Basics of Chess Tutorial

Chess is a game played by two players on a square board comprised of 64 alternating light and dark squares in eight rows of eight squares each. Vertical columns on the chessboard are called files, and the horizontal rows are called ranks. The diagonal lines are called diagonals. The chess match is won when one player maneuvers his/her pieces to checkmate the opponent (this will be discussed later).

Each of the players begins the game with eight pawns and eight "major" pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks (sometimes known as "castles"), two bishops, and two knights. The term "pieces" usually refers to only the eight "major" pieces, but technically can refer to all sixteen chessmen. The two players are labeled "White" and "Black" regardless of the actual colors of the pieces. Click ahead to see how the board is initially set up.