How to play Chess

The board and the goal

Two players alternate moves on an 8 × 8 board, with White moving first. Your aim is checkmate: the other king is attacked and has no legal escape. Keep your own king safe while improving the activity of your other pieces. You cannot make a move that leaves your king in check.

How the pieces move

คิง

One square in any direction; never into an attacked square.

ควีน

Any clear distance along a rank, file, or diagonal.

เรือ

Any clear distance horizontally or vertically.

บิชอป

Any clear distance diagonally.

ม้า

An L-shaped move: two squares in one direction, then one across. It can jump over pieces.

เบี้ย

Forward one square, or two from its starting square if clear. Captures one square diagonally forward.

Special moves to notice

Castling combines a king move with a rook move. Select the king and its castling destination. Neither piece may have moved; the path must be clear, and the king may not start in, pass through, or land in check.

A pawn reaching the far end promotes to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight. PlayMind shows those choices on the board. Choose the piece that helps your position rather than assuming every promotion must be a queen.

En passant is a special pawn capture available immediately after an adjacent enemy pawn advances two squares. If you make a different move, that opportunity ends.

How a game ends

Checkmate wins. A player with no legal move who is not in check is stalemated, which is a draw in Chess. PlayMind also automatically ends a game when its engine detects insufficient material, threefold repetition, or the fifty-move rule. These automatic casual-game decisions differ from some claim procedures in tournament play.

Start on PlayMind

1. Choose Practice with AI. No sign-in is needed. Pick one of five levels and a side, then press Start game. Difficulty stays fixed during the game; use New game to choose another challenge.
2. Click or tap one of your pieces, then a suggested destination. Select the same piece again or press Escape to clear your selection. On the board, arrow keys change focus; Enter or Space selects a square.
3. Controls stay in the board frame. In practice you can undo a turn, restart, or begin a new game. Board settings let you change move hints and sound.
4. AI games save in this browser. Returning in the same browser can restore your game; that save does not automatically follow you to another device. Clearing site data also removes the saved game.

Play online

Sign in with Google or ChatGPT, choose a nickname, and open a room or join a waiting opponent. An invitation-only room is shared by link; an open room appears in the lobby. Once both players are present, the host presses Start on the board. The clocks begin only then.

During a game, you can offer a draw or resign. After it ends, you can request a rematch. Rematches swap your colors. Only online games between people affect points, with a separate balance for each game. A same-level win transfers 500 points from loser to winner, subject to the available balance and daily limits. AI practice does not change online points.

Four useful habits

Try this before moving

Further reading

This is a beginner guide to playing on PlayMind. For more depth, explore the federation resources below.

• FIDE Laws of Chess ↗