Chess is an amazing board game with so many benefits that include but are not limited to:

• Develops perspective
• Improves problem-solving skills
• Improves memory
• Builds Self Confidence
• Deepens focus
• Teaches patience
• Improves the ability to think under pressure
• Elevates the art of creative thinking
• Boosts planning & strategic thinking skills
• Promotes the Growth of Dendrites in the Brain
• Protects against dementia
• Tonnes of fun

Let’s face it… with the lockdowns brought on by this covid pandemic, you find yourself with so much time and your kids suddenly also have way too much time on their hands and boredom is a frequent word in your conversations. Well, you don’t have to watch TV all the time… Learn a game or two and improve your skills. Today I suggest you learn chess not only because I love it but because of the above benefits… unless the benefits are just too awesome for you then I understand if you don’t want to be awesome.

To get you started we will look at some simple rules as an introduction to chess and hopefully inspire other chess players to write articles like this one so that you can continue to learn more while you build an awesome version of yourself through chess. I assume you have already bought your own chessboard and now you just want to get started on using it:) Buy chessboards online by clicking here or play online chess by clicking here.

You don’t have to be a chess master to enjoy it; You just need to understand the objective, know the pieces and rules.

What is The Objective of Chess

The objective of chess is to capture or checkmate your opponent’s king.

Let’s start by going through the pieces to introduce you to the game of chess.

The Chess Board

Chessboards have morphed into works of art that people even as recent as 20 years ago never thought would be possible. Now they can be made from almost any material under the sun.

So let’s take a look at the board and explain it so that you have a good understanding before we jump into playing the game. The board has 64 equal squares that have alternating two colors referred to as black and white even if they are brown and white or any other fancy color combination. No two squares of the same color are ever next to each other; they only touch at the corners. There are many different variations of chessboard sizes that we will discuss in another article.

The chessboard has horizontal rows and vertical columns. The horizontal rows are marked by numbers from 1 to 8 while the vertical columns are marked by letters A to H. The rows are referred to as ranks while the columns are referred to as the file. The bottom right corner for each player must always be a white square. Before we talk about setting up the chess pieces let’s have a look at each of them – there are six types namely The King, The Queen, The Bishop, The Knight, The Castle and The Pawn.

The Pawn

Each player has 8 pawns on the chessboard. A pawn has the option on its first move to either move two spaces or one space after which it can only move one space at a time. The pawn can only move forward except when it’s capturing a piece in which case it can only capture diagonally. It’s the only chess piece that captures in a different way from the way it moves. Once the pawn reaches the other side it can be promoted to any other piece of the player’s choosing between a Queen, Bishop, Knight or Rook. A player can have as many pieces of the same type as possible through promotion.

The Castle/The Rook

The Rook, oftentimes referred to as the Castle, moves up and down the rank and the file but never diagonally. Each player has 2 rooks that are placed behind the Pawns on the two corners. A Rook can move any number of spaces as long as it’s not obstructed by another piece. If the obstructing piece belongs to the opponent then the Rook is free to capture it and occupy its space.

The Knight

There are 2 Knights for each player that are placed in the space between the Rook and the Bishop. Knights can only move 3 spaces at a time in ‘L’ shapes and have the unique ability to leap over other chess pieces to get to their destination spot. If the spot is occupied by the opponent’s piece then the Knight can capture that piece and occupy the space.

The Bishop

Each player gets 2 bishops on the chessboard placed between the king and a Knight plus another placed between the Queen and the other Knight. Bishops move diagonally on the chessboard and are bound to the color they start on, meaning that a Bishop that starts on the white square can never sit on a black square because it will only move diagonally along white squares only. One Bishop starts on a white square and the other on a black square. Bishops can move any number of squares on the chessboard as long as they are not obstructed and are free to capture the opponent’s obstructing pieces and occupy their space.

The Queen

Each player starts the chess game with one Queen; often considered the most powerful chess piece because of its freedom and agility so to speak. The Queen can move in any direction and any number of spaces as long as she is not obstructed by any piece. She is free to capture the opponent’s obstructing pieces and occupy their space.

The King

Each player will always have just one King on the chessboard; the most critical chess piece on the chessboard. The king, much like the Queen, can move in any direction except that the piece is limited to just one space at a time. The King is also the only chess piece that cannot move into a check position even to check another king. If he is captured/checkmated then the game is over.

Setting Up Your Chess Board

Setting up the chessboard is a lot simpler than most people imagine yet somehow seems to be the most intimidating for newbies. It’s just a matter of understanding the following… The Rooks/Castles go on the 2 corners facing the player on the first rank, followed by the knights next to each Rook, followed by the Bishops next to each Knight and then the King and Queen in the middle. Most people get confused about where the King and Queen should go. The rule to remember here is that the Queen starts off on the square that is the same color as her. The eight Pawns occupy the entire second rank. That’s it!!!

How Does The Chess Game End

The main objective of chess is to capture or checkmate your opponent’s King. That’s why the King is the most important piece on the chessboard. There are several ways a chess game can end: 1) checkmate 2) stalemate or 3) timeout.

Checkmate is when the king is in check and cannot make any permissible move without getting out of check. This is the first and most common way most games will end.

The other way a chess game can end as already mentioned above is a stalemate; when a king’s next only permissible move would put the king in check. In this case, it’s a draw because you can’t place your own king in check and the other player did not capture/checkmate your king so hence a stalemate. The last way a chess game can end is when it’s timed and an opponent runs out of time… in that case, the player that runs out of time loses the game regardless of pieces left on the board.

Now that you know a little bit about chess, go ahead and purchase your chess set and start playing… Every child and adult should learn how to play chess; it’s a great way to pass time during these lockdown periods and of course, the benefits we mentioned earlier are just too kool to pass up. Have you tried learning chess or are you a chess enthusiast? Tell us about your chess experiences in the comments below…