How to Play Chess for Beginners

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Chess is an exciting, engaging game that requires both skill and strategy. Chess has been around for centuries as a game for intellectuals and scholars; However, real chess players must have a certain level of intelligence. That doesn’t mean, though, that kids always lose to adults at chess. Read on to learn how to play chess – a game with a long history and considered one of the best board games.

Table of Contents

Master the rules of the game, chess board and pieces

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Master the pieces and their moves. Each type of chess piece has different ways of moving. Here are the names of the pieces and their moves (some exceptions will be covered later):

Pawn : The most basic piece in chess (each side has 8 Pawns). On the first move, the Pawn can move forward one or two spaces, but can only advance one space after that. Pawns can only attack other pieces that are diagonally forward one square and cannot go backwards.
Vehicle : The vehicle looks like a tower in a castle. It can go horizontally or vertically at will if not obstructed. The vehicle can attack units in its path.
Code : The symbol of Ma is a horse. This is also the most complicated chess piece. The code follows the shape of an ‘L’ made up of two horizontal and one vertical cells, or one horizontal and two vertical cells, this ‘L’ can recline in all directions. The Knight is the only piece that can jump over the heads of other pieces . It only attacks pieces that are in the cells it can jump to.
Statues : Statues only go diagonally, but can go as many squares as they want unless blocked. This piece is shaped like a Catholic bishop’s hat.
Queen : The Queen is the most powerful piece on the chessboard (usually with a more feminine crown than the King). It can go sideways, vertically, or diagonally at will and attack in all directions.
King : The King can only move one tile per turn, moving in all directions. The way the King attacks is similar. This is a piece that you cannot lose at all costs , because you will lose if you lose the King.
Remember the strengths of each piece.
- The king is the most important piece and needs to be protected.
- The queen is the most versatile piece and also the best support piece for other pieces, often used for double capture attacks. Queen combines the movement of both Statue and Rook in the same piece. This is an important piece similar to the King.
- The Knight is an effective piece for a surprise attack or a double capture. Ma’s rules of movement often confuse new players and are little noticed by them.
- The statue is an effective piece when in the open position. However, many new players often do not appreciate the Statue and do not take advantage of it.
- The rooks are strong pieces and they have a wide range of movement. Cars work best on empty rows and columns.
- Pawns seem to have no value, but they can be effectively used to trap opponents, for example pawns to take on a stronger piece. If you know how to use it, you can use Pawn to check all chess!

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Understand what “checkmate” is. If your King is screened, your King is being attacked by your opponent. When the King is projected, you must neutralize the water in the next step . You can neutralize the projection water in three ways:

Move the King to a safe slot. The safe box is the position where the King is not projected.
Capture the army that is checking generals.
Block the projection line with another piece. This doesn’t work if the checkmate is a Pawn or a Knight.
- If you can’t do one of the three ways above and the King is still shown, the game is over and you have lost.

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Understand the concept of the game. In chess, you try to capture your opponent’s King and vice versa. Although this is the primary objective, an additional objective is to protect the King from being captured. You accomplish this goal by capturing as many of your opponent’s pieces as possible, or by preventing your opponent from capturing your own.

Chess is a game of wisdom and strategy. There are a lot of moves and rules that new players won’t be able to foresee or understand when starting out. Please be patient! The more you play, the more interesting this sport will be.

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Set the chessboard. After familiarizing yourself with the pieces, you can start building the chessboard. Place the board so that the bottom right square of each player’s board is white. The way the chess pieces are arranged is as follows:

Put all the Pawns in the second row in front of you. Your pieces and your opponent’s pieces are separated by a “wall” of pawns.
Place a rook in each corner of the board on your side.
Place one Knight next to each rook and one bishop next to each knight.
Place the Queen in one of the two remaining squares in the first row, depending on the color of that piece (i.e. if you have a black Queen, place it in the black square; if it is a white Queen, place it in the white square. ).
Finally, place the King in the last remaining square. Check to see if the layout of the opponent’s pieces is the same. The two queens must face each other, as do the two kings.

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If you want to play like a pro, learn to name cells using a system of rows and columns. Each square on the chessboard is associated with a corresponding letter and number. When someone says “Picture to C3”, they are using this system. The row and column system makes naming cells easier.

Chess

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The White side goes first. White chooses whichever piece they want to move to launch their first attack, also known as the opening. The White side moves one piece, then the Black side moves one piece. The opening is one of the most important parts of a game of chess. There’s no such thing as a “right” opening — because everyone has their own way and you will have your own. However, there are a few points you should keep in mind:

Do not attack in the opening. When opening the game, you just need to move the pieces to their most useful position. You need to put them in beneficial and safe locations.
Normally, you should only spend 1 or 2 moves with a Pawn. Then focus on other stronger pieces — Statue, Horse, Queen and Rook. The “Deploy” phase (bringing pieces to key cells, eg the center) is not considered complete if all of the above pieces have not been moved.
A lot of your opening moves depend on your opponent — you have to feel the game for yourself. So, observe and guess what the other party’s intentions are. Chess is a game that focuses on predictability and risk prediction more than any other game.

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Use the “en passant” rule. You can use this rule if you want. A lot of new players don’t use this rule. But if you are curious to know how to make this chess more “French” and more complex, you can do the following:

If you remember, the Pawn can move 2 squares on its first move. Suppose you move a Pawn like that, then your Pawn comes to stand next to your opponent’s Pawn in the same row. In the next move — and only in the next — the opponent has the right to take your Pawn across the road (en passant, literally “passing through”). Normally, a Pawn can only cross-attack a tile — but in this exception, it can both capture a Pawn across it, and cross a square as usual.
It should be emphasized that this move can only be made immediately after a pawn has jumped 2 spaces in the first move. If you pass this turn, you will lose the chance to catch the Crossing Pawn. Only the Pawn has this move, so you cannot capture the Queen or the Statue by crossing the road.

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Take turns. And the game goes on like that! You and your opponent take turns, trying to capture each other’s King and pieces. You will prevail if you can intimidate the opponent’s Queen or King and force the opponent to take a defensive position, but there are countless ways in which a player can win.

The Pawn seems to be very entangled, but don’t “give the Pawn” in a hurry. When the Pawn reaches the opponent’s last row, it will change into another piece (except the King)! Normally people choose to become Queen, but you can turn a Pawn into a Rook, Horse, or Statue. You can completely reverse the situation of the game if you can move the Pawn to the other side when the opponent is not paying attention.

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Always think one or two moves ahead. What if you go Ma to there? Does that move leave the other pieces unprotected on the opponent’s next turn? Can you attack, or do you need to protect your King (or Queen)? What is the intention behind the opponent’s position? How will the chess game develop in the next few moves?

This isn’t the kind of game where you can just move the pieces around — they all affect each other in one way or another. If you don’t act in time, you could see your Pawn blocking the way of the Statue’s attack, the Horse being protected by the King, and the Queen about to be captured by the opponent’s Rook. So calculate the next move and the next move — as well as the opponent’s move, if you can. To win, you need to be smart and have a strategic mind!
Always have a counter move in mind if possible. You can give your pawn to your opponent’s bishop, but only if your knight can capture it. Sometimes we have to sacrifice on purpose.

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Know how to “sign up”. There is a special move involving rooks and kings, the only move where you can move two pieces at once. In addition to the Pawn’s “crossing the road” of the pawn, another special move in chess is to enter the city. Casting is when the Rook and the King swap places — the King is shielded and the Rook is deployed and ready to join. Usually, the import is quite useful.

You can only type when:
- Both the King and the Rook used to cast a castle have never moved.
- The King is not shown.
- There are no other pieces between the King and the Rook.
- The opponent’s piece does not control the squares between the position after the castle and the position before the castle.
You move both your Rook and King in the same turn. If it becomes a King, the King moves to the right two squares and the Rook is placed right next to the King (ie the Rook moves two squares to the left). If you become a Queen, the King moves two spaces to the left and the Rook is placed right next to the King (ie the Rook moves three spaces to the right).

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Win the game by showing all the opponent’s Kings. That means you check the opponent’s King, but this time there is no way for the King to run. When this happens, you can say “Checkmate!”, but this is not necessary. At this time, the opponent overthrew his King, signaling defeat.

A “stalemate” situation is also possible — the game ends in a draw. Out of moves occurs when your King is in a position where there is no check but also no safe box to go to.
There are a few cases for a game to have a draw:
- Peace agreement. If two players agree that neither side can win or there is no way to win, they can agree to a draw.
- The position repeats. If the same position is repeated at three different times in the game, the two sides are declared a tie. For example, if the two sides continue to move the Knight back and forth on some squares, the game will have a draw.
- Draw by the 50 moves rule. If both players do not move a single Pawn or take no pieces for 50 consecutive turns, the game is declared a draw. This rule prevents the parties from prolonging the game and also prevents the parties from intentionally exhausting the other side.
- When not enough force. If both sides do not have enough strength to check the opponent’s King, the game is considered a draw. For example, one Knight and one King cannot cover all of the opponent’s lone King pieces.
- If all other pieces except the King have been captured and removed from the game. This is an example of an underpowered situation, as one King cannot check all or even check the other King by himself. The game of chess will result in a draw.

Tactical use

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Make the most of your entire army. Don’t constantly move the Code just because it can make many checkers. Mobilize your entire army! One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is using only a few pieces. Doing so, all other pieces will be left behind, the opponent will easily capture those pieces. Keep the chess position flexible and know how to control and prevent the opponent.

In the opening, you should only move a few Pawns first, then move on to other pieces. The pieces in the first row easily “cross the river” to join the game, increasing your attack power.

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Central control. Central control is more beneficial than side control, as many pieces can move in all directions. When mastering the center, your pieces have the ability to move more flexibly than the edge or corner position. For example, the Knight has only two choices to move from the corner, but up to eight moves from the center. Master the central area as quickly as possible.

It is also for this reason that many people push up the middle Pawn to start the game. But care should be taken not to let the King be too open-minded, because just one dangerous move of the Statue or Queen can cause the King to be screened at the beginning of the match!

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Don’t sacrifice troops unnecessarily. This is quite obvious, but many people still abandon their pieces, including the grandmasters! When you have to give up a piece, use it for an equal exchange. Never mindlessly discard a piece — every piece counts, whether Pawn or Queen. If you’re curious, there’s a whole scoring system in chess. The more valuable a piece is, the higher its score: ^{[1] X Research Source}

Good is 1 point
Code is 3 points
Statue is 3 points
Car is 5 points
After is 9 points
- The King is priceless because if you lose the King, you lose.

Advice

Learn from your mistakes. As a new player you are bound to make mistakes. Even the top grandmasters make mistakes that lead to defeats.
A position is fully developed when the King has entered the castle, the Statue and Horse have left their original position and the two Rooks are connected.
Always remember to place many high level pieces in the center of the board. The more Pawns left, the better the King is protected.
Don’t get frustrated if you lose a lot. Chess is a subject that requires a lot of time, many chess masters have more than 10 years of experience playing chess!
Learn how to set traps in chess so you can use traps or avoid traps if someone wants to trap you!
Move the Good in a smart way. Unlike the other pieces, the Pawn cannot retreat to the square it just stood on. They are mostly quite static and can determine the gameplay of the game.
Don’t try to show it all quickly. Most likely, you will be hit by the opponent’s response when trying to quickly run it.
There is no one-size-fits-all instruction, and no one-size-fits-all method to victory.
The four squares in the center are the best places to place the pieces, as the pieces in this position can move more freely than on the side. Increasing your own movement range is also limiting the opponent’s movement range.
Sometimes castle entry is a disastrous move that can get you out of the way. But in other cases, entering the castle helps you to project all the enemies! Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the chess position to make the best move.

Warning

Fast chess is not for beginners. This is a chess genre with high difficulty and competition, especially inhibiting for those who are just starting to play chess.
The pieces can be very dangerous for young children if swallowed.

Steps

Master the rules of the game, chess board and pieces

Chess

Tactical use

Advice

Warning

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