the same color. Any piece (except the king) can capture an enemy piece by moving to its square, removing the captured piece from the board.

Pawn

Moves forward one square if that square is empty.
On its first move, may move forward two squares if both squares are empty.
Captures diagonally forward one square — not straight forward.
Cannot move backward.
When it reaches the opposite end of the board, must be promoted to another piece (see Section 5).
Can capture via en passant under specific conditions (see Section 5).

Rook

Moves any number of empty squares horizontally or vertically.
Cannot jump over pieces.
Can participate in castling (see Section 5).

Knight

Moves in an L-shape: two squares in one direction (horizontal or vertical), then one square perpendicular.
Can jump over other pieces — the only piece that can do this.
Always lands on a square of the opposite color from where it started.

Bishop

Moves any number of empty squares diagonally.
Cannot jump over pieces.
Stays on its starting color forever — a light-squared bishop will never visit a dark square, and vice versa.

Queen

Moves any number of empty squares in any straight line — horizontal, vertical, or diagonal.
Combines the powers of rook and bishop.
Cannot jump over pieces.

King

Moves exactly one square in any direction.
Cannot move onto a square attacked by an enemy piece.
Cannot move to a square occupied by a friendly piece.
Can participate in castling (see Section 5).

4. Turn order

Who goes first in chess?

White always moves first. This is fixed by the rules — it is not decided by a coin toss, by who set up the board, or by who won the previous game. In casual play the colours are usually chosen by one player hiding a pawn of each colour in their fists and the other picking a hand. In tournaments, colours are assigned by the pairing system, and organisers try to balance how often each player gets White across a competition.

Moving first is a small but real advantage. White scores roughly 52–56% across large databases of games between evenly matched players, which is why colour allocation is taken seriously in competition.

White moves first. Players alternate turns. On each turn, a player must make one legal move. There is no "pass" — if you have no legal move, the game ends (see Section 7).

Once a piece is released on a new square, the move is complete and cannot be taken back. In tournament play, the "touch-move" rule applies: if you touch a piece intentionally, you must move it if there is a legal move available.

5. Special moves

Castling

Castling is a single move that involves both the king and one rook. The king moves two squares toward a rook, and that rook moves to the square the king crossed over.

Kingside (short) castling: The king moves from e-file to g-file. The rook on h-file moves to f-file.

Queenside (long) castling: The king moves from e-file to c-file. The rook on a-file moves to d-file.

Conditions — all must be true:

The king has not previously moved.
The chosen rook has not previously moved.
All squares between the king and the rook are empty.
The king is not currently in check.
The king does not pass through a square attacked by an enemy piece.
The king does not land on a square attacked by an enemy piece.

The rook is allowed to pass through an attacked square — only the king's path matters.

En passant capture

If an opponent's pawn moves two squares forward from its starting position and lands beside your pawn, you may capture it on your next move as if it had moved only one square forward.

The capturing pawn moves diagonally forward to the square the enemy pawn passed over, and the enemy pawn is removed. This must be done on the very next move — if you wait a turn, the en passant right is lost forever for that pawn.

Pawn promotion

When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board (rank 8 for White, rank 1 for Black), it must be promoted to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of the same color. The promoted piece replaces the pawn immediately. There is no requirement that the promotion piece was previously captured — you can have two queens, three rooks, or any other combination.

6. Check

A king is "in check" when it is attacked by one or more enemy pieces. When you are in check:

You must make a move that gets you out of check on your next turn.
You can never make a move that leaves your own king in check (illegal move).
Three ways to escape check: move the king to a safe square, block the check with another piece, or capture the attacking piece.

You don't have to say "check" — the board state speaks for itself — but it's polite in casual games.

7. How the game ends

Win conditions

Checkmate — A player wins when the opponent's king is in check and there is no legal move to escape. The game ends immediately.

Resignation — A player concedes the game. The opponent wins.

Time forfeit (in timed games) — A player who runs out of time loses, unless the opponent has insufficient material to mate, in which case it's a draw.

Draw conditions

Stalemate — The player to move has no legal moves and is not in check. This is a draw, not a win for the side that trapped the king.

Threefold repetition — The same position occurs three times during the game, with the same player to move and the same possible moves (including castling and en passant rights). Either player may claim the draw.

Fifty-move rule — Fifty consecutive moves by each player without any pawn move and without any capture. Either player may claim the draw.

Insufficient material — Neither side has enough material to deliver checkmate by any legal sequence of moves. Examples: king vs king; king and bishop vs king; king and knight vs king; king and bishop vs king and bishop with both bishops on the same color.

Mutual agreement — Both players agree to a draw.

Dead position — A position from which neither side can ever checkmate the other, even with the worst possible play.

8. Tournament rules (touch-move and beyond)

Casual games are forgiving. Tournament chess has stricter conventions:

Touch-move: If you touch one of your own pieces and it has a legal move, you must move it. If you touch an opponent's piece, you must capture it if you can.
Adjust: Say "I adjust" (or j'adoube) before touching a piece if you only want to center it on its square. This must be done on your own turn.
Move completion: A move is final once you release the piece. Pawn promotion is complete when you place the new piece on the promotion square.
Pressing the clock: Your move is complete and your clock stops when you press it with the same hand that moved the piece.
Notation: In rated games, both players record all moves in algebraic notation.

9. Illegal moves

If a player makes an illegal move (a move not allowed by these rules), the position is restored to what it was before the illegal move, and the player must make a legal move instead. In tournament play, illegal moves may carry penalties — typically added time for the opponent or, after multiple offenses, loss of the game.

10. The rules in this guide are the FIDE rules

These rules follow the official FIDE Laws of Chess, the international standard. The same rules apply on Unblocked Chess, in local club play, and in world championship matches. Some online platforms apply slight variations (different draw rules in blitz, for example), but the rules above are the universal foundation.

Try the rules in action

The fastest way to understand chess rules is to play. Open the board — the game enforces every rule automatically, so if you try something illegal, the piece simply snaps back.

Rule questions people ask most

Who goes first in chess?

White always moves first. It is fixed by the rules rather than decided by a toss. Moving first is a measurable advantage — White scores roughly 52–56% between evenly matched players.

How many pieces does each player start with?

Sixteen each, so 32 in total: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops and eight pawns per side.

Can a pawn move backwards?

No. Pawns are the only piece that can never move backwards. This is why pawn moves are permanent commitments — an advanced pawn can never return to defend the square it left.

What happens if you have no legal move?

If you are not in check and have no legal move, the game is a draw by stalemate. If you are in check and have no legal move, it is checkmate and you lose. The difference between those two outcomes is the whole game.

Do you have to say check?

No. Announcing check is a courtesy in casual games and is not required by the FIDE rules. In tournament play it is not announced at all — you are expected to see it yourself.