How to Play Chess

Learn the rules to the board game Chess quickly and concisely - This visually rich video has no distractions, just the rules.

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The object of the game is to checkmate the other king. Checkmate happens when the king is in a position to be captured, in check, and cannot escape from capture.

At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player is sitting across from the other and has the white or lighter colored square in the bottom right-hand side. The chess pieces are then arranged the same way each time. The second row is filled with pawns. The first row should be set up as follows going left to right: Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook. You’ve set it up correctly if your queen is on the same colored square as the color of the piece.

The player with the white pieces always moves first. A turn consists of moving 1 piece 1 time. Players alternate turns until the end of the game.

Spaces may not be shared by pieces. Pieces cannot move through or over any other piece. Opponents’ pieces can be captured by correctly moving your piece to the square of an opponent’s piece. When a piece is captured, it is eliminated and removed from the board. Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces has a unique way of moving:

Pawns move one square forward (toward your opponents side of the board) at a time, unless it is the first time it is moved during the game, in which case it may be moved up to 2 squares forward. Pawns can only capture pieces one diagonal square in front of them, and cannot capture pieces directly in front of them, but is instead unable to move forward. If a pawn reaches the other side of the board, it can be changed into any other type of piece. This is called a promotion.

Rooks can move any number of squares side to side, or back and forth. Rooks cannot move diagonally. Rooks cannot jump pieces but instead capture the first enemy piece they move into.

Knights move in the shape of an “L”, moving 2 squares in one direction, except diagonal, then one more square at a 90 degree angle. The knight jumps over any pieces in the way, capturing any opponent piece in its final move position.

Bishops can move any number of squares diagonally. They capture the first enemy piece they move into.

The Queen can move any number of squares in any direction. The queen captures the first enemy piece she moves into.

The King can only move one square at a time in any direction. The King can never move himself into “Check”.

Whenever a move directly results in the opponent’s king being threatened, (meaning if action is not taken, the next turn the King would be captured) the attacking player must say “Check”. The opponent must then use their turn to protect the king either by moving the king out of check, moving a different piece to block the path of the attacker, or by capturing the piece that threatens the king.

If a move directly results in the opponent’s king being threatened, and there is no move to protect the king, the attacking player declares “checkmate,” the game is over, and he wins. A draw, or stalemate, occurs when the king is not in check and the player cannot legally move any of his pieces or there is any other situation where there is an impossibility of checkmate.

There are a couple other types of unique moves. The first is castling: On a player’s turn he may move his king two squares over to one side and then move the rook from that side’s corner to right next to the king on the opposite side. However, in order to castle, the following conditions must be met: it must be that king’s very first move, it must be that rook’s very first move, there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook, and the king may not...

[Tom-vgang]

There was me thinking there was a piece called 'the horse'.

[smartinez]

Who else feels dumb because they cannot figure this out... Don't worry I am with you. ._.

[loomingamer]

PIECES:
pawn - one square forward, attacks diagonally
rook - any number of squares forward or sideways, attacks any player in its way
knight - moves in an L shape (2 forward, 3 sideways, or vice versa), can jump over pieces and attacks players at the end of the L
bishop - moves any number of squares diagonally, attacks any piece in its way
queen - any number of squares in any direction, attacks any piece in its way
king - any one square in any direction, attacks any piece in its way

none of the pieces can jump over other pieces (except for the knight)

the only one that can be blocked from moving is the pawn (because they move forward and attack diagonally)

check = the player’s king is being threatened by an opponent’s piece (meaning in the next move, he could be attacked)

checkmate = the player’s king is in check and there is no way to legally move out of check

[a_guy_in_orange]

The rules are the same as regular chess, with no exceptions. Keep watching this video for a refresher on those rules.

[ScreenFiends]

I actually beat a super computer in a game of Chess. I used a baseball bat and just beat the computer until it broke which made me winner by default. Humans 1.

[chocolatMouse]

When watching this, the only thing going through my mind was: "who the hell came up with these rules??". Moving in an L pattern, seriously...

[ArtherMetalist]

Who is here because of The Queen's Gambit?

[MrMisterChiliPepper]

I'm just going to stick with playing checkers

[Blackiecomics]

Instructions not clear. Went to jail 3 times in a row.

[wbl_unlimited]

"The rules are the same as regular chess, except for the following changes..."

Then the video just suddenly ends.

[cocogoat]

The Queen's Gambit brought me here.

[geminijackson]

he explain it its just me who's having nosebleed!

[spineshivers]

To all of you thinking it is hard. You cannot learn chess watching videos. It helps, but you have to play.

[stephanieguardado]

Who else is here because you’re just finished with the queen’s gambit

[asahel]

Learned this game when I was 10, in the 1st month you just move things the way they are as you play more youll learn how to strategize and I have to say it made me more smarter in life.

[xHausfGagax]

For some reason, I feel like life is a game of chess. There's so many things we have to know and if we miss one step and make a wrong move, it fucks us up in the end..

[butdidyoudie]

Lost me after "Chessss, how to play"

[sarahtimeeagg]

this was absolutely the best video. Its the shortest but the most informative, i've watched it twice and now im certain how to play. Thank you. Other 20 minute video from large channels don't compare lol.

[rhytlas]

I have expected it to go:

"Chess, how to play. The rules are the same as regular chess."
End of video

[ingridlou]

I don't know, there's so much to remember :o