Help:Chess

Overview of the game

Chess is played on a square board of 8 rows (called ranks) and 8 columns (called files), giving 64 squares of alternating light and dark color, which are referred to as "light squares" and "dark squares".

Each player begins the game with 16 pieces which can move in defined directions (and in some instances, limited range) and can remove other pieces from the board: each player's pieces comprise 8 pawns, 2 knights, 2 bishops, 2 rooks, 1 queen and 1 king. All pieces remove (kill) opponent's pieces by landing on the space that the opponent's piece occupies.

One player controls the white pieces and the other player controls the black pieces; the player that controls white is always the first player to move. In chess, when a king is directly threatened with capture by one or more of the opponent's pieces, the player is said to be in check. When in check, only moves that can evade check, block check, or take the offending piece are permitted. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent's king is in check, and no move can be made that would prevent the king's capture. Normally a checkmate will require the cooperation of several pieces, but can also be achieved with one. A stalemate, which is a draw, occurs if a player's king is not in check and no legal moves are available; A draw can also occur if there are insufficient pieces left on the board to produce a checkmate (for example, if only the two kings remain), if a position is repeated three times in a game, or if fifty moves occur without either a check or a piece being captured.

Chess has been described not only as a game but also as an art, a science, and a sport. It is sometimes seen as an abstract war game; as a "mental martial art", and teaching chess has been advocated as a way of enhancing mental prowess.

Initial setup

copy this to the bottom of a wiki page where you would like to start a new game

==Board #==
{| class="prettytable"
! B || [[Name Player2]]
|-
| W || [[Name Player1]]
|}

{| style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"
| {{Chess position|=

 8 |rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd|=
 7 |pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|=
 6 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |=
 5 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |=
 4 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |=
 3 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |=
 2 |pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|=
 1 |rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl|=
    a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h

|30}}
|}
{| style="float: right; margin-left: 1em;"
| {{Chess captured|=|||||||||||||||||30}}
|-
| {{Chess captured|=|||||||||||||||||30}}
|}
{| class="prettytable"
 !   || W || B || Comment(s)
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 | 1. || ... || ... || opening move
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 | 2. || ... || ... || 
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 | 3. || ... || ... || 
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 | 4. || ... || ... ||  
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 | 8. || ... || ... ||  
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 |}

Gameplay

Update the section header to reflect your board, like this

==Board 16==

Players choose colors by mutual agreement. The player controlling the white pieces moves first. While this gives white an advantage, it is not known that white can force a win if black plays perfectly. After the initial move by white, players alternate moves. Play continues until a draw is called or a king is trapped by means of a checkmate (see below).

Add the player names in the wiki table:

{| class="prettytable"
! B || [[Name of Player 2]]
|-
| W || [[Name of Player 1]]
|}

Movement

Chess pieces
K	King
Q	Queen
R	Rook
B	Bishop
N	Knight
Chess_pdl40.png	Pawn

Each piece moves in a different way. Generally, a piece cannot pass through squares occupied by other pieces, but it can move to a square occupied by an opposing piece, which is then "captured" (removed from the board). Only one piece can occupy a given square.

• The rook moves orthogonally to the players (forward, backward, left or right) any number of squares.
• The bishop moves diagonally any number of squares and always stays on one of the two chequered colours.
• The queen moves orthogonally or diagonally, any number of squares.
• The king moves orthogonally or diagonally only one square at a time.
• The knight moves in an "L"-shape (two spaces in one direction and one space orthogonally to it). It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces.
• The pawn moves one space straight forward (away from the player). On its first move it can optionally move two spaces forward. If there is an enemy piece diagonally (either left or right) one space in front of the pawn, the pawn may move diagonally to capture that piece. A pawn cannot capture or jump over a piece directly in front of it.

Besides these moves, the king and either rook can do a special combination move called castling: if the king and rook have not moved yet, and all spaces between them are empty, then the king can move two squares toward the rook, and in the same turn the rook can move to the space the king has just skipped over. It is not permitted to castle when the king is threatened or would have to move through a threatened square. In serious play, care must be taken to make clear that castling is intended, e.g. by verbal announcement or by moving the king first (since the king cannot move two squares except in castling).

A pawn reaching the final rank becomes a queen in a process known as "queening" or "promotion" (or, if the player prefers, a rook, bishop or knight; this is called "underpromotion").

If a pawn moves two squares forward on its first move, it can be captured on the square it has skipped over, as if it had moved only one square, but only during the turn immediately after its two-square move and only by another pawn. This is called capturing en passant.

In serious play, if a player having the move touches one of his pieces then he must move it if it can be legally moved. If a player touches a hostile piece then he must capture it if the piece can be captured. So long as the hand has not left the piece to be moved, the latter can be placed on any accessible square. If a player wishes to touch a piece with the sole intention of adjusting its position on a square, he must first apprise his opponent of his intention by saying J'adoube or I adjust. Only the player whose turn it is to move may adjust a piece.

Template:Chess position Check. Black king on e8 is check by white's rook on a8. Black has 3 possibilities: move king to d7, capture rook with bishop b7, move bishop to c8 to remove the check. A player who makes an illegal move with a piece must retract that move and make another one, if possible, with the same piece. If the mistake is only noticed later on, the game should be restarted from the position in which the error occurred. Check and checkmate When a player makes a move that threatens the opposing king with capture, the king is said to be in check. If a player's king is in check then the player must make a move that eliminates the threat of capture, which does not necessarily mean the king must be moved. The possible moves to remove the threat of capture are: Move the king to a square where it is not threatened. Capture the threatening piece. Place a piece between the king and the opponent's threatening piece. A player may never leave his king in check at the end of his move. Template:Chess position Checkmate. White king is checkmated, Black wins. In informal games, it is customary to announce check when making a move that puts the opponent's king in check. However, in formal competitions this is not only unnecessary but may be considered annoying or distracting. If a player's king is placed in check and there is no legal move that player can make to escape check, then the king is said to be checkmated, the game ends, and that player loses. The diagram to the right shows a typical checkmate position. The white king is threatened by the black queen; every square to which the king could move is also threatened; and he cannot capture the queen, because he would then be threatened by the rook. Either player may resign if he feels his position is hopeless. This is common in master play. Draws Template:Chess position White is in stalemate if it is his turn to move. The game ends in a draw. The game ends in a draw in any of these conditions: The player to move is not in check but has no legal move. This situation is called a stalemate. An example of such a position is shown in the diagram to the right. There is no possibility for either player to checkmate the opponent. For example one player has a king and a knight and another only a king. Both players agree to a draw. Template:Chess position A typical agreed draw position. Either player may claim a draw by indicating that one of the following conditions exists: Fifty moves have been played by each player without a piece being captured or a pawn moved. The same board position has been repeated three times, with the same player to move and all pieces having the same rights to move, including the right to castle or capture en passant. Notation Naming squares on the board The notation begins by identifying each square of the chessboard with a unique coordinate. First, the files (that is, lines running parallel to the direction the players are facing) are labelled with lowercase letters a through h, from the left of the "white" player. So the "a" file is to white's left, and to black's right. Then the ranks (lines running horizontally between the players) are numbered from 1 to 8, starting from white's home rank. Thus, black's home rank is rank 8. Each square of the board, then, is uniquely identified by its file letter and rank number. The white king, for example, starts the game on square e1. The black knight on b8 can move to a6, c6 or d7 (provided the squares are vacant of other black pieces). Naming the pieces Each type of piece (other than pawns) is identified by an uppercase letter, usually the first letter in the name of that piece in whatever language is spoken by the player recording. English-speaking players use K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and N for knight (since K is already used). Pawns are not indicated by a letter, but by the absence of such a letter—it is not necessary to distinguish between pawns for normal moves, as only one pawn can move to any one square (captures are indicated differently; see below). Notation for moves Each move of a piece is indicated by the piece's letter, plus the coordinate of the destination square. For example Be5 (move a bishop to e5), Nf3 (move a knight to f3), c5 (move a pawn to c5—no initial in the case of pawn moves). Notation for captures When a piece makes a capture, an x is inserted between the initial and the destination square. For example, Bxe5 (bishop captures the piece on e5). When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn departed is used in place of a piece initial. For example, exd5 (pawn on the e-file captures the piece on d5). En passant captures are specified by the capturing pawn's file of departure, the x, and the square to which it moves (not the location of the captured pawn), optionally followed by the notation "e.p." It is never necessary to specify that a capture was en passant because a capture from the same file but not en passant would have a different destination square. Disambiguating moves If two identical pieces can move to the same square, the piece's initial is followed by: (1) if both pieces are on the same rank, the file of departure; (2) if both pieces are on the same file, the rank of departure. If pieces are on different ranks and files, method (1) is preferred. For example, with two knights on g1 and d2, either of which might move to f3, the move is indicated as Ngf3 or Ndf3, as appropriate. With two knights on g5 and g1, the moves are N5f3 or N1f3. As above, an x may be used to indicate a capture: for example, N5xf3. It may be necessary to identify a departing piece with both its file and its rank in unusual configurations (e.g. the player has three queens or three knights on the board). Pawn promotion If a pawn moves to its last rank, achieving promotion, the piece chosen is indicated after the move, for example e1Q, b8B. Sometimes an "=" sign is used: f8=Q. Castling Castling is indicated by the special notations 0-0 for kingside castling and 0-0-0 for queenside Optionally, it may be indicated by the king's move alone, since moving the king more than one square implies castling. For example, Kg1. Check and checkmate A move which places the opponent's king in check usually has the notation "+" added. Some use †. (Sometimes ch is used to indicate check.) Double check is sometimes represented "++". Checkmate can likewise be indicated "#". The word 'mate' written at the end of the notation is also acceptable. End of game The notation 1-0 at the end of the moves indicates that white won, 0-1 indicates that black won, and ½-½ indicates a draw.