Chess is a classic two-player strategy board game that has been played and enjoyed for centuries. It is played on a square board divided into 64 squares of alternating colors, and each player starts with 16 pieces, including a king, a queen, bishops, knights, rooks, and pawns. The objective of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king, meaning to put the king in a position where it is under attack and cannot escape capture. Here are the basic rules of Chess:

Materials:

• Chessboard: A square board with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid.
• Chess pieces: Each player has a set of 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, and 8 pawns.

Setup:

1. Place the chessboard between the two players so that each player has a light-colored square on their bottom right corner.
2. Arrange the pieces as follows:
   • The rooks are placed in the corners.
   • The knights are placed next to the rooks.
   • The bishops are placed next to the knights.
   • The queen is placed on the remaining square of her color (white queen on a white square, black queen on a black square).
   • The king is placed next to the queen.
   • The pawns are placed on the second row in front of the other pieces.

Objective: The objective of Chess is to checkmate the opponent’s king, meaning to put the king in a position where it is under attack and cannot escape capture on the next move.

Gameplay:

1. Players take turns moving their pieces, starting with the player controlling the white pieces.
2. Each piece has its own unique way of moving on the board:
   • Pawns move forward one square but capture diagonally.
   • Knights move in an L-shaped pattern (two squares in one direction and one square perpendicular to that).
   • Bishops move diagonally any number of squares.
   • Rooks move horizontally or vertically any number of squares.
   • The queen combines the moves of the bishop and the rook, being able to move diagonally or horizontally/vertically any number of squares.
   • The king can move one square in any direction (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally).
3. Players can capture their opponent’s pieces by moving their own piece to a square occupied by an opponent’s piece.
4. The game ends when a player’s king is checkmated, meaning it is under attack and cannot escape capture. The player whose king is checkmated loses the game.

Special Moves:

• Castling: This move involves the king and one of the rooks. It allows the king to move two squares towards the rook, and the rook moves to the square over which the king crossed. Castling has some specific conditions to be met, such as neither the king nor the rook having moved before and no pieces obstructing the path.
• En Passant: This is a special pawn capture move that can occur when a pawn advances two squares from its starting position and lands beside an opponent’s pawn. In this case, the opponent can capture the first pawn “en passant” as if it had only moved one square.

Rules:

• Each player must make one move per turn.
• Players cannot move their own pieces to squares occupied by their own pieces.
• Players cannot move their king into check (under attack).
• If a player’s king is not under attack but cannot move anywhere without being under attack on the next turn, the game is a stalemate, resulting in a draw.

Chess is a game of strategy, foresight, and critical thinking. It is played at various skill levels, from casual games between friends to competitive tournaments at the international level. The game’s complexity and depth have made it one of the most enduring and beloved board games in the world.