Table of Contents
AI Overview
Chess is a two-player board game where the objective is to checkmate the opponent's king . Pieces move in specific ways: the king moves one square in any direction, the queen moves any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, the rook moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically, the bishop moves any number of squares diagonally, and the knight moves in an L-shape, jumping over other pieces. Pawns move one square forward (two on their first move) and capture diagonally.
Piece movements
King: One square in any direction.
Queen: Any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
Rook: Any number of squares horizontally or vertically.
Bishop: Any number of squares diagonally.
Knight: "L" shape (two squares in one direction, then one square perpendicular to that) and can jump over other pieces.
Pawn: One square forward (two on the first move), captures one square diagonally forward.
Special moves
Castling: A special move where the king moves two squares toward a rook and the rook moves to the square the king crossed. It can only be performed if neither the king nor the rook has moved, there are no pieces between them, the king is not in check, and the king does not move through or land on a square that is under attack.
En Passant: A special pawn capture that can occur immediately after a pawn moves two squares forward from its starting position, landing beside an opponent's pawn on the fifth rank. The opponent's pawn can capture the first pawn as if it had only moved one square.
Pawn Promotion: If a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board, it can be promoted to any other piece (except a king), usually a queen.
Winning and drawing
Check: When the king is under direct attack by an opposing piece. Checkmate: When a king is in check and cannot escape by moving to a safe square, being blocked, or capturing the attacking piece. This immediately ends the game, and the player who delivered checkmate wins. Draw: A game can end in a draw in several ways, including: Stalemate: The player whose turn it is has no legal moves, but their king is not in check. Threefold Repetition: The same board position occurs three times. Fifty-move Rule: 50 consecutive moves are made by each player without a pawn being moved or a piece being captured.