1. How many squares are on a chessboard?
64
The board is 8 by 8, which makes 64 squares.
2. Who moves first in a game of chess?
White
White always makes the first move, which is a tiny head start.
3. How many pieces (including pawns) does each player start with?
16
Each side starts with 16: eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, a queen and a king.
4. How does a rook move?
Any number of squares along a rank or file (straight lines)
Rooks slide any distance horizontally or vertically.
5. How does a bishop move?
Any number of squares diagonally
Bishops slide any distance along diagonals, so each one stays on its starting colour forever.
6. Which piece can jump over other pieces?
The knight
Only the knight jumps; everyone else needs a clear path.
7. How does a knight move?
Two squares one way, then one square at right angles (an L shape)
The knight's L shaped hop makes it tricky, and it always lands on the opposite colour square.
8. How does the queen move?
Like a rook and a bishop combined
The queen slides any distance in straight lines or diagonals, making her the strongest piece.
9. How far can the king move on a normal turn?
One square in any direction
The king steps just one square at a time, except for the special castling move.
10. How do pawns capture?
One square diagonally forward
Pawns walk straight but capture diagonally, one square forward to the left or right.
11. How many squares can a pawn move on its very first move?
One or two
From its home square a pawn may step one or leap two squares forward.
12. What happens when a pawn reaches the far end of the board?
It promotes, usually to a queen
A promoting pawn becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight, and nearly everyone picks a queen.
13. What is 'en passant'?
A special pawn capture of a pawn that just moved two squares past it
If an enemy pawn jumps two squares and lands beside your pawn, you may capture it as if it had moved one.
14. In castling, which two pieces move on the same turn?
The king and a rook
Castling slides the king two squares towards a rook and hops that rook to the other side of him.
15. Which of these makes castling illegal right now?
Your king would pass through a square attacked by the enemy
You cannot castle out of, through or into check, and king and rook must both be unmoved with clear space between.
16. Using the usual point values, how much is a queen worth?
9 points
The queen counts as about 9 points, the most valuable piece after the priceless king.
17. How many points is a rook usually worth?
5
A rook is worth about 5 points, more than a bishop or knight at about 3 each.
18. Which two pieces are usually valued at about 3 points each?
Bishop and knight
Bishops and knights, the minor pieces, are each worth roughly 3 pawns.
19. What does 'check' mean?
The king is attacked and must be made safe this move
Check means the king is under attack, and you must block, capture the attacker or move the king.
20. What is checkmate?
The king is in check and there is no legal way out, ending the game
Checkmate ends the game on the spot; the king is attacked and nothing can save him.
21. What is stalemate?
A draw: the player to move has no legal moves but is not in check
Stalemate is a draw, which is why the winning side must be careful not to trap the enemy king by accident.
22. What is a 'fork' in chess?
One piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at once
A fork attacks two targets at once, and knights are famous for forking king and queen.
23. What is a 'pin'?
A piece cannot safely move because a more valuable piece stands behind it on the same line
A pinned piece is stuck shielding something more valuable behind it, like its king or queen.
24. What is a 'skewer'?
An attack on a valuable piece that, when it moves, exposes a piece behind it
A skewer is a pin in reverse: the big piece must move and you win the one hiding behind it.
25. What is a 'discovered attack'?
Moving one piece so another piece behind it suddenly attacks
You move one piece out of the way and unmask an attack from the piece behind, sometimes with check.
26. What is a 'sacrifice'?
Giving up material on purpose to gain a bigger advantage
A sacrifice trades material for something better, like an attack on the king.
27. What is the fastest possible checkmate, needing only two moves by the loser?
Fool's mate
Fool's mate punishes terrible pawn moves; White plays f3 and g4 and Black's queen mates on h4.
28. Scholar's mate is the classic four move attack. Which squares does it target?
The f7 square (or f2 for Black), next to the king
Queen and bishop gang up on the weak f7 pawn, so learn to spot it and defend.
29. What is a back rank mate?
Checkmate by a queen or rook on the home row, with the king fenced in by its own pawns
A rook or queen slides to the back row where the castled king is trapped behind its own pawns, so give your king an escape hatch.
30. What is a smothered mate?
A knight checkmates a king completely boxed in by its own pieces
Only a knight can deliver it, because the trapped king's own pieces block every escape square.
31. The opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 is one of the oldest known. What is it called?
The Ruy Lopez (Spanish Opening)
The Ruy Lopez is named after a 16th century Spanish priest and is still played at world championship level.
32. Black replies to 1.e4 with 1...c5. Which famous opening is this?
The Sicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is the most popular fighting reply to 1.e4.
33. The Queen's Gambit starts 1.d4 d5 2.c4. What is White offering?
A pawn, to lure Black's centre pawn away
White offers the c pawn to pull Black's pawn off the centre; it is a gambit of a pawn, never the queen.
34. Which opening begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, aiming the bishop at f7?
The Italian Game
The Italian Game develops the bishop to c4, eyeing Black's weakest square, f7.
35. Which four squares are considered the centre of the board?
e4, d4, e5 and d5
Controlling the central squares e4, d4, e5 and d5 gives your pieces the most reach.
36. Which of these is good general opening advice?
Develop your knights and bishops early and castle your king to safety
Fast development, centre control and early castling win far more games than early queen raids.
37. In chess notation, what does O-O mean?
Castling on the king's side
O-O is kingside (short) castling and O-O-O is queenside (long) castling.
38. In notation, why is N used for the knight instead of K?
K is already taken by the king
The king claimed K, so the knight takes N.
39. In serious games, what does the 'touch move' rule say?
If you deliberately touch one of your pieces, you must move it if you legally can
Touch it, move it, so decide with your eyes and only reach out when you are sure.
40. In 1997, world champion Garry Kasparov was beaten in a match by Deep Blue. What was Deep Blue?
An IBM chess computer
IBM's Deep Blue was the first computer to beat a reigning world champion in a match, a famous moment for AI.