Chess Rules

 

Lesson Eight: Playing the Game.

We have now reviewed the board and all the pieces. There is one last special move to learn.

CASTLING (Tucking Your King Safely Away)

Normally, each player is allowed to move only one of his pieces per turn. However, one time during the game, if all the conditions are met, there is a situation where a player can move two pieces in the same turn. This is called "castling" and involves the King and one of the Rooks.

This is the starting position of the King and the Rooks with all of the other pieces removed for clarity.

The White player is about to castle on the Kingside.

The castle move involves moving the King two squares towards one of the Rooks...

... and then placing the Rook on the other side of the King.

Now let's watch while Black castles on the Queenside...

Just as we saw the White King do, the Black King moves two squares closer to the Rook, except in this case it's the Queen-side Rook...

And now the Rook moves on the other side of the King.

 

Castling is written as 1. O-O for Kingside castling, and O-O-O for Queenside castling. To remember this notation, just think of how many squares the Rook moves, and write down that many O's.

In order to castle, the King can not have moved previously, and the Rook it's castling with cannot have moved previously. There can be no pieces between the King and the Rook it's castling with, and the King cannot be in check, pass through check, or end up in check.

Here White has a mate in one. Can you figure out the move?

(1. O-O#)

After castling, the Rook gives check to the King, and the Knight, along with Black's own pieces, cut off the King's escape along the second rank.

This is a very unusual situation. In actual play, the castling move is usually made in order to tuck the King away in a little "castle" consisting of the Pawns in front of it (and often with the Knight standing guard) as in the following diagram.

This gets the King off the dangerous e file, and surrounds him with protective pieces. It also gives the Rook a better chance of getting out from behind the Pawns and into the game (since the d or e Pawn is usually advanced prior to this giving the Rook room to get off the back rank). For this reason, castling as soon as possible is usually a wise course. Kingside castling is usually preferable to Queenside castling.
   

We have now covered all the pieces and all the rules about their movements. Now for some general rules:

In Chess, White always starts the game. Usually the players decide who shall be White by one of the players hiding a White and Black Pawn in each hand and the other player choosing a hand.

If you touch a piece, you must move that piece if it has any legal move. This is called the "touch-move" rule and is strictly enforced in tournaments, and should be adhered to even in casual play for the discipline. If you want to adjust a piece during the game you must say "adjusting" so your partner knows you don't intend to move the piece.

Once you let go of the piece your move is done and you cannot change your mind and put it somewhere else that same turn.

Normally, games are timed. A special chess clock is used which consists of two clocks. Pushing one button stops the clock beneath it and starts the clock beside it. So, a game starts with Black punching his clock to start White's clock. Then AFTER completing a move each player punches the clock. If you run out of time, you loose just as surely as if you had been checkmated.

Various time controls can be used, from as little as a minute in speed chess, to 90 minutes or more for tournaments. In the 3M Club Chess Club tournaments we usually give each player 70 minutes.

Normally, both players write down all of the moves. This is required in tournament play, but is always a good idea so you can review the game and learn from your mistakes (or relive your victories!)

If you want to offer your partner a draw, you do so after you have made your move and before you punch your clock.

In order to prevent games from disintegrating into meaningless, repetitive movements, two rules regarding a draw have been created:

1. If after 50 moves (by each player) no piece has been captured and no Pawn has been moved, the game is drawn.

2. If the same exact position repeats itself 3 times on the board during the game, with the same player to move and the same available moves, the game is drawn.

Under USCF (United States Chess Federation) rules, there is no such rule as "draw by perpetual check" (where you keep checking your partners King on every move with no possibility of let-up). However, perpetual check should eventually lead to the position repeating 3 times, and so is commonly agreed to be a draw.

A word about your partner: most chessplayers call him or her your "opponent", but I prefer "partner" because I see Chess as less competitive and more like 2 people working to solve a puzzle together, but coming at it with different proposed solutions. Respect your partner and work with him or her to create an interesting game!
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