Chess is the same game in a Brooklyn park, a London pub league and a Hastings congress, because the rules are standardised by FIDE in the Laws of Chess. The current edition took effect on 1 January 2023 and is still in force in 2026; FIDE’s 2026 updates touched equipment, tie-break and Swiss pairing regulations, not the basic Laws. This guide covers how each piece moves, the special moves that trip up beginners, every way a game can be drawn, the touch-move rule, and how FIDE separates classical, rapid and blitz. It closes with the basics of FIDE ratings and a worked Elo example. National bodies such as the English Chess Federation and US Chess follow the same Laws for FIDE-rated events, with their own national rating systems on top.
The board and how the pieces move
The board has 64 squares with a light square in each player’s right-hand corner. White moves first, and players alternate one move at a time.
| Piece | Moves | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| King | One square in any direction | May never move into check |
| Queen | Any number of squares in a straight line or diagonal | Most powerful piece |
| Rook | Any number of squares along a rank or file | Takes part in castling |
| Bishop | Any number of squares diagonally | Stays on one colour all game |
| Knight | L-shape: two squares one way, one square sideways | Only piece that jumps over others |
| Pawn | One square forward, two from its starting square | Captures one square diagonally forward |
No piece except the knight may jump over another. You capture by moving onto a square occupied by an opponent’s piece, which is removed.
Special moves: castling, en passant, promotion
Castling
The king moves two squares towards a rook, and that rook jumps to the square the king crossed. It is legal only if:
- neither the king nor that rook has moved yet,
- all squares between them are empty,
- the king is not in check, and does not pass through or land on a square attacked by an enemy piece.
The rook may be attacked, and the rook may pass over an attacked square (in queenside castling). Castling counts as a king move, so touch the king first and use one hand.
En passant
If a pawn moves two squares from its starting square and lands beside an enemy pawn, that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. The capture must happen immediately on the next move or the right is lost.
Promotion
A pawn reaching the last rank must be exchanged, as part of the same move, for a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same colour. You are not limited to pieces already captured, so two or more queens are legal. Choosing a knight or rook instead of a queen is called underpromotion and sometimes avoids stalemate.
Check, checkmate and stalemate
- Check: the king is attacked. You must get out of check by moving the king, capturing the attacker or blocking the line.
- Checkmate: the king is in check and there is no legal way out. The game ends immediately.
- Stalemate: the side to move has no legal move and is not in check. The game is a draw, a frequent heartbreak for players who were completely winning.
You never actually capture a king. Under the Laws, an illegal move (for example leaving your king in check) is penalised: in standard games the first completed illegal move gives the opponent two extra minutes and the second loses the game. In rapid and blitz the extra time is one minute.
Every way a game can be drawn
- Stalemate, as above.
- Agreement between the players (some events restrict early draw offers).
- Threefold repetition: the same position, with the same player to move and the same castling and en passant rights, occurs three times. The player must claim it correctly, usually by writing the move and stopping the clock.
- 50-move rule: each player has made 50 moves without a pawn move or capture. Also a claim.
- Automatic draws: fivefold repetition, or 75 moves by each player without a pawn move or capture. The arbiter ends the game without a claim.
- Dead position: no sequence of legal moves can lead to checkmate, for example king vs king, king and bishop vs king, or king and knight vs king.
- Flag fall without mating material: if your time runs out but your opponent cannot possibly checkmate you, the game is drawn rather than lost.
Touch-move and clock etiquette
Over the board, the touch-move rule (Article 4) applies:
- If you deliberately touch one of your pieces, you must move it, provided it has a legal move.
- If you touch an opponent’s piece, you must capture it if you can.
- Once you release a piece on a square with a legal move, the move cannot be changed.
- Want to centre a piece? Say “I adjust” (or “j’adoube”) before touching it.
Press the clock with the same hand that moved the piece. In online chess touch-move does not exist, but a premove or mouse slip is final.
FIDE time controls: classical, rapid, blitz, bullet
The Laws define categories by the total time each player gets for a 60-move game: base time + 60 × increment.
| Category | Time per player for 60 moves | Typical examples | FIDE rating list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (classical) | 60 minutes or more | 90 min + 30 s; 120 min | Standard |
| Rapid | More than 10, less than 60 minutes | 15+10, 25+10 | Rapid |
| Blitz | 10 minutes or less | 3+2, 5+0 | Blitz |
| Bullet | Not defined by FIDE; online, usually under 3 minutes | 1+0, 2+1 | None |
Worked examples
- 90+30: 90 + 60 × 0.5 = 120 minutes, standard.
- 15+10: 15 + 60 × 10 s = 15 + 10 = 25 minutes, rapid.
- 10+5: 10 + 5 = 15 minutes. Rapid, not blitz, a common surprise.
- 3+2: 3 + 2 = 5 minutes, blitz.
For a standard game to be FIDE-rated, the 2024 rating regulations add minimums: 120 minutes per player if one player is rated 2400 or higher, 90 minutes if one is rated 1800 or higher, and 60 minutes if both are below 1800. That is one reason many weekend opens use 90+30 or longer.
FIDE rating basics
FIDE publishes separate standard, rapid and blitz ratings. Key points from the regulations in force since 1 March 2024:
- Floor 1400: a first rating needs at least five games against rated opponents and must be at least 1400; initial ratings are capped at 2200.
- K-factor: 40 for new players (first 30 games) and juniors under 2300 until the end of their 18th-birthday year; 20 below 2400; 10 once a player has reached 2400.
- 400-point rule: for players under 2650, a rating gap larger than 400 counts as 400.
- Rating change per game = K × (score − expected score).
Worked Elo example
A 1600 player beats an 1800 player. The 200-point gap gives the lower-rated player an expected score of about 0.24 (FIDE’s table; the formula 1 / (1 + 10^(200/400)) gives 0.240). With K = 20:
- Win: 20 × (1 − 0.24) = 15.2, so +15; the 1800 player loses 15.
- Draw: 20 × (0.5 − 0.24) = 5.2, so +5.
- Loss: 20 × (0 − 0.24) = −4.8, so −5.
Try your own results with the Elo calculator, which handles K-factor and multiple games. Running a club event? The Swiss tournament pairing tool pairs players with equal scores round by round, the format used at most opens.
Sources
Rules follow the FIDE Laws of Chess (edition effective 1 January 2023, current in 2026), including Appendices A and B for rapid and blitz. Rating figures follow the FIDE Rating Regulations effective 1 March 2024, with the 400-point rule wording applicable from 1 October 2025. Bullet is an online convention, not a FIDE category. For national rating systems check the ECF or US Chess handbooks.