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Chess is a strategical game that requires much thinking and planning in order to win. There are two players; one plays with white pieces while the other plays with black. The game takes place on a checkered board and the ultimate goal is to get your opponent's king in "checkmate," meaning that no matter he moves to, he will still be under attack.

Each player has sixteen pieces to use during the game. They have one king, one queen, two rooks (also called castles), two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns.

The board is set up in the following manner for the white player:
From left to right, in the row closest to you:
rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook.
From left to right, in the row directly in front of the back row:
all eight pawns.

The setup looks exactly the same for the black player, except the king and queen are reversed.

Each piece has its own rules on how it can move;

The king: he can move only one square at a time, in any direction.
The queen: she can move any number of squares in any direction.
The rook: can move any number of squares, but must move either horizontally or vertically
the knight: moves in an "L" shape. The knight can move two squares vertical, and then one square horizontal, or vice versa.
the pawn: can move forward one square at a time. If a pawn has not yet moved from its original position, it can move forward two squares. In order to attack an opponent, their opponent must be in one of the two forward adjacent squares.

Special moves:
Castling: the king moves two spaces towards a rook and the rook moves onto the square that the king crossed.
This move has a few rules: there cannot be any pieces between the king and rook, neither may have moved from their original position, and the king may not be in check at the start of, during, or at the end of the move.

Regaining a piece: if a pawn makes it to the opposite side of the chess board without being attacked, the player is allowed to take a piece they had previously lost and exchange it for the pawn.

Playing the game:
White always makes the first move.
From there, each player alternates turns, moving any piece they wish.
In order to capture an opponent's piece, you must move your piece to the space they occupied, while following the rules for the piece you are moving.
If a king is in a position where on the opposing player's turn, it could be attacked, the king is in "check." This piece must be moved on the next turn.

Good luck!

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