Chess
Once you know the moves, you might start wondering: is a 1500 rating good or bad? How did a computer beat the world champion? Why can a pawn capture "en passant"? This section collects the things worth knowing beyond the board. When you need a break from reading, go play chess online.
Players and computers
Ratings, titles, and how computers went from chasing humans to leaving them far behind.
- Chess Ratings and TitlesHow ratings are calculated, how many points you gain for a win, and what rating you need for titles like grandmaster and international master.
- Computer ChessHow computers play chess, how Deep Blue beat Kasparov, and why today's engines are too strong for any human.
- World Chess ChampionsEvery world champion since 1886, each one's playing style and their most famous match.
- The History of ChessWhere chess came from, when the queen became the strongest piece, and how the rules and tournaments grew into what they are today over 1,500 years.
The finer points of the rules
The how-to-play guide covers the basic moves. Here, the rules people ask about most are explained in full.
- En passantWhen an enemy pawn jumps two squares and lands right next to your pawn, you can capture it as if it had moved only one.
- CastlingHow to castle kingside and queenside, the five situations where you can't castle, and when and which way you should castle.
- StalemateIt's your opponent's turn, they're not in check, and they have no legal move. That's stalemate. The side that's ahead fears it most; the side that's behind uses it to survive.
- Chess piece valuesRoughly how many points each piece is worth, how to work out whether a trade is good, and when the numbers stop being accurate.
Ways to play
- Chess Clocks and Time ControlsHow a chess clock works, what "3+2" means, how fast and slow games are classified, and what to do when you're short on time.
- Chess960 (Fischer Random)The chess variant Fischer proposed: the back-rank pieces are shuffled, giving 960 possible starting positions, so the game tests real chess skill instead of memorized lines.
- Chess GlossaryFrom check and castling to forks and zugzwang, the most common chess terms in plain English, each one linked to the full article.
- The Immortal GameLondon, 1851. Anderssen gives away a bishop, both rooks and his queen, and in the version handed down he mates with his three remaining minor pieces. The most famous game in chess history.
- The Opera GameParis, 1858. Morphy plays a game while watching an opera and mates in 17 moves with fast development and sacrifices. The best famous game for beginners.
Frequently asked questions
How is this section different from the how-to-play guide?
The how-to-play guide teaches you how to play on this site and how each piece moves. This section is about chess itself: the finer points of the rules, ratings, computers and history.
When will the "Coming soon" articles be ready?
They'll be added over time. Finished articles link straight to the page; the ones not written yet are listed by title for now.
Where does the information come from?
The rules follow FIDE, the International Chess Federation. The history and the people are written in our own words after checking several sources, and where accounts differ, we say so.
Give it a try
Itching to play after all that reading? Open free online chess and play the computer. Want puzzles? See the puzzles. Want to pick a level right away? Go back to play chess against the computer on the home page.