How to play chess? Chess Rules

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

At first glance it may seem that learning to play chess is quite easy, but in fact it takes a lot of effort and memorization of a few fundamental rules.

History of occurrence

People are still debating whether this game is a sport or an art. To date, computer technology has reached the point that any computer can easily solve "chess" problems of the highest complexity in a matter of seconds, but a person will need years of practice for this.

For the first time, the game in the form in which it is customary to see it now appeared 15 centuries ago in the East. Its rules were based on Arabic shatranj and Indian chaturanga. In the Middle Ages, the first chess tournament was held in Europe, in which only knights took part. These were real mind games. Chess in those days was considered the property of noble people.

There is an Eastern legend according to which this game made a real rich man out of a poor man. One wise man, who first showed the world how to play chess, asked for his "invention" one grain of wheat per cell, forthe second - two, the next - four and in a similar progression further to the end of the board. The ruler agreed, but he had no idea that in the end he would have to give 8.5 quintillion grains (a number with 18 zeros). As a result, several kilograms of wheat came out, which in those days was a great luxury.

As the legend shows, chess has so many variations in the development of events, but there are isolated situations that develop on the board more often than others, and experts study them. Great grandmasters know dozens of winning algorithms by heart, which are sought out and adjusted over the years in the course of hundreds of games.

Today this game has become popular all over the world. Many experts even recommend chess for children as a tool for developing deductive thinking.

Starting position

All pieces can only move on 64 squares of the board. Their correct location is also important. The board must be rotated so that there is a white square to the right of the player. On the plane itself there are 32 figures of two colors (black and white).

The rules of chess say that each of the "armies" of the opponents must be mirrored to each other. In the first rank, pawns are placed towards the enemy, and on the last line of the board, all the other pieces. Rooks are placed in the corners, then next to them are horses, behind them are bishops. In the center of the board, as expected, there are a queen and a king, and the second one must be on a cell of the opposite color.

Moves are made in turn, and the first to start the gamewhite. Often, pawns go into battle at the beginning.

Pieces and their moves

The most important thing in chess is the king, but by itself he is practically helpless. Moves one cell in any direction. If you put him in a stalemate, then the game is lost regardless of the number of remaining pieces. This position is called checkmate, which means “to die” in Arabic.

The second most important piece is the queen. This is the most powerful weapon of the king, which can move in any straight line and pass an unlimited number of cells in one move.

The rook, along with the queen, is included in the group of "heavy" pieces. It can only move in a straight line to the sides, except diagonally. Has no restrictions on the number of cells passed per turn.

The bishop is closest to the king and queen. The variability of moves is limited by diagonals, but not by the number of cells.

Knight is the most unique and interesting piece on the board. Unlike the others, he only moves in a “G” pattern, that is, two squares forward in the chosen direction and one square to the side. Before each move, the knight has 8 variations to maneuver.

There is another piece that is important to familiarize yourself with before playing chess - the pawn. And let her be considered the weakest on the board, but without her the king would be threatened with a very quick "death". Only moves forward 1 or 2 squares in his own half and one square in the other half.

You can capture an opponent's piece only if it is in the path of the player's move. Then her place is taken byfigure that beats her. If a situation arises when the king is threatened with deprivation of a place on the board, then it can be defended or a move can be made to the side. A pawn can capture any piece that is one square ahead of it diagonally.

Rules of conduct and cost of figures

The king can fight anyone except the queen, as he can attack all the cells around him.

The cheapest and weakest piece is the pawn. Its main advantage is the ability to make a fork, that is, to simultaneously threaten two elements of the enemy "army" at once.

The rook is equal in value to five pawns and stands above all except the queen. This is a very important figure for any strategy, with the help of which you can checkmate at any time.

Elephant and knight are approximately equal in cost, although they have different properties. Equivalent to three pawns. Of the shortcomings, it is worth highlighting the "dead zones" where these pieces cannot get (bishop - never, knight - for several moves).

The most useful and strong element on the board is the queen. Its cost is equal to two rooks at once. The queen is able to make not only a fork, but also threaten 8 pieces at the same time.

Before playing chess, it is important to familiarize yourself with one more nuance. If a pawn has reached the last opposite cell of the board (before the opponent's first line), then it can be exchanged for any piece that was previously captured by the opponent.

Game recording

A standard chessboard is a squareand consists of 64 fields. Latin letters from “a” to “h” are always placed vertically, and numbers from 1 to 8 are placed horizontally. It is these designations that are used in the notation of moves.

Thus, each cell has its own name, for example, d5, e1, f8, etc. In the record of the move of the figure, two fields (initial and final) are recorded separated by a hyphen. For example: a2 - a4.

Besides, figures have their own short designations - these are the first letters of their names (F, L, S, K). The only exception is the king. Its abbreviation in the record is Kr. The pawn is not marked in any way.

Outcomes of games

The rules of chess describe only two possible developments of the final and one intermediate one.

An attack on the king is called a check. This action is indicated in the record with a “+” sign. Among chess players, it is customary to call it an intermediate outcome, when there is a possibility of a checkmate. In the case of a check, there are several ways to defend: move the king to the side, cover it with another piece, or capture the attacker.

If the king has no way to escape from the attack, then the opponent has been checkmated. In this case, the game is considered won. Denoted by the sign "x". A draw in chess is called a stalemate. This is a situation where the player has only one step left to checkmate, but it will not be possible to take it, because the opponent has no options for maneuvering any of the pieces. Indicated by the symbol "".

Castle

The rules of the game allow you to swap the king and rook once per game. Chess for children rules out the possibilitycastling of pieces, as it has some rather difficult to perceive nuances. A permutation is allowed only when neither the rook nor the king has made a single move and is not under attack by the opponent. Also, it cannot be done at the very beginning of the game. During castling, the rook stands close to the king, and he stands on the adjacent square on the other side.

Russian chess

The rules of this game are no different from its Arabic counterpart. Russian chess is a board with 64 squares and 32 pieces. The pawns here are called tavrels. The rest of the figures have names: prince, rider and warrior. The king is a sorcerer.

How to play chess with such pieces? The main difference is the tower position. During the game, not a single piece is removed from the board. If one of them beats the other, then it is placed on top of the first, forming a kind of tower, and so on.

The game continues until the first figure appears on the sorcerer.