Contents
Chess Basics
Chess Pieces
Special Chess Moves
How to Read Chess Notation
The Opening Strategy of Chess
The Middle Game of Chess
Common Checkmates in Chess
The Chess Endgame
Draws in Chess
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Special Chess Moves
In specific circumstances, some pieces are capable of
making special moves.
Castling
Castling allows you to move the king and rook simultaneously on a single turn. The purpose of castling is to bring the king to safety near the corner of the board while
simultaneously getting a rook out into the middle of the board.
Rules of Castling
Castling is allowed only if the following conditions are met:
- Neither the king nor the rook has moved. If you moved either the king or the rook in any previous turn (even if you subsequently moved it back), you can’t castle.
- No pieces occupy the squares directly between the king and the rook. Pieces can occupy the squares in front of the king or the rook.
- The king is not currently in check.
- The king would not pass over or land on a square under attack by an opposing piece.
How to Castle
You may castle using either rook. The rook that’s closer to your king’s initial position is called the kingside rook. The rook that’s closer to your queen’s initial position is called the queenside rook. To castle in either direction:
- Move your king two spaces straight toward the rook.
- Place the rook on the other side of the king.
En Passant
As mentioned earlier, a pawn may move forward two squares on its first move. If doing so places the pawn on a square to the immediate left or right of an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn may capture the pawn that just moved, as if it had moved forward just one square. This is called capturing en passant (ahn pa-sahnt). Here’s what capturing en passant looks like:
To capture en passant, you must make the move immediately after the opponent’s pawn moves two squares. If you don’t make the capture immediately, the pawn may no longer be captured en passant (though it may be captured normally).
Pawn Promotion
If a pawn manages to advance all the way to the far side of the board, called the back rank, the pawn can be promoted to another piece. You can replace the pawn with any piece of your choosing except a king, though players almost always promote pawns to queens, since queens are the most powerful pieces. You can replace a pawn with a piece that has not been captured. For instance, you can promote a pawn to a queen even if your original queen is still on the board.
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