all facts about chess

2. Chess , game of skill and strategy
between two people , played using
specially designed pieces on a square
board comprised of 64 alternating light
and dark squares in eight rows of eight
squares each. Chess , with a history
that extends back thousands of years , is
a popular game played around the world.

3. How Is Chess Played
In chess each player controls an
army comprised of eight pawns and
eight pieces : one king , one queen ,
two rooks , two bishops, and two
knights. Although the term pieces is
sometimes used to refer to all 16
chess figures, it technically does
not refer to pawns. The two armies
are of contrasting colors, one light
and the other dark, and are always
called White and Black regardless
of their actual colors. The vertical
columns on the board that extend

4. {A} Initial Setup
The board is always placed for play with a light
square in the corner to the right of each player.
White’s pieces are set up on White’s first rank from
left to right in the following order : rook , knight
, bishop , queen , king , bishop , knight , rook.
Black’s pieces are set up on Black’s first rank from
left to right in the order of
rook, knight, bishop, king, queen, bishop, knight, ro
ok. The pieces face their exact counterparts at
opposite ends of the board, and each queen stands
on a square of its own color. The pawns are placed
on the second rank of each player, directly in front
of the pieces.

5. {B} Moves of the pieces
White always moves first , and the players then
alternate turns. A move consists of transferring a
man to another square that is either vacant or
occupied by an opponent’s man. If it is occupied
than removed from the board and replaced by the
capturing man. The only exception is the
king, which is never captured A move to capture is
not required unless it is the only possible move. All
pieces except the knight move along
straight, unobstructed paths; only the knight may
move over or around other

6. pieces. The king moves one square
in any direction, but not to a square
that is attacked by an enemy piece
The queen moves as far as desired
in any uninterrupted direction. The
rook moves as far as desired in any
horizontal or vertical direction. The
bishop moves as far as desired in
any diagonal direction, but is
confined to squares of the color on
which it began the game. The knight

7. CASTLING
A player may move more than one man during a
turn only when castling, a special maneuver
involving the king and one rook. In castling, the
king moves two squares to the left or right, and
the rook on that side moves to the square next to
the king on the opposite side. Castling is allowed
only if (1) the king has not yet moved during the
game and is not threatened; (2) the rook on the
castling side has not yet moved during the game;
(3) the squares between the king and that rook
are vacant; (4) the king does not pass through or
end its move on a square that is attacked by an
enemy piece.

8. Moves of the pawns
Each pawn, on its first move only, may move
straight ahead either one or two squares to a
vacant square. After that it may advance only
one square at a time. When a pawn advances
two squares on its first move and lands next to
an opponent’s pawn that is on an adjacent file
and the same horizontal row, the opponent’s
pawn may capture it as if it had advanced only
one square. This capture is known by its
French name, en passant (“in passing”). When a
pawn reaches the last rank on the opposing
side of the board, it is promoted—that
is, converted to any other piece of the same
color (except another pawn or the king). The
powers of the new piece take effect
immediately.

9. Object Of The Game
Each player’s goal is to attack the
enemy king such that the king cannot
deflect or remove the attack and
cannot escape. When a king is
attacked, it is “in check.” Check does
not have to be announced, but the
player whose king is in check must
attempt to escape on the next move.
There are three possibilities: (1)
moving the king to a safe square, (2)
capturing the attacking piece, or (3)
cutting off the attack by interposing a
piece or pawn between the attacking
piece and the king. If none of these
moves is available, the king is
checkmated. Checkmate ends the

10. Draws
A tie, called a draw, is neither a win nor a loss for
either side. If players do not want to continue a game
for any reason they may agree to call it a draw, but
in certain situations a draw is mandated by the rules.
When a player cannot make any move but is not in
check, the game is a draw by stalemate. In formal
play, the game is a draw if 50 consecutive moves are
made by each side without a capture or a pawn move,
or if the same position is about to be repeated for the
third time with the same player having the move. This
often occurs when one player checks the enemy king
repeatedly without being able to give mate, known as
perpetual check. If the game has left neither side
with enough material to force checkmate, it is a
draw.

11. CHESS NOTATION
There are two standard methods of
recording chess moves: the algebraic
system and the descriptive system. In
both systems, the pieces are
designated by capital initials: K for
king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for
bishop, and N for knight. The initial P
for pawn is used in the descriptive
system only. Castling is noted as either
0-0(for short side) or 0-0-0 (for long
side)

12. Each square is part of both a file and a rank,
a n d i n t h e a l g e b rai c s y s t e m , t h a t u n i q u e
“ a d d re ss” g i v e s t h e s q u a r e i t s n a m e . I n t h i s
s y s t em, t h e b o a r d i s v i e w e d f r o m t h e W h i t e
side only. The files, beginning on the left, are
l e t t e red f r o m a t o h a n d t h e r a n k s a r e
n u m b e red f r o m 1 t o 8 b e g i n n i n g w i t h W h i t e ’ s
f i r s t r a n k . A m o v e b y a p i e c e i s i n d i c a te d b y
its initial and the square it moves to; for
e x a m pl e, N f 3 i s a k n i g h t m o v e t o t h e s q u a r e
f3. A pawn move names only the square. The
l e t t e r x t r a d i t ion all y i n d i c a t es a c a p t u r e
( N x f3) b u t i s o f t e n o m i t t ed.

13. Origin And History
H i s tori ans d o n o t k n o w f o r s u r e h o w o l d
t h e g a m e o f c h e s s i s o r w h o i n v e n te d i t .
Chess is one of a group of games
d e s c e nde d f r o m C h a tura nga , a g a m e
b e l i e v e d t o h a v e o r i g i nate d i n I n d i a i n
t h e 6 t h c e n t ury o r p e r h a ps e a r l i er, w h i c h
i t s e l f m a y b e r e l a t ed t o a m u c h o l d e r
C h i nes e g a m e . C h a turang a i s a S a n s krit
w o r d r e f e rring t o t h e f o u r a r m s o f a n
I n d ian a r m y —
e l e p h ants, c a v a l r y , c h a r i ot s, a n d i n f a ntry
w h i c h i n s p i red t h e f o u r t y p e s o f p i e c e s
in that game.