Chess rules for complete beginners
Five short lessons covering every rule of the game - how each piece moves, what check and checkmate mean, castling, en passant, and pawn promotion. Each one is taught by doing: you make the moves on a real board and the lesson checks them for you.
Nothing to install, no account required, and no ads. About forty minutes for all five.
How do pawns move in chess?
Pawns move forward one square but capture diagonally, may advance two on their first move, and can capture en passant. Free practice on a real board.
4 exercisesHow do rooks and bishops move?
Rooks slide along ranks and files; bishops slide along diagonals. Neither can jump. Learn both and practise them on a real board, free.
4 exercisesHow do the queen and knight move?
The queen combines rook and bishop. The knight moves in an L-shape and is the only piece that jumps. Free interactive practice on a real board.
4 exercisesThe king, check, and castling
The king moves one square in any direction. Check means he is attacked and must be saved at once. Castling moves him two. Free practice.
4 exercisesCheckmate: how chess games are won
Checkmate means the king is attacked with no legal escape. Learn the back-rank mate, the queen mate and pawn promotion, free on a real board.
3 exercisesMore free lessons
Then comes the part that actually makes you better
ChessIt is a free coach that reviews your games with a chess engine, finds the mistakes you keep repeating, and writes you a 20-minute training plan around them. It takes a complete beginner through eight phases, from Pawn all the way to Grandmaster.
See how ChessIt works