Chess Basics · Complete beginner · Free

Chess from Zero

Name: Chess from Zero
Author: Kapilash Chess Academy

Learn to play chess, step by step · by Kapilash Chess Academy

The complete beginner’s course. Learn the board, how every piece moves and captures, check and checkmate, castling, en passant, stalemate, how to write down moves and how to start a game. Every rule is practised on a live board: try-it boards in every lesson need no account, and 175 exercises check your answers. Ideal for children, parents and schools.

16 Lessons46 Diagrams175 Exercises

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Lessons

1
The Chessboard — Squares, files, ranks and the starting position
The board, light square on the right, files, ranks and diagonals, the name of every square and how to set up the pieces.

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2
The Rook — Straight lines, as far as you like
How the rook moves and captures, and why it cannot jump.

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3
The Bishop — Diagonals, always on one colour
How the bishop moves; light-squared and dark-squared bishops.

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4
The Queen — Rook and bishop together
The strongest piece, and attacking two pieces at once.

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5
The Knight — The jumping piece
The L-shaped move, jumping over pieces and the knight fork.

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6
The King — One step at a time, and never into danger
How the king moves, why it may never move into check, and why kings keep apart.

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7
The Pawn — Small, brave and full of surprises
How pawns move and capture, the two-square first move and promotion.

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8
What Are the Pieces Worth? — Good captures and bad captures
Piece values, protected and loose pieces, and how to choose the best capture.

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9
Check! — When the king is attacked
What check is and the three ways out of it.

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10
Checkmate! — How a game of chess is won
Checkmate, the back-rank mate and mating with queen and king.

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11
Castling — A special move to keep the king safe
How to castle on either side and when castling is not allowed.

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12
En Passant — The pawn capture that surprises beginners
The en passant rule and how to play it.

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13
Stalemate and Other Draws — When nobody wins
Stalemate, how to avoid it, and the other ways a game can be drawn.

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14
Writing Down Moves — How to read a chess book
Algebraic notation: piece letters, captures, checks, castling and promotion.

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15
How to Start a Game — Three golden rules for the opening
Centre, development and castling, and how to stop the Scholar’s Mate.

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16
Your First Checkmates — Queen and king, and two rooks
The two-rook ladder, mating with the queen and mating with the rook.

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