Chess

How to play chess online

1. 1

   Pick up a piece

   ♙♘♗♖

   Press a piece and the board shows every square it may legally move to — a dot on an empty square, a ring around a piece you can take.

2. 2

   Put it down

   ♘•

   Press the square you want. Only legal moves are offered, so you cannot leave your own king in check by accident.

3. 3

   Take the king

   Attack the enemy king so that nothing saves it. That is checkmate, and it ends the game whatever else is on the board.

Choose your opponent

• Easy

  Looks one move ahead

  Defends against the obvious and misses the rest. Where to start.

• Normal

  Sound club player

  Plays real moves and punishes a piece you leave hanging.

• Hard

  Thinks before it moves

  Searches deeper and takes a moment. It beats most casual players.

• Pass and play

  Two people, one screen

  No computer at all. The board waits for each side in turn.

Chess strategy for beginners

• Take the centre

  A knight on the rim reaches four squares; the same knight in the middle reaches eight. Pieces are worth what they can see.

• Develop, then attack

  Knights and bishops off the back rank, king castled, and only then start something. An attack with two pieces out gets refuted.

• Count before you capture

  Look at how many pieces defend the square, not just what is standing on it. Winning a pawn and losing a bishop is not winning a pawn.

• Trade when you are ahead

  Every exchange makes an extra piece count for more. When you are behind, keep pieces on and complicate.

Free Play or Competitive?