How to play chess: a beginner's tutorial

Chess looks complicated, but a first game needs only a few ideas: get your pieces out, keep them safe, and look for checks and captures. This tutorial plays through a beginner’s first game step by step, then gives you the opening principles, three checkmates every player should know, the basic tactics and the mistakes many players make at the start. You can try every lesson right away on the chess board, against a friend or the computer. If you are not sure how a piece moves, keep the chess rules guide open in another tab.

What you will learn

• How to set up a game and make your first ten moves with a plan.
• The four opening principles that keep you out of trouble.
• How to checkmate with a queen, with two rooks, and on the back rank.
• Forks, pins and skewers: the basic tactics for winning material.
• A simple routine to check every move before you play it.
• A two-week practice plan.

Your first game, step by step

Choose vs Computer, pick Easy and play White. Follow these moves and the reason behind each one. The computer may answer differently; the ideas stay the same.

1. Play 1. e4. Move the pawn in front of your king two squares. It takes a central square and opens diagonals for your queen and your light-squared bishop.

2. Answer the reply with a knight: 2. Nf3. Knights belong near the center, where they reach up to eight squares. If Black played 1… e5, your knight now attacks that pawn.

3. Develop a bishop: 3. Bc4. The bishop aims at f7, the weakest square near Black’s king, because only the king defends it.

4. Support the center: 4. d3. This protects your e4 pawn and opens a diagonal for your other bishop.

5. Bring out the second knight: 5. Nc3. Now four of your pieces are in play and your pawns stand strong in the middle.

6. Castle: 6. O-O. Move the king two squares toward the h1 rook; the rook jumps to f1. Your king is now safe behind three pawns, and your rooks can come to the center.

7. Develop the last minor piece: 7. Be3 or 7. Bg5. Every minor piece (knight and bishop) should be off the back rank before you start an attack.

8. Look for a target. Ask what the last Black move attacked, and which Black piece is undefended. Against Easy you will often find a piece you can capture for free.

9. Trade when you are ahead. If you have won material, exchanging pieces makes your extra piece count for more.

10. Finish with checkmate. Use the patterns below. When the computer has only its king left, push it to the edge and deliver mate; don’t stop at winning material.

Stuck at any point? Press Undo to take your move back and try another idea. Against the computer, Undo goes back to your own previous move.

If you play Black

The same ideas work with the black pieces; you are simply one move behind. Against 1. e4, answer 1… e5 and claim your share of the center. After 2. Nf3, defend the attacked pawn with 2… Nc6, which also develops a piece. Then develop your kingside pieces, for example 3… Bc5 or 3… Nf6, castle kingside and connect your rooks. Against 1. d4, the mirror move 1… d5 works the same way.

Be extra careful about f7 in the first few moves. A white queen and bishop that both aim at it (for example Qh5 and Bc4) threaten Qxf7, which is checkmate. Defend with …g6 (which also attacks the queen) or …Qe7, but not …Nf6, which blocks nothing and allows Qxf7 mate. Parry the threat and the early attack falls flat, often leaving White’s queen exposed.

Opening principles

1. Control the center (e4, d4, e5, d5) with pawns and pieces. Pieces in the center attack more squares.
2. Develop knights and bishops first, usually knights before bishops, and each piece once. Don’t move the same piece twice in the opening without a reason.
3. Castle early, usually within the first ten moves.
4. Don’t bring the queen out too early. It can be chased around by smaller pieces, and every chase costs you a move while your opponent develops.

Three checkmates to learn first

Queen and king against king. Use the queen to cut the enemy king off, a knight’s move away from it, and follow it as it moves, pushing it toward an edge. Then bring your own king up so it stands two squares from the enemy king, and give mate with the queen on the edge, protected by your king. Watch out for stalemate: always leave the lone king a square to move to until the final check.

The two-rook ladder. Two rooks can mate without help from the king. Put one rook on a rank to stop the king from crossing it, give check with the other rook on the next rank, and keep alternating: each check pushes the king back one rank until it reaches the edge. If the king comes close to a rook, move that rook to the far side of the board on the same rank.

The back-rank mate. A king that has castled behind three unmoved pawns can be trapped on its own back rank: a rook or queen arrives on that rank with check and the pawns block every escape. Use it against your opponent, and avoid it yourself by giving your king an escape square (for example with h3) once the danger appears.

Tactics that win games

• Fork: one piece attacks two at once. Knights are especially good at forks; a knight check that also hits the queen wins the queen.
• Pin: a bishop, rook or queen attacks a piece that can’t move because a more valuable piece (often the king) stands behind it. A pinned piece is a weak defender, so attack it again.
• Skewer: the reverse of a pin. You attack a valuable piece, it moves away, and you capture the piece behind it.
• Discovered attack: moving one piece opens a line for another. If the moving piece also attacks something, your opponent faces two threats.
• Removing the defender: capture or chase away the piece that protects something, then take the thing it protected.

Before every move, run a three-question check: What does my opponent’s last move threaten? Can I give a check or make a capture? Is the piece I’m about to move, or the square it leaves, now undefended? Make it a habit: it catches many one-move blunders before you play them.

Common beginner mistakes

• Leaving pieces undefended. Most early games are decided by a piece left where it can be taken for free. Count attackers and defenders before you move.
• Moving only pawns. Pawn moves can’t be taken back and don’t develop pieces. In the first ten moves, play two or three pawn moves, not eight.
• Grabbing material while the king is in danger. A pawn is not worth getting mated.
• Forgetting the opponent’s threat. It is easy to follow your own plan and miss that your queen is attacked.
• Stalemating a winning position. With a big lead, check that your opponent still has a legal move after yours.
• Trading the wrong pieces. Use the usual values, pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9, to see whether a swap helps you.

Practice plan

• Days 1–3: play three games a day against Easy. After each game, find the moment you lost material and use Undo or replay the moves to see what you missed.
• Days 4–6: practice the checkmates. Win material against Easy, trade down, and finish every game with the queen mate or the two-rook ladder.
• Days 7–10: move up to Medium. Play the opening principles every game and run the three-question check before each move.
• Days 11–14: play a friend on one device with the 10-minute clock, then a few games against Hard to see how a strong opponent punishes loose pieces.

When the rules of a special move (castling, en passant, promotion) come up during play, the chess rules guide explains each one with examples. Then head back to the chess board and play your next game.