Chess is a strategy game played between two opponents on a checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an 8x8 grid. The goal is to checkmate the opponent's king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. The document provides a summary of the history of chess, the basic equipment used including chess pieces and boards, an overview of the basic rules and strategies of chess such as castling and checkmate, and safety tips for playing chess.

1. Chess
Table of Contents
History.........................................................................................1
Equipment...................................................................................2
Basics..........................................................................................6
Chess Court................................................................................7
Rules...........................................................................................7
Start your Play...........................................................................11
Safety........................................................................................12
History
Chess is an internationally famous mind game and it is believed to have originated from the
Indian soil. There are many interesting legends pertaining to its origin. One of the legend
states that the wife of King Ravana (a character from the Indian epic of Ramayana) invented
the game 4000-5000 years ago. There is also a reference in the Bhavishya Purana about the
game.
The game might have originated from the ancient game of Chaturanga in India. Chaturanga,
a Sanskrit word, refers to the four branches of the army. Chaturanga was played on a board
of 64 squares consisting of four opposing players. It is the view of some historians that this
game was also used in the allocation of land among different members of a clan when a new
settlement was being established. H. J. R. Murry, in his work titled A History of Chess, has
concluded that chess is a descendant of an Indian game played in the 7th century AD.
The Encyclopedia Britannica states that we find the best authorities agreeing that chess
existed in India before it was known to have been played anywhere else. According to the
encyclopedia, Sir. William Jones, in an essay published in the 2nd Vol. of Asiatic Researches
(about 1783-89), argued that Hindustan was the cradle of chess, the game having been
known there from time immemorial by the name Chaturanga, that is, the four angas, or

2. members of an army, which are said in the Amarakosha (an ancient Indian Dictionary - S.B.)
to be elephants, horses, chariots and foot soldiers.
The first reference to Shatranj was found in the Persian work of 600 A.D. The story mentions
that a prince having lost all his possessions staked his wife Dilaram as a last resort to regain
his fortune. Dilaram who was observing the moves from behind the purdah did not want her
husband to loose out in any way. She cried to her husband to forward the elephant and the
pawn and with the horse give checkmate. Needless to say, the prince won the game.
The famous Persian poet Firdausi also mentions chess. He records an incident where gifts
from an Indian king were sent to the court of a Persian ruler. One of the gifts was a game
depicting the battle between two armies. In the Sassanid dynasty a book 'Chatrang
namakwor' or a 'A Manual of Chess' was written in the Persian Pahlavi language. In Persia
the word Shatranj is used for Chess.
Around 8th century the game was carried to Spain and from there it spread to the rest of the
Greco-Roman world. The countries enthusiastically lapped up the game. However variations
occurred in the names of the chess pieces. The elephants became archers in Spain,
Standard-Bearers in Italy, couriers in Germany, court jesters in France, and BSs in Portugal,
England, Ireland and Iceland. The Persian word for chess is Chatrang, which was later
changed by the Arabs to Shatranj.
.
Equipment
1. Chess board
2. Chess pieces
3. Chess clock
4. Chess bag
Chess Board

3. Chess boards are available in different types such as plastic, wooden, leather,
rollover type in rubber / vinyl etc. Wooden chess boards are rarely seen in chess
tournaments with the exception of major chess competitions such as the US
Championships and other high level tournaments. However, wooden chess boards
are excellent for play at home. Wood chess boards are also outstanding because of
their decorative appeal. Wooden chess boards will enhance any living space, and
are very classy boards on which to play. Chess players that study chess should also
own a nice chess board
Chess Pieces
The King
The king is the most important piece, but is one of the weakest. The king can only
move one square in any direction - up, down, to the sides, and diagonally. Click on
the ">" button in the diagram below to see how the king can move around the board.
The king may never move himself into check (where he could be captured).
The Queen
The queen is the most powerful piece. If moved she can move in any one straight
direction - forward, backward, sideways, or diagonally - as far as possible as long as
she does not move through any of her own pieces. And, like with all pieces, if the
queen captures an opponent's piece her move is over. Click through the diagram
below to see how the queens move. Notice how the white queen captures the black
queen and then the black king is forced to move.
The Rook
The rook may move as far as it wants, but only forward, backward, and to the sides.
The rooks are particularly powerful pieces when they are protecting each other and
working together!
The Bishop

4. The bishop may move as far as it wants, but only diagonally. Each bishop starts on
one color (light or dark) and must always stay on that color. Bishops work well
together because they cover up each other’s weaknesses.
The Knight
Knights move in a very different way from the other pieces – going two squares in
one direction, and then one more move at a 90 degree angle, just like the shape of
an “L”. Knights are also the only pieces that can move over other pieces.
The Pawn
Pawns are unusual because they move and capture in different ways: they move
forward, but capture diagonally. Pawns can only move forward one square at a time,
except for their very first move where they can move forward two squares. Pawns
can only capture one square diagonally in front of them. They can never move or
capture backwards. If there is another piece directly in front of a pawn he cannot
move past or capture that piece.
The variation of designs available is broad, from small cosmetic changes to highly
abstract representations to themed designs such as those that emulate the drawings
from the works of Lewis Carroll or modern treatments such as Star Trek or The
Simpsons. Chess pieces used for play are usually figurines that are taller than they
are wide. Chess pieces are made from different material such as Plastic, fiber,
marbles, wooden etc.
Chess clock
Beginning chess players, and those unfamiliar with chess playing software, are often
unsure of the reasons why a chess clock is used or how to operate one. Even

5. experienced players who've never played at a chess club or in a tournament become
confused when these topics come up.
The reason why chess clocks are used is to ensure that each player has a limited,
finite amount of time in which to complete a game. While this might seem obvious or
even humorous to us today, the time issue was a real problem back in the
mid-1800's. It was not unusual for a player to take literally hours to make a single
move. Games between professional players sometimes took days to complete, and a
match (a series of games) between a pair of players could consume weeks or even
months. If a game or match was contested between a younger and much older
player, there sometimes occurred a form of unfair "gamesmanship" on the part of the
younger player in which he'd try to wear down the older player by taking so long with
his moves that the older player would become fatigued, even ill.
The chess clock solved this problem. The clock regulates the time consumed by
each player individually; the players start with the same amount of time in which to
make their moves, and a player loses the game when his time runs out (regardless of
the position on the board).
Chess Bags
Bags of different design to suite type of chess equipment are available.

6. Basics
A game of logic, Chess exercises the mind by requiring players to think logically. Players are
forced to think ahead and to analyze complex individual, yet interdependent factors. It has
been said that Chess is a good way to learn about life. A person with the facility to win at
Chess is ready to conquer any complex problem on either a personal or business level.
To start, first it is required to know how to setup chess board and placement of pieces. The
first step in preparing to play a game of chess is making sure the board is set correctly. Look
at the square in the lower right-hand corner for each player. This should be a light-colored
square. An easy way to remember this rule is the phrase "white on right." A pictorial view
presented below.
Queen
King Bishop
Pawns
Knight
Rook
The Goal of Chess
Chess is a game played between two opponents on opposite sides of a board containing 64
squares of alternating colors. Each player has 16 pieces: 1 king, 1 queen, 2 rooks, 2
bishops, 2 knights, and 8 pawns. The goal of the game is to checkmate the other king.
Checkmate happens when the king is in a position to be captured (in check) and cannot
escape from capture.

7. Chess is played in different styles, depending on nature of player aggressive or defensive
and other styles developed in various regions.
 Its always good to know your own personal strengths and weaknesses. If your
strength is being aggressive on the chess board then you might want to adapt a
style like kasparov's. If you like being defensive waiting for your opponent to slip up
then you might want to play like Krempov. Of you might like to play sacrificial and
play like Tal. There's other stiles too but the three mentioned are the main three.
Over all what we are after here is to know and to pick a personal favored chess stile.
 In the opening one should have a primal goal and that is to aim for a mid-game
position where you both have the advantage and can apply your chess style talents.
This is a strong recommendation from kasparov him self who landed many mid
game positions where he could play very aggressive from. He also made things
complex.
 Also the talent to be flexible is also important because we often end up in positions
that require good defense or something ells in particular. So we need to learn to be
in the moment to meet the demands at the moment. And the ability to recognize
what style of play should be applied in this chess moment. For example if your
opponents pieces was a threat then you might suddenly want to start exchanging
pieces to minimize the threat. Or if your position is secure and you have a slight
advantage you might want to attack now, You might want to hold a strong position
with out running out of steam thus keeping the pressure on.
 So as you can see having your own personal favored style is good because it gives
us ideas for positions to aim for where we can show our greatest talents. Also the
ability to shift styles to meet the demands of the moment. Both ideas are important.
Chess Court
Chess being a mental game needs a place where players get supporting environment for
concentration and comfortable seating position.
Chess needs two players, in today’s times one can be even computer. So, you will find on-
line games or computer games for real chess playing.
Rules
General Rules
The ultimate aim in the game of chess is to win by trapping your opponent's king. (This is
called checkmate - more on this later.)

8. White is always first to move and players take turns alternately moving one piece at a time.
Movement is required.
Each type of piece has its own method of movement (described in the following sections). A
piece may be moved to another position or may capture an opponent's piece. This is done
by landing on the appropriate square with the moving piece and removing the defending
piece from play.
With the exception of the knight, a piece may not move over or through any of the other
pieces.
In tournament play, once a piece has been touched by a player, it must be moved. In sandlot
chess this rule is not always strictly adhered to.
Some Tournament Rules
Many tournaments follow a set of common, similar rules. These rules do not necessarily
apply to play at home or online.
Touch-move
If a player touches one of their own pieces they must move that piece as long as it is a legal
move. If a player touches an opponent’s piece, they must capture that piece. A player who
wishes to touch a piece only to adjust it on the board must first announce the intention,
usually by saying “adjust”.
Introduction to Clocks and Timers
Most tournaments use timers to regulate the time spent on each game, not on each move.
Each player gets the same amount of time to use for their entire game and can decide how
to spend that time. Once a player makes a move they then touch a button or hit a lever to
start the opponent’s clock. If a player runs out of time and the opponent calls the time, then
the player who ran out of time loses the game (unless the opponent does not have enough
pieces to checkmate, in which case it is a draw). Click here to watch two players quickly
playing a timed game of chess!
Basic Strategy
There are four simple things that every chess player should know:
1. Protect Your King
Get your king to the corner of the board where he is usually safer. Don’t put off
castling. You should usually castle as quickly as possible. Remember, it doesn’t
matter how close you are to checkmating your opponent if your own king is
checkmated first!
2. Don’t give pieces away
Don’t carelessly lose your pieces! Each piece is valuable and you can’t win a game
without pieces to checkmate. There is an easy system that most players use to keep
track of the relative value of each chess piece:
A pawn is worth 1

9. A knight is worth 3
A bishop is worth 3
A rook is worth 5
A queen is worth 9
The king is infinitely valuable
At the end of the game these points don’t mean anything – it is simply a system you
can use to make decisions while playing, helping you know when to capture,
exchange, or make other moves.
3. Control the Center
You should try and control the center of the board with your pieces and pawns. If you
control the center, you will have more room to move your pieces and will make it
harder for your opponent to find good squares for his pieces. In the example below
white makes good moves to control the center while black plays bad moves.
4. Use all of your pieces
In the example above white got all of his pieces in the game! Your pieces don’t do
any good when they are sitting back on the first row. Try and develop all of your
pieces so that you have more to use when you attack the king. Using one or two
pieces to attack will not work against any decent opponent.
Castling
Under certain, special rules, a king and rook can move simultaneously in a castling
move.
The following conditions must be met:
1. The king that makes the castling move has not yet moved in the game.
2. The rook that makes the castling move has not yet moved in the game.
3. The king is not in check.
4. The king does not move over a square that is attacked by an enemy piece during the
castling move, i.e., when castling, there may not be an enemy piece that can move
(in case of pawns: by diagonal movement) to a square that is moved over by the
king.
5. The king does not move to a square that is attacked by an enemy piece during the
castling move, i.e., you may not castle and end the move with the king in check.
6. All squares between the rook and king before the castling move are empty.
7. The King and rook must occupy the same rank (or row).
En Pasaant
Perhaps the most obscure and least used moves in Chess is called En Passant. It
can only occur when a player exercises his option to move his pawn two squares on
its initial movement. When this happens, the opposing player has the option to take
the moved pawn "en passant" as if it had only moved one square. This option,
though, only stays open for one move.
In the example diagram on the left, the light pawn has just moved forward two
squares. The dark pawn, may now move to the square with the red dot and remove
the light piece.
The en passant move was developed after pawns were allowed to move more than
one square on their initial move. This was done to make sure they retained some of

10. the restrictions imposed by slow movement, while at the same time speeding up the
game.
Check, mate, and stalemate
Check
When the king of a player can be taken by a piece of the opponent, one says that the
king is in check. For instance, the white player moves his rook to a position such that
it attacks the black king, i.e., if black doesn't do anything about it, the rook could take
the black king in the next move: we say that the white rook gives check. It is
considered good manners to say check when one checks ones opponent.
Mate
When a player is in check, and he cannot make a move such that after the move, the
king is not in check, then he is mated. The player that is mated lost the game, and
the player that mated him won the game.
Note that there are three different possible ways to remove a check:
1. Move the king away to a square where he is not in check.
2. Take the piece that gives the check.
3. (In case of a check, given by a rook, bishop or queen: ) move a piece
between the checking piece and the king.
Stalemate
When a player cannot make any legal move, but he is not in check, then the
player is said to be stalemated. In a case of a stalemate, the game is a draw.
Other Rules
Resign and draw proposals
A player can resign the game, which means that he has lost and his opponent has
won.
After making a move, a player can propose a draw: his opponent can accept the
proposal (in which case the game ends and is a draw) or refuse the proposal (in
which case the game continues).
Repetition of moves
If the same position with the same player to move is repeated three times in the
game, the player to move can claim a draw. (When the right to make a certain
castling move is lost by one of the players between positions, then the positions are
considered to be different. For the fine points of this rule, see the official rules of
chess.)
One case where the repetition of move occurs is when a player continues to give
check forever.

11. 50 moves rules
If there are have been 50 consecutive moves of white and of black without
• any piece taken
• any pawn move
then a player can claim a draw. For the fine points of this rule, see the official rules of
chess.
Touching pieces
When a player touches one of his own pieces, he must, if possible, make a legal
move with this piece. When a player touches a piece of the opponent, he must, if
possible, take this piece.
Chess clocks and time
Often, players play the game with chess clocks. These clocks count the time that
each player separately takes for making his own moves. Additional rules are then
used, saying how many (possibly all) moves must be made before a player has used
a certain time for his moves.
Start your Play

12. At the beginning of the game the chessboard is laid out so that each player has the white (or
light) color square in the bottom right-hand side. The chess pieces are then arranged the
same way each time. The second row (or rank) is filled with pawns. The rooks go in the
corners, then the knights next to them, followed by the bishops, and finally the queen, who
always goes on her own matching color (white queen on white, black queen on black), and
the king on the remaining square.
The player with the white pieces always moves first. Therefore, players generally decide who
will get to be white by chance or luck such as flipping a coin or having one player guess the
color of the hidden pawn in the other player's hand. White then makes a move, followed by
black, then white again, then black and so on until the end of the game.
Safety
Chess has is mental game. So it is important that for good mental condition regular
concentration exercises with yoga, pranayam supported by suitable physical exercise are
followed.
References
http://www.conservativebookstore.com/chess/
http://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-play-chess.html
http://chess.about.com/
http://www.conservativebookstore.com/chess/
http://www.chessvariants.org/