Only pawns may be promoted.This special move must be done immediately after the first pawn has moved past, otherwise the option to capture it is no longer available.

Most other moves are not as good. A pawn is usually promoted to a queen. Play online with friends, challenge the computer, join a club, solve puzzles, analyze your games, and learn from hundreds of video lessons. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time, except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares.Pawns can only capture one square diagonally in front of them.
We hope they're useful to you!Knowing the rules and basic strategies is only the beginning - there is so much to learn in chess that you can never learn it all in a lifetime! Remember, it doesn't matter how close you are to checkmating your opponent if your own king is checkmated first!Don't carelessly lose your pieces! The Chess Website is unable to assist with any issues you may have with logging in. Being able to move first is a tiny advantage which gives the white player an opportunity to attack right away.There are several ways to end a game of chess: by checkmate, with a draw, by resignation, by forfeit on time...The purpose of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. There is an easy system that most players use to keep track of the relative value of each chess piece. Each bishop starts on one color (light or dark) and must always stay on that color.Bishops work well together because they cover up each other's weaknesses.Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces – going two squares in one direction, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of an “L”.Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces.Pawns are unusual because they move and capture in different ways: they move forward, but capture diagonally. Customarily the king is not captured or removed from the board, the game is simply declared over.The checkmate can happen in early stages in the game if one of the players does not act carefully. At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has

In the example above white makes good moves to control the center while black plays bad moves.In the example above white got all of his pieces in the game! The rooks go in the corners, then the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who always goes on her own matching color (white queen on white, black queen on black), and the king on the remaining square.Each of the 6 different kinds of pieces moves differently.

Try and develop all of your pieces so that you have more to use when you attack the king. This happens when the king is put into check and cannot get out of check.If a king cannot escape checkmate then the game is over. These are called "chess variants".

The second row (or rank) is filled with pawns. Live Chess Play online any time in any browser! The site is continually updated with substantial content thanks to the loyal support of the chess community. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot move past or capture that piece.There are a few special rules in chess that may not seem logical at first.

Notice how the white queen captures the black queen and then the black king is forced to move.The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides.The rooks are particularly powerful pieces when they are protecting each other and working together!The bishop may move as far as it wants, but only diagonally. That is NOT true. They can never move or capture backwards. These rules do not necessarily apply to play at home or online, but you may want to practice with them anyway.Maybe all this information can overwhelm you a little bit. To improve you need to do three things:While there is no one agreed-upon best move in chess, it's important to try to control the center right away. How much are the chess pieces worth?At the end of the game these points don't mean anything – it is simply a system you can use to make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture, exchange, or make other moves.You should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. That is why we put at your disposal these frequent questions that usually occur in those people who are beginning to enter the world of chess. The Chess Website is unable to assist with any issues you may have with logging in. I am always asked where I play chess and if I could put something on my site where people could come and play online for free.
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When the king is attacked by another piece this is called "check".The queen is the most powerful piece. Checkmate happens when the king is in a position to be captured (in check) and cannot escape from capture.

Click through the example below to better understand this odd, but important rule.Notice that when you castle one direction the king is closer to the side of the board.

But the queen is the most powerful chess piece.The longest tournament chess game (in terms of moves) ever to be played was Nikolić vs. Arsović in 1989 and played in Belgrade, Serbia.Notation was invented so that we could analyze chess games after playing them. Don't put off castling. Pieces are generally moved into positions where they can capture other pieces (by landing on their square and then replacing them), defend their own pieces in case of capture, or control important squares in the game.The king is the most important piece, but is one of the weakest. If you get stuck, use a hint or take back the move. The app below is free to play. They were created to make the game more fun and interesting.Pawns have another special ability and that is that if a pawn reaches the other side of the board it can become any other chess piece (called A pawn may be promoted to any piece. Some other players prefer 1. c4 or 1.