Chess Rules and Regulation
Chess Rules and Regulation
These are the Basic Rules and Regulations of the game of Chess.
The above Chess pieces are arranged on the Chess board. The row of chess pieces nearest to the player contains
the rooks on the outside corners and moving inwards, the knights and bishops with the king and queen occupying the
centre two squares (the queen is always placed on the corresponding square color white on light, black on dark)
This layout is also described as Queen to colour.
The Chess player controlling the white coloured Chessmen moves first and each player then takes it in turns to make
a move until either a draw is called by the Chess players or until either players King Chess piece is trapped by
means of checkmate.
Each of the eight types of Chessmen move in their own different and unique ways. Although a piece cannot pass
through a square containing other pieces it can move in to a square occupied by an opposing piece, which is then
taken or captured and removed from the board. Each of the Chessmen can move in the following ways:
In addition to the above moves the king and rook can combine to do a special move called castling. If the king and
rook are still at their starting positions and all of the spaces between them are empty then the king can move two
squares towards the rook and the rook can move to the space that the king has just moved over (all as one move).
Castling, however, is not permitted if the king is threatened or moving to a threatened square and it is always a good
idea to announce your intention to castle to your opponent before carrying out the move.
If a pawn reaches the opponents back line it can become a queen (if the players queen has been captured) in a move
called queening or promotion. Or, alternatively the player can choose for the pawn to become a captured rook or a
bishop (this is called under promotion).
A king cannot be moved at any time in to a position that places or leaves it in check.
In serious play, if a player touches any of his pieces then he/she must move it if it is legally possible to do so. If a
player touches an opponents piece then he/she must capture it if it is legally possible to do so. If a player wishes to
touch a piece to adjust its position on a square then he/she must inform his/her opponent prior to doing so.
If an illegal move is made at any time then the player must retract that move and make another one if possible with
the same piece.
If a king is placed in check and there is no legal move that the player can do to remove the king from the threat of
capture then the king is said to be checkmated and the game is over with the player controlling the checkmated king
losing. Either player may at any time forfeit the game if he/she feels that his/her position is hopeless.
In formal competition, each player is also obliged to record each move as it is played in order to settle disputes about
illegal positions and overstepping time control. Algebraic Chess notation is presently used for this, though some
players still use descriptive Chess notation.