Chess शतरंज • Chaturanga

📜 How to Play International Chess

• Board & Setup: Played on an 8×8 checkered board. Bottom-right corner is always a light square ("white on right"). White moves first, followed by Black.
• Piece Movements:
  • King (♔/♚): Moves 1 square in any direction. The game objective is to checkmate the enemy King.
  • Queen (♕/♛): Moves any number of unoccupied squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
  • Rook (♖/♜): Moves any number of unoccupied squares orthogonally (rank & file).
  • Bishop (♗/♝): Moves any number of unoccupied squares diagonally (stays on original square color).
  • Knight (♘/♞): Moves in an "L-shape" (2 squares in one orthogonal direction, then 1 square perpendicular). The only piece that can jump over others!
  • Pawn (♙/♟): Moves 1 square forward (or 2 squares on its very first move). Captures 1 square diagonally forward.
• Castling (0-0 and 0-0-0): King moves two squares toward a Rook, and the Rook hops over to the square the King crossed. Permitted only if neither piece has moved, all intervening squares are empty, and the King is not in check, does not pass through check, and does not land in check.
• En Passant (In Passing): When an opponent pawn advances two squares from its starting position and lands adjacent to your pawn, you may capture it diagonally behind as if it had only moved one square. Must be executed immediately on the very next move.
• Pawn Promotion: When a pawn reaches the 8th rank, it immediately transforms into a Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight of the same color.
• Check & Checkmate: When a King is under direct threat, it is in check. A player must immediately resolve check by moving the King, capturing the attacker, or blocking the ray. If no legal escape exists, it is Checkmate!
• Stalemate (Draw): If the player whose turn it is has NO legal moves and their King is NOT in check, the game ends immediately in a draw by Stalemate.

🏛️ History & Cultural Heritage

Chess traces its ancestral lineage to 6th-century India during the Gupta Empire, where it was known as Chaturanga (चतुरङ्ग), meaning "four divisions of the military": infantry (pawns), cavalry (knights), war elephants (bishops), and chariots (rooks), commanded by the Raja (king) and Mantri (advisor/vizier).

The game spread along the Silk Road into Sassanid Persia as Shatranj (شطرنج). The term "Checkmate" derives from the Persian phrase Shāh Māt (شاه مات), meaning "The King is helpless / dead." Following the Islamic golden age, Shatranj traveled to Moorish Spain and Europe, where around 1475 the pieces were transformed into the modern international rules: the slow vizier became the all-powerful Queen, and the elephant became the long-range Bishop.

Today, Chess is the undisputed pinnacle of global mental athletics, recognized by the International Olympic Committee and played across every continent.

💡 Grandmaster Strategic Principles