Learn How to Get Started in Chess: A Beginner’s Guide

Chess is a game that has fascinated and challenged players for centuries.

We discuss the basic rules of chess, from setting up the board to moving the pieces.

We also explore different chess openings, such as the Ruy-Lopez and Sicilian Defense, and strategies like controlling the center and developing pieces quickly.

Whether you’re a beginner or looking to improve your skills, this article offers valuable tips on starting in chess.

What is Chess?

Chess is a two-player strategy board game that simulates a medieval battlefield between two armies. It is one of the oldest and most popular games in the world with a complex set of rules and patterns. Players use movement, space management, attack and defense, and other tactics to try to put their opponent’s king in a position of trap and capture, known as checkmate. Also, there is an obligation to attack or defend the king when it is in check (it could be captured on the next turn). If a player realizes it is impossible to prevent an imminent checkmate he may resign at any time. The game mixes art, sport, and mathematical strategy in its purest form, reflected in its nickname as The Royal Game, during the ages it was enjoyed by kings, queens, emperors, and other royals.

It is played in an 8×8 grid square board with 64 alternating colored squares of white and black. There are six types of pieces moved in different ways taking account of opponents moves, and one type of piece, the pawn, which has a specialized movement. Most players organize the pieces in generally the same arrangement (known as the starting position) to begin with optimal board control in the opening phase.

What are the Basic Rules of Chess?

The basic rules of chess are as follows, but keep in mind that there are many legal rules that are permissible only once in any direction. Here is a list of basic rules:

1. You will be playing on a playboard with 64 squares.
2. Pieces are placed in the opposing corners of the board with white on the bottom of the board and black on top as follows:
   • Rook in the corner next to the Queen, on the first rank.
   • Knight next to rook.
   • Bishop next to knight.
   • Queen on her color at the left.
   • King on the opposite color to his on the right.
   • Bishop on the opposite color to the king.
   • Knight on the right of the bishop.
   • Rook on the corner.
3. Place WHITE PAWNS on the row in front of these pieces.
4. Each player takes turns to make a move.
5. There are multiple maneuvers in chess, each with its own rules.
6. The game ends when:
   • A player puts the opponent’s King in a threatening position. This is called “Check”.
   • If the King is unable to escape the impact of the opponent’s moves, the King is said to be “Checkmate”.
   • The player succeeds in putting the king in a threatening position, and the opposing player is unable to protect the King by moving, is said to be in a “Stalemate”.

Keep practicing chess and noting new legal moves and defenses with experienced chess players or chess playing applications. It is the best way to learn the game.

How to Set Up the Chess Board?

To set up the chess board for play, place it so that each player has a white square on the right-hand front corner. Each player sets up his/her side of the board identically. Place rooks on the corners, knights next to them, and bishops next to the knights. The king and queen are placed in the center.

How to Move the Pieces?

Every piece in chess moves in a unique way, except for the bishop and queen. These are the basic piece movements in chess:

• The Pawn: Pawns move forward one square at a time, and capture forward and diagonally
• The Rook: Rooks move straight vertically or horizontally
• The Knight: Knights move in l-shaped paths, changing direction twice (like a simple right-angle bend
• The Bishop: Bishops move diagonally across all squares
• The Queen: The queen moves any number of squares vertically, horizontally, or diagonally
• The King: The king moves exactly like the queen, but is restricted to only moving one square at a time

More advanced movement techniques that do not involve the basic pieces in chess include En passant, Castling, Promotion, and Minor piece maneuvers. The en passant move allows a pawn to attack another pawn under very specific circumstances. Castling involves the king and either rook, which allows the king to escape from danger while protecting an important rook.

What are the Different Chess Openings?

The different chess openings include the Ruy-Lopez opening, French Defense, Caro-Kann Defense, Slav Defense, Scandinavian Defense, and the Italian Game. There are a few dozen unique openings, but curator and journalist Dylan Loeb McClain indicates that most openings are part of 5 major groups, and the remainder are categorized as others. Here are the most popular major groups.

1. The Open Games: Roughly corresponding to the 1.e4 moves followed by 1…e5, which results in White’s 2.f4 being the King’s Gambit. Despite a large number of comments from superstars and books which indicate the opening can be played at the highest levels, it is indeed very rare. The most popular version in modern times is the Scotch Game with 2.d4.
2. Others, also frequently revolving around a King’s Pawn’s Game, include 2.Nf3 and total of 5…Nf6 for Black in the Italian Game. Control of center squares is the major feature of the open games.
3. The Semi-Open Games: This refers to White’s 1.e4 when Black doesn’t respond with …c5.
4. Major examples of the Semi-Open include the Caro-Kann Defense and Scandinavian Defense. In this set the most common according to Hebden is the French Defense.
5. The Royal Gambits: The most important aspect of the royal gambits is to forgo control over the center in favor of rapidly developing pieces and launching immediate attacks.
6. Queen’s Pawn Openings: These represent 1.d4 and eventually d4-d5. The major categories within this group are the Indian Defenses, classically played to bring about counterplay by counterattacking the central pawn.
7. Queen’s Gambits: These represent 1.d4 d5 2.c4. They constrict Blacks c and d-pawns, cutting her off in her quest for free play on the center and tossing the ball back into her court. These are other popular defenses, including the Slav Defense and the Catalan Opening.
8. Flank Openings: Flank openings will look to move their King’s Knight’s pawn forward on the second move. 1. b3 is a common response. A notable trick is using the unique move order found in the Reti Opening to fray Black’s center pawns before playing 1.e4.

Ruy-Lopez Opening

The Ruy-Lopez Opening starts on 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. Castling kingside to attack and control the center is a preferred move at the average level as it is easier to understand than some other more modern variations. It is one of those paradoxical situations in chess where the king is made safer by coming out of the corner.

Sicilian Defense

The Sicilian Defense is a members of the open games family of chess openings that occur when Black plays e4 and Nf3 but does not mirror these moves and and offshoot of the 1.e4 complex family of openings. Sicilian Defense refers to Black’s replies to 1.e4 when he or she counters with c5 on their first move.

Named after Leonard di Cutri who analyzed the opening in a manuscript dating from 1594, the Sicilian was ignored or not even covered in the earliest chess books. Mr. Di Cut worked as a librarian in Sicily and had come across the manuscript full of Sicilian games of the time.

In the game known as the magnus game, Carlsen vs Anand in the 2014 World Chess Championship, Magnus Carlsen as Black played the Sicilian and introduced a move he called 88…h5!!?, which has become famous in the chess world and is referred to as Carlsen’s Pawn thrust. According to Norway Chess, Carlsen’s Pawn thrust was simply a waiting move. It was a little bit of psychology to upset Anand’s position and gain time in order to think about the next sequence of moves. Carlsen ended up looking his position, and the move eventually lost him the game.

The Sicilian Defense usually leads to open positions and is a popular and aggressive choice for those hoping to play for a win with the Black pieces. The Sicilian Defense provides scads of analysis about common sequences, many different types of pawn structures, and leads to a spatial advantage for Black, all of which contribute to its overall complexity in the average implementational game.

The most common defense movement sequences are part of the most popular opening within the Sicilian group, called the ‘Open Sicilian’ (as moved in more than 50% of Master games) which involve Nf3 Nc6 Bb5 g6 before deviating.

French Defense

The French Defense is a solid response by Black to tackle 1. e4 as it blocks the central pawn, while supporting the light-square bishop for capture. It allows the other light-square bishop to protect key squares on the queenside and regain control of the center by advancing the chain. The downside is that the dark-square bishop gets trapped. The restricted piece mobility of the black sunken bishop is one of the severe drawbacks of the French Defense.

English Opening

The English Opening (ECO A10-E99) is one of the openings in chess where White plays 1. c4. The most popular continuations are Nf6, g6, and e6, which result in hypermodern response to QP systems for Black. By not committing the central pawn to d4, White may hope to steer for a Queenside attack or subtly undermine Black’s central control.

English Opening, Anglo-Indian defense matchmaking between White and Black was named after England since Howard Staunton referred to it that way in 1843. Ignatz Kolisch used this name to refer to a highly specific set of openings that exist today. FM Mostapha Zineb says the English Opening may be a good choice for beginners due to being less analyzed than older openings. It is generally good for developing pieces and points to a clear destination for pawns. As of the middle of 2020, the ChessBase database of roughly 8 million games claims these as its 10 most successful white English Opening lines:

1. c4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6
2. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6
3. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3
4. c4 e6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nf3 Bb4+
5. c4 c5
6. c4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3
7. c4 Nc6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5
8. c4 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. Nf3
9. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2
10. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e4

For beginner success, beginners are best recommended to focus on the Nf6 move for Black and to familiarize themselves with the motives behind the first 4 moves of the English Opening.

What are the Different Chess Strategies?

Chess strategies are long-term goals and plans based on analysis of positional and tactical elements that appear in a position. Here are some different types of strategies, along with several key examples of each that appear frequently in various games of chess.

Control of the center By controlling the space in the center, players are better able to move and develop their pieces, and to plan for eventual tactical attacks on the enemy king. A pawn push to occupy the center, or a central knight move, are the primary means of gaining control of the center. Pawn structure As players develop their pieces, the pawns cannot be moved without creating weaknesses that can be exploited by the opponent. The resulting positions are bound by the safety of pawn positions, as well as the pathways that pawns open and close for passage of their and enemy pieces.

Material Gain Stealing enemy material while maintaining safety for one’s own material is a necessary strategic goal for all chess games without a forced endgame. Sacrifice Pieces, in order to gain an advantage, such as delivering a check, checkmate, forcing an exchange of material, or creating a material advantage in future moves. Development Moving pieces is important to increase their capabilities and achieve better control of possible moves.

Light-square and dark-square control, utilizing minor and major pieces to ensure control of the color of board that is most advantageous for the player’s pieces.

Strategic Targeting of Weaknesses Identifying and exploiting weaknesses in enemy positions, such as undermining enemy occupied territories, exploiting disharmonious developed positions, or creating material or positional disadvantages for the enemy.

Harmonious Advanced Development Means maintaining strong connected development of pieces and pawns, as well as securing the safety of the king, all the while coordinating this with offensive and defensive plans.

Setback and Defend When positions are overly aggressive or offensive, retreating to a more defensive posture is often wise.

Choice of the appropriate pawn structure premeditatedly creating a game of closed or open positions dictates the pace of the game and aids strategic long-term objectives.

Strategic exchange of pieces for an advantage, such as exchanging a strong knight for a weaker enemy bishop on a square color that opens pathways for the offensive or defensive pieces on the board, or simply preserving a weaker set of material is a key strategic tactic for both increasing and avoiding material loss. Imagining and predicting how the board may yet appear after several exchanges of material is critical to strategic thinking in chess.

Controlling the Center

In chess, a game primarily takes place in an 8×8 square range. The bishop and knight are the only pieces that do not move in straight lines, and because of it, they have unique movements. Moving these pieces help create central control that allows easy access for most of the player’s army. Central control tends to benefit players since it can establish or provide optimal defense and attack locations. Many of the most successful players prioritize center control early in the game.

Developing Pieces Quickly

The second general goal beginners are trying to achieve at the start of chess is to develop pieces quickly. According to the 10 Most Common Mistakes section of the Chess.com Learning category, To be successful in chess, develop your pieces before you move the same piece more than once in the opening. When starting a game, always begin with a minor piece, then get your knights and bishops into play. This minimizes playing the same piece over and over in the opening.

Castling

Castling is an important move in chess. Castling is a move of the king in which the king moves a single square towards any rook, then that rook’s square on the king’s corner is moved around the king to the square next to it. Castling is only possible if neither the king or rook involved have previously moved, if the king has not moved with the king in check, or if the rook has been moved in in a destination square that the king must cross. You can not make castling if there is an empty square between the castling king and rook fix location. Castling is great because it helps to safty king so that enemy pawns won’t easily attack it. It broadens the king’s scope since the move consists of two squares.

Creating Pawn Chains

Creating pawn chains are fundamental ideas in chess, yet many beginners may not be aware of them when they first start playing. At their core, pawn chains occur when two players develop pieces behind their pawns. For example, player A develops their bishop or knight as far out as possible, behind the lead pawn in the chain. This increases board control, minimizes pawn weaknesses, and in some instances can guard other important pieces not otherwise defensible. Player A (Davorin Kuljasevic) also adds the important idea of identifying a weak point in the opponent’s position and breaking free from the constraints of one’s pawns in order to challenge that . Contributing to the idea that always following the idea of moving pieces behind pawns is too much of a good thing that may constrain one’s responses to the moves of the opponent.

How to Improve in Chess?

To improve in chess, it is important to continue to study openings, endgames, middlegames, and tactics. In addition, strategic knowledge, calculating skills, creating a plan, improving visualization, board awareness, psychology, creating opportunities, and converting advantages are all important components of chess improvement. Expect that chess improvement will take work and time. Not all Fischer’s, Spassky’s, or Carlsen’s qualities can be acquired right after starting practice of these, but regular practice along with determination can give results.

These Kylem GM tips provide detailed information on how to improve in chess.

Study Famous Chess Games

There are several ways to study the game of chess, ranging from studying famous chess games to seeking recommendations from experts. A good start is to study famous games as they feature important concepts that were innovated by other players. The Queen’s Gambit Declined, Marshall Attack was a significant innovation by Frank James Marshall in 1918, which would foster important theoretical developments by future world champions.

Practice with Chess Puzzles

Chess Puzzles are one of the best ways to practice to start in chess. Chess puzzles, also known as tactics, help new players earn Puzzles which are problems where a mate or another tactic can be executed in a small number of moves. The faster you’re able to solve puzzles the better Chess Com

memozal bio you can build. A puzzle involves selecting the right chess pieces to place in the right position where the opponent will be in check with no legal way out, or selecting a series of moves where over a few moves your position will be improved (by winning material or checkmating the opponent). Chess Solving puzzles improve a player’s visualisation, calculation, and tactical skill, making their games that much stronger.

To build a strong base in chess, players should solve five puzzles on Lichess or Chess.com a day. This will develop understanding and help remember lots of patterns. It is recommended to practice on the ‘Training’ feature or while playing games. Moves which are good by mistake are not as beneficial as the moves which are well-thought.

After a significant amount of practice in solving exercises, Gorden Buck, the founder of a group of 200 chess-opening novices advises that you should see yourself as a painter or writer, rather than a student or master, and be always ready to be enthralled by the game, discovering ever new and hidden beauties. Solving tactical puzzles is enjoyable and supports much better visualization and calculation capacities.

Join a Chess Club or Group

Join a chess club or chess group online, in-person, or at school to learn chess with others. Chess clubs provide an opportunity to play against a variety of opponents including some who are significantly better. They may provide access to materials, and you can be sure to find plenty of people who are interested in the game who will have tips to help you learn.

To find an in-person club run a Google search for the largest nearby city and the term “Chess Club” or ask your local game shop about their chess group. For online or in-person chess groups, the 64-Squares chess group on Facebook is a popular option.

Play Against Stronger Opponents

Another important way you can start in chess is by playing against stronger opponents. This can be in a tournament if you have one in your local area, or just playing stronger players at your local chess club. The internet is full of places where anyone can play and even livestream chess games, and platforms such as Lichess.org and Chess.com are popular ways to hone your skill with competitive games.

Playing against stronger opponents in the beginning will expose you to more complex positions right away. Although you likely will not do well, this will sharpen your tactical skills as you look for ways to hold on against better players. It is useful to remember that after the game, your stronger opponents will likely be able to give you invaluable tips on where you blundered or went wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Start in Chess?

To start playing chess, you will need a chess board and chess pieces. You can purchase these at a local game store or online.

How do I set up a chess board?

To set up a chess board, place the board in front of you with the white square on the right. Then, place the rooks in the corners, followed by the knights next to them. The bishops go next to the knights, and the queen goes on her own color. Finally, place the king on the remaining square. The pawns go on the second row in front of all the other pieces.

What are the rules of chess?

The goal of chess is to put your opponent’s king in checkmate, meaning it is unable to move to any safe square. Each piece has its own unique way of moving, and the player can only make one move per turn. The game ends in a draw if there is no possible way for either player to win.

How do I improve my chess skills?

One way to improve in chess is by studying chess strategies and openings. You can also play against other players, both in person and online, to gain experience. Additionally, analyzing your past games can help you identify areas of improvement.

Are there any resources for learning how to play chess?

Yes, there are many resources available for learning how to play chess. You can find instructional books, online tutorials, and even chess clubs or classes in your local area. Some popular resources include Chess.com, Chess24, and Chessable.

Can I play chess on my computer or phone?

Yes, there are many chess apps and computer programs available for playing and practicing chess. Some even offer tutorials and different levels of difficulty to help improve your skills. Just be sure to read reviews and choose a reputable app or program.