How to Play Chess: Rules, Moves and Winning Tips
Chess is a two-player strategy game played on an 8×8 board. Each player starts with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. White always moves first, and players then take turns moving one piece at a time. The goal is to checkmate the enemy king: attack it so that it has no safe move left.
How each piece moves
- King: one square in any direction. It can never move into a square that is attacked.
- Queen: any number of squares in a straight line: up, down, sideways or diagonally. It is the most powerful piece.
- Rook: any number of squares up, down or sideways.
- Bishop: any number of squares diagonally. Each bishop stays on its starting color for the whole game.
- Knight: moves in an "L" shape: two squares one way, then one square to the side. It is the only piece that can jump over others.
- Pawn: moves forward one square, or two squares on its very first move. Pawns capture one square diagonally forward.
Special rules
- Check: when your king is attacked, you must get out of check on your next move: move the king, block the attack, or capture the attacker.
- Checkmate: the king is in check and there is no legal way out. The game ends immediately.
- Castling: the king moves two squares toward a rook, and the rook jumps to the other side of the king. You can only castle if neither piece has moved yet, the squares between them are empty, and the king is not in check, does not pass through check and does not land in check.
- En passant: if an enemy pawn moves two squares forward and lands right beside your pawn, you may capture it as if it had moved only one square. You must do it immediately on the next move.
- Promotion: a pawn that reaches the far end of the board becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight. Most players choose a queen.
- Draws: the game is a draw by stalemate (the player to move has no legal move but is not in check), by the 50-move rule, by threefold repetition, or when neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate.
Strategy tips for beginners
- Fight for the center. Pawns and pieces in the middle of the board control more squares.
- Develop your pieces early. Bring out your knights and bishops before moving the same piece twice.
- Castle early to put your king somewhere safe and connect your rooks.
- Don't rush your queen out. It can be chased around and you lose time.
- Know the values: pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. Avoid trading a strong piece for a weak one.
- Before every move, check three things: can your opponent give check, capture something, or make a threat?
- Look for forks and pins. A knight attacking two pieces at once wins material.
Playing chess on Royal Duels
Tap a piece to see every square it can move to, then tap the destination. You can play the computer on Easy, Medium or Hard, or press Challenge a friend to get a link and play someone anywhere. Beating the bot earns 1, 2 or 3 points depending on the level, and winning a duel against a person earns 3 points.