Learn chess
Updated
To learn chess, set up the board, learn how each of the six pieces moves, then pick up the three special moves and how a game is won or drawn. After that, learn the tactics that win pieces and finish games. Each lesson below answers one question, shows it on a board you can tap, and ends with a game against one of our characters.
1 Start here
2 How the pieces move
- How chess pieces moveAll six pieces on one page, with a board to try them on.
- How the pawn movesForward one (two on its first move), captures diagonally, becomes a queen at the end.
- How the knight movesAn L shape: two squares one way, one square to the side. It jumps.
- How the bishop movesDiagonally, any distance. It never leaves its starting colour.
- How the rook movesStraight lines, up, down and sideways, any distance. Castles with the king.
- How the queen movesAny distance in any straight line or diagonal: the strongest piece.
- How the king movesOne square any direction, never into check. Lose it and you lose the game.
- Chess piece valuesPawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9. A guide for trades, not a rule.
3 Special moves
4 Winning and drawing
5 Tactics
- What is a fork in chess?One piece attacks two at once. Your opponent can usually save only one.
- What is a pin in chess?A piece can’t move safely, because something more valuable stands behind it.
- What is a skewer in chess?Attack a valuable piece along a line, then take the piece behind it.
- What is a discovered attack in chess?Move one piece aside to uncover an attack by the piece behind it.
- Back-rank mate and how to stop itA rook or queen mates a king trapped behind its own pawns.
- How to checkmate with a king and queenPush the king to the edge, avoid stalemate, bring your king, give mate.
Already know the rules?
Then the best teacher is a real game. Pip is perfect for a first win, Professor Hoot punishes loose pieces, and the journey takes you through all six characters, one medal at a time. Want a human opponent? Play a friend online with a link.