King
Moves one square in any direction, but never onto a square attacked by the opponent.
Learn the game
Rules of Chess
Chess is a two-player strategy game about space, time, and king safety. Every move should improve your position, create a threat, or answer one from your opponent.
01 · Objective
Checkmate the opposing king.
Win by attacking the opponent’s king so that it is in check and no legal move can make it safe. Kings are never captured—the game ends as soon as checkmate is reached.
02 · Setup
Place the queen on her own color.
Each side begins with eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen, and one king. The back rank reads rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook from left to right for White.
The lower-right corner must be a light square. White moves first, then turns alternate.
03 · Piece movement
Six pieces, six movement patterns.
Queen
Moves any number of open squares along a rank, file, or diagonal.
Rook
Moves any number of open squares horizontally or vertically.
Bishop
Moves any number of open squares diagonally and stays on one square color.
Knight
Moves in an L shape: two squares in one direction and one perpendicular. It can jump over pieces.
Pawn
Moves forward one square, or two from its starting square, and captures one square diagonally forward.
04 · Check and checkmate
A checked king must be made safe.
Answer check immediately by moving the king, capturing the attacking piece, or blocking the attack when possible. A move that leaves your own king in check is illegal. If none of those replies works, the king is checkmated and the game is over.
05 · Special moves
Castle, capture en passant, and promote.
Castling
Move the king two squares toward an unmoved rook, then place that rook beside the king. The squares between them must be empty, and the king cannot be in check, cross an attacked square, or land in check.
En passant
When an opposing pawn advances two squares and lands beside your pawn, your pawn may capture it as though it had moved only one square. This option exists only on the immediately following move.
Promotion
A pawn reaching the farthest rank promotes. LarkSpark currently promotes it automatically to a queen.
06 · Ending the game
Checkmate wins; stalemate draws.
Checkmate gives the attacking player the win. LarkSpark declares a draw by stalemate when the player to move has no legal move but their king is not in check. Timed online matches also end when a player’s clock expires.
Quick reference
Your turn in four checks
- 01 Meet every threat If your king is checked, make it safe before doing anything else.
- 02 Look for forcing moves Consider checks, captures, and direct threats first.
- 03 Protect every piece Before moving, check what your opponent can capture next.
- 04 Improve king safety Develop pieces, control the center, and castle before launching an attack.
Ready to play?
Put the rules into practice.
Challenge a bot, find an online match, or invite a friend.