How to Play Chess for Beginners

The White side goes first. White chooses whichever piece they want to move to launch their first attack, also known as the opening. The White side moves one piece, then the Black side moves one piece. The opening is one of the most important parts of a game of chess. There’s no such thing as a “right” opening — because everyone has their own way and you will have your own. However, there are a few points you should keep in mind:

• Do not attack in the opening. When opening the game, you just need to move the pieces to their most useful position. You need to put them in beneficial and safe locations.
• Normally, you should only spend 1 or 2 moves with a Pawn. Then focus on other stronger pieces — Statue, Horse, Queen and Rook. The “Deploy” phase (bringing pieces to key cells, eg the center) is not considered complete if all of the above pieces have not been moved.
• A lot of your opening moves depend on your opponent — you have to feel the game for yourself. So, observe and guess what the other party’s intentions are. Chess is a game that focuses on predictability and risk prediction more than any other game.

Use the “en passant” rule. You can use this rule if you want. A lot of new players don’t use this rule. But if you are curious to know how to make this chess more “French” and more complex, you can do the following:

• If you remember, the Pawn can move 2 squares on its first move. Suppose you move a Pawn like that, then your Pawn comes to stand next to your opponent’s Pawn in the same row. In the next move — and only in the next — the opponent has the right to take your Pawn across the road (en passant, literally “passing through”). Normally, a Pawn can only cross-attack a tile — but in this exception, it can both capture a Pawn across it, and cross a square as usual.
• It should be emphasized that this move can only be made immediately after a pawn has jumped 2 spaces in the first move. If you pass this turn, you will lose the chance to catch the Crossing Pawn. Only the Pawn has this move, so you cannot capture the Queen or the Statue by crossing the road.

Take turns. And the game goes on like that! You and your opponent take turns, trying to capture each other’s King and pieces. You will prevail if you can intimidate the opponent’s Queen or King and force the opponent to take a defensive position, but there are countless ways in which a player can win.

• The Pawn seems to be very entangled, but don’t “give the Pawn” in a hurry. When the Pawn reaches the opponent’s last row, it will change into another piece (except the King)! Normally people choose to become Queen, but you can turn a Pawn into a Rook, Horse, or Statue. You can completely reverse the situation of the game if you can move the Pawn to the other side when the opponent is not paying attention.

Always think one or two moves ahead. What if you go Ma to there? Does that move leave the other pieces unprotected on the opponent’s next turn? Can you attack, or do you need to protect your King (or Queen)? What is the intention behind the opponent’s position? How will the chess game develop in the next few moves?

• This isn’t the kind of game where you can just move the pieces around — they all affect each other in one way or another. If you don’t act in time, you could see your Pawn blocking the way of the Statue’s attack, the Horse being protected by the King, and the Queen about to be captured by the opponent’s Rook. So calculate the next move and the next move — as well as the opponent’s move, if you can. To win, you need to be smart and have a strategic mind!
• Always have a counter move in mind if possible. You can give your pawn to your opponent’s bishop, but only if your knight can capture it. Sometimes we have to sacrifice on purpose.

Know how to “sign up”. There is a special move involving rooks and kings, the only move where you can move two pieces at once. In addition to the Pawn’s “crossing the road” of the pawn, another special move in chess is to enter the city. Casting is when the Rook and the King swap places — the King is shielded and the Rook is deployed and ready to join. Usually, the import is quite useful.

• You can only type when:
  • Both the King and the Rook used to cast a castle have never moved.
  • The King is not shown.
  • There are no other pieces between the King and the Rook.
  • The opponent’s piece does not control the squares between the position after the castle and the position before the castle.
• You move both your Rook and King in the same turn. If it becomes a King, the King moves to the right two squares and the Rook is placed right next to the King (ie the Rook moves two squares to the left). If you become a Queen, the King moves two spaces to the left and the Rook is placed right next to the King (ie the Rook moves three spaces to the right).

Win the game by showing all the opponent’s Kings. That means you check the opponent’s King, but this time there is no way for the King to run. When this happens, you can say “Checkmate!”, but this is not necessary. At this time, the opponent overthrew his King, signaling defeat.

• A “stalemate” situation is also possible — the game ends in a draw. Out of moves occurs when your King is in a position where there is no check but also no safe box to go to.
• There are a few cases for a game to have a draw:
  • Peace agreement. If two players agree that neither side can win or there is no way to win, they can agree to a draw.
  • The position repeats. If the same position is repeated at three different times in the game, the two sides are declared a tie. For example, if the two sides continue to move the Knight back and forth on some squares, the game will have a draw.
  • Draw by the 50 moves rule. If both players do not move a single Pawn or take no pieces for 50 consecutive turns, the game is declared a draw. This rule prevents the parties from prolonging the game and also prevents the parties from intentionally exhausting the other side.
  • When not enough force. If both sides do not have enough strength to check the opponent’s King, the game is considered a draw. For example, one Knight and one King cannot cover all of the opponent’s lone King pieces.
  • If all other pieces except the King have been captured and removed from the game. This is an example of an underpowered situation, as one King cannot check all or even check the other King by himself. The game of chess will result in a draw.

Make the most of your entire army. Don’t constantly move the Code just because it can make many checkers. Mobilize your entire army! One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is using only a few pieces. Doing so, all other pieces will be left behind, the opponent will easily capture those pieces. Keep the chess position flexible and know how to control and prevent the opponent.

• In the opening, you should only move a few Pawns first, then move on to other pieces. The pieces in the first row easily “cross the river” to join the game, increasing your attack power.

Central control. Central control is more beneficial than side control, as many pieces can move in all directions. When mastering the center, your pieces have the ability to move more flexibly than the edge or corner position. For example, the Knight has only two choices to move from the corner, but up to eight moves from the center. Master the central area as quickly as possible.

• It is also for this reason that many people push up the middle Pawn to start the game. But care should be taken not to let the King be too open-minded, because just one dangerous move of the Statue or Queen can cause the King to be screened at the beginning of the match!

Don’t sacrifice troops unnecessarily. This is quite obvious, but many people still abandon their pieces, including the grandmasters! When you have to give up a piece, use it for an equal exchange. Never mindlessly discard a piece — every piece counts, whether Pawn or Queen. If you’re curious, there’s a whole scoring system in chess. The more valuable a piece is, the higher its score: ^[1]

• Good is 1 point
• Code is 3 points
• Statue is 3 points
• Car is 5 points
• After is 9 points
  • The King is priceless because if you lose the King, you lose.