How to play Chess
You play the white pieces against Carol, the computer, who plays black. White always moves first. The aim is to checkmate Carol's king: to attack it so that it has no way to escape. Tap one of your pieces to see where it can go (the squares are marked), then tap where you want it to move.
How the pieces move
- King: one square in any direction. It must never move into check.
- Queen: any number of squares in a straight line, across, up and down, or diagonally.
- Rook: any number of squares across or up and down.
- Bishop: any number of squares diagonally, so it always stays on squares of one color.
- Knight: an L shape: two squares one way and one square to the side. It's the only piece that can jump over others.
- Pawn: one square straight forward (two on its first move), but it captures one square diagonally forward.
Pieces capture by moving onto a square held by one of Carol's pieces, which is taken off the board. Only the knight can jump; every other piece needs a clear path.
Special moves
- Castling: if your king and a rook haven't moved, the squares between them are empty, and your king isn't in check or passing through an attacked square, the king can move two squares toward the rook, and the rook jumps to the other side of it. Tap your king, then the square two to its left or right.
- Promotion: a pawn that reaches the far side of the board becomes a new piece. Here it always becomes a queen, the strongest choice almost every time.
- En passant: if Carol moves a pawn two squares and it lands right beside one of your pawns, your pawn can capture it as if it had moved only one square, but only on your very next move. The board marks it when it's possible.
Check, checkmate and draws
- A king that's under attack is in check, and the board shows it with a red glow. You must get out of check at once, by moving the king, blocking the attack, or capturing the attacker.
- If there's no way out, it's checkmate and the game is over.
- The game is a draw if the player to move has no legal move but isn't in check (stalemate), if the same position comes up three times, if fifty moves each pass with no capture and no pawn move, or if neither side has enough pieces left to checkmate.
Tips for beginners
- Control the center. Pawns and pieces in the middle of the board have the most room to move.
- Bring out your knights and bishops early, and castle to keep your king safe.
- Before every move, check what's attacked. Is one of your pieces under attack? Can you take one of Carol's for free?
- Count the value of pieces. A pawn is worth about 1, a knight or bishop 3, a rook 5 and a queen 9. Don't trade a rook for a knight unless it wins you something more.
- Ask for a hint. It shows the move Carol would make in your place and explains why, in plain words.
Questions
How good is Carol?
Choose a level in Settings. On Easy, Carol looks only one move ahead and makes plenty of mistakes. On Medium, Carol looks two moves ahead and follows every exchange of pieces to the end, so won't leave a piece hanging. On Hard, Carol looks up to three moves ahead. In our tests, Easy beat a player making random moves in every game, Medium beat Easy in every game, and Hard beat Medium in most games without losing one.
What do the letters and numbers mean?
Each square has a name: a letter for its column (a to h, from your left) and a number for its row (1 to 8, from your side). Moves are written in the standard way: Nf3 means a knight moves to f3, exd5 means the pawn on the e column captures on d5, and O-O means castling. A + means check, and # means checkmate.
Is any money involved?
No. Chess here is played just for fun: there's no betting, no prizes and no real money, and nothing to buy.
Can I take back a move?
Yes. Undo takes back your last move, and Carol's reply. Your game also saves itself, so you can stop at any time and carry on later.