What is Chess?

Chess is a board game played by two players which is white and black. The goal of this
game is to checkmate the opponent's King while each player controls an army of chess
pieces.

History of Chess
Around the 6th Century AD, chess was invented by the Queen of Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka), besieged by God Rama.

Timeline of Chess
● 6th Century- Its ancestor, “Chaturanga,” a Sanskrit name for a type of battle
formation. Chaturanga is a popular four-player war game that has several critical
aspects of modern chess.
● In Sassanid Persia, the name for the game became chatrang, which
subsequently evolved to shatranj.
● The game was taken up by the Muslim world after the early Arab Muslims
conquered the Sassanid Empire.
● 9th Century- Chess spread directly from the Middle East to Russia, where chess
became known as shakhmaty, literally "checkmates")
● The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes.
● 10th Century- It was introduced into the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors.
● 13th Century- Chess spread throughout the world and many variants of the
game soon began taking shape. Buddhist pilgrims, Silk Road traders and others
carried it to the Far East where it was transformed and assimilated.
● 15th Century- The game was developed extensively in Europe. It had survived a
series of prohibitions and Christian Church sanctions to almost take the shape of
the modern game.
● 18th Century- Chess games of this period emphasized quick, tactical
maneuvers rather than long-term strategic planning.
● 2nd half of the 19th Century- modern chess tournament play began, and the
first official World Chess Championship was held in 1886.
● 20th Century- Saw great leaps forward in chess theory and the establishment of
the World Chess Federation.
● 21st Century- Later developments in the 21st century made the use of computer
analysis far surpassing the ability of any human player accessible to the public.

Rules and Regulations

● Chess is a two-player abstract strategy board game.

● Each player controls sixteen pieces of six types on a chessboard.
 ● Each type of piece moves in a distinct way.
● The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king; checkmate occurs
when a king is threatened with capture and has no escape.
- A game can end in various ways besides checkmate: a player can resign, and
there are several ways a game can end in a draw.
● The player controlling the white pieces is named "White"; the player controlling
the black pieces is named "Black".
● White moves first, then players alternate moves.
● Making a move is required; it is not legal to skip a move, even when having to
move is detrimental.
● Play continues until a king is checkmated, a player resigns, or a draw is declared.
● In addition, if the game is being played under time control, a player who exceeds
the time limit loses the game unless they cannot be checkmated.
● The official chess rules do not include a procedure for determining who plays
White.

Movement of Chess Pieces

Each piece of chess has its own place or assigned area, where they can only move to
or go.

Pawn promotion
Pawn promotion occurs when a pawn reaches the farthest rank from its original
square—the eighth rank for White and first rank for Black. When this happens, the
player can replace the pawn for a queen, a rook, a bishop, or a knight.

Capture
The piece captures as it moves. The rule is simple: if an opponent's piece is on a
square controlled by one of your pieces, then on the next move, your piece can go to
the square occupied by the opponent's piece and capture it.

En Passant
In chess, en passant means "in passing" describes the capture by a pawn of an enemy
pawn on the same rank and an adjacent file that has just made an initial two-square
advance. The capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy pawn passed over,
as if the enemy pawn had advanced only one square.

Castling
Castling is the only time in chess that two pieces can move at once, and the only time a
piece other than the knight can move over another piece. The king moves two spaces to
the left or to the right, and the rook moves over and in front of the king, all in one move!
Abegail: 7. Court dimensions 8. Hand Signals 9. Equipment

How to play Chess?

1. How To Set Up The Chessboard
At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has
the white (or light) color square in the bottom right-hand side.

The chess pieces are then arranged the same way each time. The second row
(or rank) is filled with pawns. The rooks go in the corners, then the knights next to them,
followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who always goes on her own matching
color (white queen on white, black queen on black), and the king on the remaining
square.

Step 2. How The Chess Pieces Move

Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces moves differently. Pieces cannot move
through other pieces (though the knight can jump over other pieces), and can never
move onto a square with one of their own pieces. However, they can be moved to take
the place of an opponent's piece which is then captured. Pieces are generally moved
into positions where they can capture other pieces (by landing on their square and then
replacing them), defend their own pieces in case of capture, or control important
squares in the game.

2.1. How To Move The Pawn In Chess

● Pawns are unusual because they move and capture
in different ways: they move forward but capture
diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one
square at a time, except for their very first move
where they can move forward two squares.
● Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in
front of them. They can never move or capture
 backward. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move
past or capture that piece.

2.2. How To Move The Knight In Chess

● Knights move in a very different way from the other
pieces – going two squares in one direction, and then one
more move at a 90-degree angle, just like the shape of an
“L”.
● Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other
pieces.

2.3. How To Move The Bishop In Chess

● The bishop may move as far as it wants, but only
diagonally. Each bishop starts on one color (light or dark)
and must always stay on that color.
● Bishops work well together because they cover up each
other's weaknesses.

2.4. How To Move The Rook In Chess

● The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward,
backward, and to the sides.
● The rooks are particularly powerful pieces when they are
protecting each other and working together!

2.5. How To Move The Queen In Chess

● The queen is the most powerful piece. She can move in
any one straight direction - forward, backward, sideways,
or diagonally - as far as possible as long as she does not
move through any of her own pieces.
● Like with all pieces, if the queen captures an opponent's
piece her move is over. Notice how the white queen
captures the black queen and then the black king is forced
to move.
2.6. How to Move the King in Chess
● The king is the most important piece, but is one of the
weakest. The king can only move one square in any
direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally.
● The king may never move himself into check (where he
could be captured). When the king is attacked by another
piece this is called "check".

3. Review The Rules Of How To Win A Game Of Chess

3.1. How To Checkmate In Chess
The purpose of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. This happens
when the king is put into check and cannot get out of check.
● Three ways a king can get out of check
1. move out of the way (though he cannot castle!)
2. block the check with another piece or
3. capture the piece threatening the king.
❖ Additional information:
❖ If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game is over. Customarily the king is
not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over.
❖ Checkmate can happen in the early stages of the game if one of the players does
not act carefully. Fool's mate, a checkmate that happens in just 2 moves.
3.2. How To Draw A Chess Game
Occasionally chess games do not end with a winner, but with a draw. There are 5
reasons why a chess game may end in a draw:
● The position reaches a stalemate where it is one player's turn to move, but his
king is NOT in check and yet he does not have another legal move.
● The players may simply agree to a draw and stop playing.
● There are not enough pieces on the board to force a checkmate (example: a king
and a bishop vs. a king).
● A player declares a draw if the same exact position is repeated three times
(though not necessarily three times in a row).
● Fifty consecutive moves have been played where neither player has moved a
pawn or captured a piece.
4. Study Basic Chess Strategies:

● Four simple things that every chess player should know:

4.1. Protect Your King:

● Get your king to the corner of the board where he is usually safer.
● Don't put off castling.
● You should usually castle as quickly as possible.
● Remember, it doesn't matter how close you are to checkmating your opponent if
your own king is checkmated first!

4.2. Don't Give Pieces Away

Don't carelessly lose your pieces! Each piece is valuable and you can't win a
game without pieces to checkmate. There is an easy system that most players use to
keep track of the relative value of each chess piece. How much are the chess pieces
worth?
● A pawn is worth 1
● A knight is worth 3
● A bishop is worth 3
● A rook is worth 5
● A queen is worth 9
● The king is infinitely valuable
At the end of the game, these points don't mean anything—it is simply a system
you can use to make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture,
exchange, or make other moves.

4.3. Control The Center Of The Chessboard

You should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns.
If you control the center, you will have more room to move your pieces and will make it
harder for your opponent to find good squares for his pieces.
4.4. Use All Of Your Chess Pieces
Your pieces don't do any good when they are sitting back on the first row.
Try and develop all of your pieces so that you have more to use when you attack the
king.
Using one or two pieces to attack will not work against any decent opponent.

Chess Dimensions:
In the realm of chess, a timeless game of strategy and wit, the battlefield is a
checkered board of 64 squares (8 rows by 8 columns). Players command armies of 16
pieces on each side, each with a unique role to play. The game begins with a king,
queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns facing off across the
board, poised for a battle of minds.

Hand Signals:
In the quiet game of chess, hand signals are replaced by an unspoken tension.
Players strategize silently, some using words while others communicate through the
eloquent moves of the pieces, capturing and defending with calculated precision. Chess
requires simple yet vital equipment. The sturdy chessboard reflects the game's
time-honored nature, while the intricately designed chess pieces represent each
player's power and cunning. Whether made of elegant wood or sturdy plastic, these
tools embody the players' skill and strategy.

Equipment:

In competitive chess, where time is crucial, the chess clock controls the pace and
intensity of the game. Players must balance their chess moves with the ticking clock,
adding a thrilling element to the intellectual challenge. The chessboard becomes a
battlefield for minds, with every move echoing centuries of strategy and tradition. As the
game progresses, players engage in a timeless battle of intellect and cunning,
uncovering the true spirit of chess: a harmonious blend of logic, creativity, and
unwavering resolve.

Equipment needed for chess includes a chessboard and chess pieces, often made of
wood or plastic.
A chess clock may also be used in competitive play to regulate the time each player has
to make their moves.

References:

How to Play Chess: 7 Rules To Get You Started. (2023, October 30). Chess.com.
https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-play-chess#special-rules-chess

Chess Board Dimensions Basics and Guidelines. (2021, October 4). Chess.com.
https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-board-dimensions