White always moves first, and then the players take turns moving. Only one piece may be moved at each turn (except for "castling" a special move). The Knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces. All other pieces move along unblocked lines. You may not move a piece to a square already occupied by one of your own pieces. But you can capture an enemy piece that stands on a square where one of your pieces can move.

• The Queen - is the most powerful piece. The queen can move any number of squares in any direction-horizontal, vertical, or diagonal- if her path is not blocked.

• The Rook - is the next most powerful piece. The Rook can move any number of squares vertically or horizontally if its path is not blocked.

• The Bishop - can move any number of squares diagonally if its path is not blocked.

• The Knight - his move is very special. It hops directly from its old square to its new square. It can jump over other pieces between old and new square. The knight moves like a "L"- two squares horizontally or vertically and then makes a right angle turn for one more square. The Knight always lands on a square opposite in color from its old square.

• The King - is the most important piece. When he is trapped, his whole army will lose. The King can move one square in any direction. The King may never move into check.

• The Pawn - moves straight ahead (never backwards), but it captures diagonally. It moves one square at a time, but on its first move it has the option of moving forward one or two squares. If a pawn moves all the way to the opposite end of the board, it is immediately promoted to another piece, usually a Queen. It may not remain a pawn or become a King.

The Point of the Game
The main goal of chess is to checkmate your opponent's King. The King is not actually captured and removed from the board like other pieces. If the King is attacked (checked) and threatened with being captured, it must get out of a check. If there is no way out, the position is a checkmate and the side that is checkmated loses. Here are three ways to get out of a check:

1. Capture the attacking piece,
2. Place one of your own pieces between the attacker and your King (unless your being attacked by a King), and
3. Move the King away from the check. If a checked player can't do any of these three ways, he will lose the game. If a King is not in check, but that player can make no legal move, the position is called a stalemate and the game is scored as a tie.

Castling
Each player may castle only one time during a game. Castling is a special move that lets a player move two pieces at once- the King and the Rook. The player would then move his King two squares to its left or right toward one of his Rooks. The Rook then goes to the square beside the King and toward the center of the game board. In order to castle, neither the King nor the Rook may have moved before. The King may not be involved with a check. When castling, there may not be any other pieces white or black between the King and the Rook.

This move is very important because it gives you the chance to put your King in a safe place and also lets the Rook become more active.

En Passant
This is a French phrase used for a special pawn capture. It means "in passing." En Passant happens when one player moves a pawn two squares forward to try to avoid being captured by the opponent's pawn. The capture is then made exactly as if the player had moved the pawn only one square forward.

Time Controls and Sudden Death
In professional chess or chess tournaments, different time controls are used. Two different types of clocks are used with a time controlled tournament. The two clocks are a digital clock and a mechanical clock. A digital clock will display the exact number of minutes and seconds for each player. A mechanical clock has a traditional clock face and hands. It also has a device called a flag that will signal when a player's time is up. When the time is up, the flag will fall down.

A sudden death time control is one where the players must make all their moves before time expires. For example, a time control of Game/30 means that each player must make all their moves in 30 minutes or less. If a player needs to use more than their 30 minutes before the game is decided, that player loses on time. A time control of 40/2 means that each player has two hours to make the first 40 moves.

Chess tips and strategies

1. Don't rush. Take your time and be sure to study the chess board carefully.
2. Watch your opponent's moves.
3. Have a plan and make the best moves you can.
4. Establish a value for each of the game pieces.
5. Control the center.
6. Keep your king safe.
7. Don't expose your good pieces such as your queen or rook too early.
8. Have strength in numbers. Attack with as many pieces as possible.
9. If you want to gain space, try advancing pawns.
10. Know when to trade pieces.

Previous chess champions:

• Alexander Alekhine
• Jose Raul Capablanca
• Bobby Fisher
• Garry Kasparov
• Wilheim Steintz
• Mikhail Tal

Vocabulary
Check:	A move in chess that directly attacks an opponent's king but does not constitute a checkmate.
Checkmate:	To attack (a chess opponent's king) in such a manner that no escape or defense is possible, thus ending the game.
Stalemate:	A drawing position in chess in which the king, although not in check, can move only into check and no other piece can move.
Castling:	To move the king in chess from its own square two empty squares to one side and then, in the same move, bring the rook from that side to the square immediately past the new position of the king.
Time control:	The amount of time each player has to make some or all moves during a game.
Rank:	Any of the rows of squares running crosswise to the files on a playing board in chess or checkers.
File:	Any of the rows of squares that run forward and backward between players on a playing board in chess or checkers.