Lesson 1
Welcome to Level 1 of our Chess Academy Training Course. I’m glad you’ve chosen to embark on this journey into the fascinating world of chess. Let’s start with the absolute basics.
Chess is a two-player game played on a square board divided into 64 squares of alternating colors. Each player begins the game with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The purpose of the game is to checkmate your opponent’s king, which means the king is in a position to be captured (in “check”) and there is no way to move the king out of capture (mate).
Setting up the Board:
The board is positioned so that each player has a white square in their right-hand corner. Each player’s pieces are set up on the two rows closest to them. In the bottommost row, from left to right, the order of the pieces is: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, and rook. The queen is placed on her own color – white queen on a white square, and black queen on a black square. In the row above these, you place all the pawns.
Movement of the Pieces:
King: The king moves one square in any direction. This means the king can move to any of the 8 squares around him.
Queen: The queen can move any number of squares along a rank, file, or diagonal. She is the most powerful piece.
Rook: The rook can move any number of squares along a rank or file. They are placed at the corners of the board.
Bishop: The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally. Note that this means your bishop stays on the same color square for the entire game.
Knight: The knight’s movement can be thought of as an “L” shape. It moves 2 squares horizontally (file) and then 1 square vertically (rank), or first 2 squares rank and then 1 square file.
Pawn: The pawn moves forward exactly one square, but captures diagonally. The pawn is the only piece that captures differently than it moves.
These are the absolute basics of chess, familiarize yourself with them. Practice setting up the board, and moving the pieces correctly. Next lesson, we will delve deeper into the unique features of each piece and special rules of the game.
Remember, chess is a game of strategy, so as you learn, always think about the purpose behind each move. Every step is an opportunity to plan ahead. Welcome to the world of chess!