Chess/Rules

Preamble

These rules are meant to be short and simple. Long-form rules can be found other places such as Wikipedia or FIDE. These rules are also meant to be short enough to easily embed in our version of Chess on Steam.

License: Public Domain

NOTE: BlueLine Games is releasing these rules (including accompanying images) to the Public Domain so you can use them however you see fit! Print them out for a Chess club, include them in an insert with a Chess set you're selling on Etsy, put them in a computer game, whatever!

Translations

We appreciate any help we can get translating these into other languages, but please note that all translations here must be released to the Public Domain also, for consistency.

Deutch (de), English (en), Español (es), Français (fr), Svenska (sv) (add more)

Rules

Object of Chess

The object of Chess is to put the opponent's King in "checkmate". This means that you have a piece that can move to capture the King, and the opponent has no single move that can stop that threat.

Basics

The game starts off with the pieces set up as in the picture. White moves first and may make any legal move (see movement section below). Then Black moves, and the players alternate back and forth until the game is ended.

Capturing

If a piece is able to move in such a way that it can end up on an opponent's space, the player may make this move and the opponent's piece is "captured" (removed from the game). While it is often helpful to capture the opponent's pieces to make it easier to win, there are no specific points for capturing pieces and the ultimate goal is still to put the opponent's King in checkmate.

Movement

Each piece type has different movement abilities. In most cases, a piece can only move in a direct path and is blocked by other pieces in its way. The exception to this is the Knight which hops to its final position regardless of the pieces in the middle. No piece is allowed to move in such a way that it puts its own King into "Check", and if a player is in Check, they must make a move which gets them out of Check if that is possible (if it's not possible then the Check was actually Checkmate).

You may not move through your own pieces.

Pawn

The pawn is the only piece whose Movement and Capturing are different from each other.

Pawn Movement

On each pawn's first move, it has the choice to move either 1 space forward or 2 spaces forward (but cannot jump over or attack other pieces if there is something in the way). After its first move, each pawn may only advance one square forward at a time. The pawn is NOT allowed to capture pieces that are directly in front of it.

Pawn Capturing

A pawn can capture only by moving one space forward and to the left, or one space forward and to the right.

Pawn: En Passant

There is a special case where pawns may capture even if there is no piece on the space they're attacking. This is to simulate a pawn attacking the opponent while it was "in passing" going by. This case only applies when all of these conditions are met:

1. On the move right before this, the other player moved their pawn forward two spaces.
2. The pawn that just moved and the pawn that are about to attack must now be in the same row, and must be next to each other.

If these conditions are met, the attacking pawn can now move diagonally forward and towards the side of the victim (leaving it on the spot behind the victim, which it just passed) and then the victim piece is captured.

Pawn Promotion

If a pawn advances all the way to the other side of the board, as soon as it reaches the last row its player upgrades it to any of the four following pieces: Queen, Knight, Rook, Bishop. It is entirely up to the player that will get the new piece, so people usually choose a Queen.

Knight

Knights move and capture by going exactly two spaces in any direction, then one space at a right angle from that (making an "L" shape). This can be done regardless of whether there are pieces in between its original location and its destination. This gives the Knight the privilege of being the only piece that can "jump over" other pieces. If there is an enemy piece at its destination, the Knight captures that piece.

Bishop

The Bishop can move diagonally as many spaces as desired until it runs into another piece or the edge of the board. If it can move to a space occupied by an enemy piece, it can capture that piece.

Rook

The Rook can move in a straight line (not diagonally) as many spaces as desired until it runs into another piece or the edge of the board. If it can move to a space occupied by an enemy piece, it can capture that piece.

Queen

The Queen can move diagonally or in a straight line as many spaces as desired until it runs into another piece or the edge of the board. If it can move to a space occupied by an enemy piece, it can capture that piece.

King

The King can move exactly one space in any direction and similarly, captures an enemy piece if there is one at its destination. The only exception to the King moving one space is when it "Castles".

Castling

There is a special move called Castling which allows the King to move two spaces towards a Rook and for the Rook to swap to the other side of the King, all in the same move. This is only allowed if all of the following conditions are met:

• Neither the King nor this Rook have moved during this game.
• There are no pieces between the King and the Rook
• The King may not Castle out of check, it may not move past a space that would put it in Check, and it cannot move to a destination that would put it in Check (the Rook is allowed to be in danger at any point).

End Game

There are several ways to end a game. By far the most common are Checkmate and Stalemate. Some of these definitions rely on the term "Check": A King is said to be in Check when there is an opposing piece which would be able to capture the King on its next move if nothing was done to prevent that.

Checkmate

If a King is in Check and there are no moves for that King or any of his army to get him out of Check (even by capturing the threatening piece or putting themselves in danger) then this is a Checkmate and the player whose turn it is (who is unable to protect their King) loses.

Stalemate

If a King is NOT in Check and there are no moves for the King or any of his army that do not put him INTO Check, then this is a Stalemate (which is a type of Draw).

Threefold Repetition

If the same board position is repeated three times, then either player may declare the game a Draw before the next turn happens. If another move is made without either player declaring a Draw, and the game is no longer in a position that has been repeated three or more times, then the opportunity has passed. The opportunity can come up again if the game yet-again goes into a position that has occurred three or more times (even if it's the same position where nobody declared a Draw previously).

Insufficient Material

As pieces get captured and there are less and less pieces on the board, it is possible to get to a state where the remaining pieces are insufficient to allow either player to force the other one into Checkmate. In this case, the game is automatically declared a draw.

50 Move Rule

If players make 50 different turns (25 each) without any pawn being moved or any piece being captured, then the game isn't making progress. In this case either player is allowed to call a Draw.

Resignation

Either player is allowed to Resign at any point. This counts as a Loss for that player.

Draw by Agreement

At any point, one player can propose a Draw. If the other player agrees, the game is counted as a Draw.