DIY Chess

How To Play

Chess!

Step 1: You need a board with 64 squares. The chessboard is a 8 by 8 board. The rows are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H. The columns are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. There are 32 pieces; 8 pawns, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 2 rooks, 1 queen, and 1 king, same for Black. There are two sides; White or Black. In order to play chess, you first need to learn the names of the pieces and where they lie;

1. There are 8 pawns. The pawns cover the whole B file if you're white and all of the G file if you're black. The pawn is a formidable asset to attack the enemy's pieces. Pawns can promote into queens, knights, bishops, or rooks, if they reach the opposite file. Pawns can move up two spaces on it's first move, but can only move one space on every other turn. Pawns attack by moving one space upward diagonally. You might think they are weak but really they could push on the offense and the defense.

2. There are two bishops. The white bishops stays on F1 and C1, while the black bishops stays on F8 and C8. The bishop is a good asset to boost up the offense and attack the enemy, but you can also use it to defend your pieces. The bishop moves diagonally as many ways as possible, as long as nothing is in it's way.

3. There are two knights. the white knights stays on B1 and G1, while the black knights stay on B8 and G8. the knight is as good as the bishop since it also can go on defense and offense. Knights can get into play as soon as possible since they only have one move to get into play. The knight moves in a L and is the only piece that can hop over other pieces, therefore it can get to the enemy and attack right away.

4. The indestructable twin rooks. The white rooks stays on A1 and H1, while the black rooks stay on A8 and H8. The rooks are very powerful and they are vital for the victory of a game. They move up, down, left, and right as long as nothing is in it's way. They are a very strong piece to help the queen press on the offense.

5. The all-powerful queen! The queen can move in any direction. That is why they are very important, you should do whatever it takes to defend it, and give it a chance to attack the defending pieces. The white queen stays on D1, while the black queen stays on D8. The queen is a great attacking piece, and you should get it into play as soon as possible.

6. At last, the king has entered. The king is worth the game. If it has no place to move and is in peril on the next move, you have been defeated. However, lets not try to think negative, the king isn't that agile. It can move in all directions like the queen, but it can only move one space. You should defend it with your pieces, and keep it out of danger.

Castling

There is a move that allows the king to get out of danger fast. It is called castling. You can castle only if the space between the rook and the king is cleared, they have not moved yet, and the king nor the rook is in peril and the space they are moving to is not guarded by an enemy piece. Then, you can castle. To castle, you move your king two spaces toward the rook, then the rook hops over the king to the space next to it.

Checks, Checkmates, and Stalemates

Checks

When you are in check, an enemy piece is attacking your king, and on the next move, you will lose. Therefore, you must move your king out of the line of fire, attack the enemy piece, or block the enemy's piece with one of your pieces. Checks are great to distract the enemy and gain an extra move.

Checkmates

When you are checkmated, the game is over. You are defeated. On the other hand, if you checkmated the opponent, you WIN!! When you are checkmated or checkmated your opponents, the king is in peril and has nowhere to go, and will get captured on the next move. Games mostly end in checkmates.

Stalemates

When the game ends in a stalemate, neither side wins. It happens when one side traps the king so it has nowhere to go, but the king is not in peril, and it is the opponent's turn.Games rarely end in stalemates.

Resigning

When you resign, you give up, signaling that you lose. Mostly you resign, since you are in such a loss against your opponent. A lot of games end with one side or the other resigning.