How to play Chess960

Chess is a board game for two players, White and Black, in which each side has sixteen pieces and tries to checkmate the other side's king.

The pieces on the back rank start in one of 960 shuffled positions.

About Chess960

Chess960 shuffles the pieces on the back rank into one of 960 starting positions, the same for White and Black, drawn at random for each game.

The bishops always start on squares of opposite colours, and the king always starts between the two rooks.

Castling ends with the king and rook on the same squares as in Chess, wherever they started, and the squares they cross must be empty apart from the two of them. To castle, move the king onto the rook it castles with.

Every other rule, from en passant and promotion to the draws, is the same as in Chess.

The goal of Chess

Chess is played by two players, White and Black, each starting with sixteen pieces: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. You win by checkmating your opponent's king, which means attacking it so that no move can save it. Here you play against a computer player, or against another person at an online table.

How to set up Chess

The board has 64 squares in eight rows, called ranks, and eight columns, called files, with a light square in each player's near right corner. In Chess each side's pawns fill its second rank, and behind them stand rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight and rook, with the white queen on d1 and the black queen on d8.

In Chess960 the pawns start in the same place, but the pieces behind them are shuffled into one of 960 positions, the same for both sides. The bishops always stand on squares of opposite colours, and the king always stands somewhere between the two rooks.

White moves first. Against the computer you choose White, Black or a random colour in the menu beside New game, and at an online table the colours are drawn by lot.

Chess rules

A rook moves any number of squares along a rank or file, a bishop any number along a diagonal, and a queen either way. None of them may jump over another piece. A knight moves in an L shape, two squares one way and one square to the side, and is the only piece that jumps. A king moves one square in any direction.

A pawn moves one square straight forward, or two from its starting square if both squares are empty. It captures one square diagonally forward, and it never moves backwards.

A piece captures by moving onto a square held by an enemy piece, which is taken off the board. No piece may move onto a square held by a piece of its own colour.

When a pawn moves two squares and lands beside an enemy pawn, that pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. This capture is called en passant, and it is allowed only on the very next move.

A pawn that reaches the last rank is promoted in the same move to a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its colour, whichever you choose, even if you still have that piece on the board.

Castling moves the king and a rook in one move: the king goes to the g-file and the rook to the f-file, or the king to the c-file and the rook to the d-file. It is allowed only if neither piece has moved yet, the squares between them are empty, the king is not in check, and the king does not pass over or land on an attacked square.

A king that is attacked is in check, and no move may leave or put your own king in check. A move that would do so is refused.

The full Chess guide, with strategy tips and common questions