Age 6 to 13+
Material Wood
Colour Black, Brown, White
Length (cm) 20.5
Width (cm) 20.5
Depth (cm) 3.5
To play chess, you must learn the initial board setup, how each piece moves, and the goal of the game, which is to trap your opponent’s king in a checkmate. The player with the white pieces always moves first.
1. Set up the board
The chessboard should be oriented so that a white square is in the bottom-right corner for both players. Pawns are placed on the second rank. On the first rank, rooks are in the corners, followed by knights and then bishops. The queen is placed on the square matching her color, and the king occupies the last remaining square.
2. Learn how the pieces move
Piece Movement Capture Special rules
Pawn Moves one square forward, or two squares on its first move. Captures one square diagonally forward. Can be promoted to another piece (except a king) upon reaching the other side of the board. Special “en passant” capture is possible under specific conditions.
Knight Moves in an “L” shape. Captures the piece on the square it lands on. Can jump over other pieces.
Bishop Moves any number of squares diagonally. Captures along its diagonal path. Remains on squares of the same color.
Rook Moves any number of squares horizontally or vertically. Captures along its path. Used in castling with the king.
Queen Moves any number of squares in any direction (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal). Captures along its path. The most powerful piece.
King Moves one square in any direction. Captures an adjacent piece if the square is not under attack. Can perform a special move called castling with a rook under specific circumstances.
3. Win by checkmate
To win, you must put the opponent’s king in check (under attack) with no legal escape moves.
A game can also end in a draw due to stalemate, agreement between players, threefold repetition of a position, or if 50 moves pass without pawn movement or piece capture.