Chessboard

A game of chess is played on an 8x8 board with two players, 'white' and 'black'. Each player controls sixteen pieces with one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns with each type of piece having unique movement. The setup of a chessboard looks like this. Note that the queens start on their coloured square and the rightmost square to each player is always light squared.

Pawn

The pawn has the most unique movement in chess with it having five different options in a move. Firstly, a pawn moves forwards one square however, if it is the pawn's first time moving in a game, it has the option to move two squares instead. If a pawn moves into the 'backrank' (the end point of its column), it undergoes 'promotion'. Promotion allows a pawn to basically convert into any other piece in the game with the exception of being a king. This is a major attribute to the pawn and usually leads to game deciding moments in a game. If an opposing piece is found diagonally in front of a pawn by one square, the pawn can move to that square 'capturing' that piece. This removes the opposing piece from the game and rewards the player with 'points of material'. For a pawn, it is worth one point. However, this is not the only way a pawn can capture a piece. If a pawn does its first time two square movement but is found directly next to an opposing pawn, that pawn can capture the pawn by moving one square behind the pawn. This is known as en passant and is yet another unique trait of the pawn.

Knight

The knight has a fixed movement pattern being an 'L-shaped' move. This is where the knight travels two squares vertically/horizontally and one square in whichever direction wasn't chosen. Captures work the same as the movement where if an opposing piece is positioned at the end square the knight travels, it gets captured. The knight also has a unique trait where it 'jumps over' pieces meaning it can still move regardless of if a piece is in front of it. The knight is known as a 'minor piece' and is worth three points.

Bishop

The bishop travels diagonally down its own coloured squares and there is no limit to how far it travels. It also captures like it moves. The bishop is also a minor piece and worth three points like the knight.

Rook

The rook has the option to either travel vertically or horizontally and like the bishop, has no limit to how far it travels. It also captures like it moves. The rook is worth five points.

Queen

The queen is the most powerful piece on the board. It combines bishop and rook movement to have the options to travel diagonally, vertically, or horizontally. The queen is worth a staggering nine points. Losing this piece in most scenarios will lead to a losing position.

King

Think of the king as a mini queen because it can only move one square in every direction. The king is worth no points of material however, it is the most valuable piece in a game. This will be explained later. The king has another option to move however. If it's the king's first move in a game, there is open space between itself and a rook, and no opposing piece has control over the empty squares betweem, then 'castling' occurs. Castling is essential for the king to get to safety in a game. 'Short castling' is when the king moves to the g square and the rook on the h square moves to the f square. 'Long castling' is whent he king moves to the c square and the rook on the a square moves to the a square. These forms of castling are named in reference to the amount of empty squares between the king and rook.

Rules

The white player always moves first in a game and each player alternates turns moving. Only one piece can be moved at a time with the exception of castling. Every piece has control over a number of squares based on their possible squares to move to. This lets them both defend opposing pieces moving into those squares and protect allied pieces under attack. When a piece moves into control over the opposing king's square, the king is 'checked'. This forces them to either move their king or capture the checking piece if possible. The goal for each player in a game is to 'checkmate' the enemy king. Checkmate is possible when checking the enemy king and they can neither move their king (often due to allied pieces controlling those squares) nor capture the checking piece.