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Chess Rules: Learn How to Play

The complete rules of chess, taught from zero on a real board. Nine short chapters take you from what the 64 squares are called to playing the opening of your first game, with a board task on every lesson so you are always moving pieces rather than reading about them.

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46 lessons45 challenges

  • Beginner friendly
  • hint iconHands-on interactive lessons
  • volume On iconAudio narration on every lesson
  • quiz iconQuizzes to test your knowledge
  • certificate iconFree certificate of completion

Syllabus

1 sections1 projects46 lessons45 challenges

This section is part of the Chess Journey. The full syllabus has more sections - click any preview below to view it on the Journey page.

  1. Section 1

    Fundamentals

    Start sectionStartExpandCollapse    Chess from zero: the board, how every piece moves, check and checkmate, castling, promotion and the opening of your first game.46 lessons45 challenges1 project

    The Board

    5 lessons5

    The Sliding Pieces

    5 lessons5

    The Knight

    4 lessons4

    The King and the Pawn

    5 lessons5

    Captures and Check

    6 lessons6

    Checkmate and Draws

    6 lessons6

    Special Moves

    5 lessons5

    Writing Moves Down

    5 lessons5

    Your First Game

    Project5 lessons4
  2. Section 2Tactics48 lessons
  3. Section 3Playing Real Games40 lessons
View the full Chess Journey syllabus
What you get
Everything you'll use to learn chess

Learn by Playing

See every idea on a real board. Each lesson shows you the position, explains what is happening on it, then asks you a question about it.

Chess board
Starting position
Every game starts here. The two arrows are the classical first moves.

Every game starts here. The two arrows are the classical first moves.

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January 2026

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Every way to learn

Read, listen, test yourself, or look up anything you've already covered. Every lesson meets you where you are.

Meet the Board
Audio

The chessboard is a grid of 64 squares, 32 light and 32 dark, in a pattern where the colors always alternate.

Set it up so that each player has a light square in their bottom-right corner.

Files run up the board and ranks run across it - together they give every square its own name.

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Prove Your Skills

Earn a certificate when you complete the course. Add it to your LinkedIn profile to show how far your chess has come.

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This certifies thatJohn Doehas successfully completed
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DateJan 2026
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Why learn the rules of chess with Coddy

  • One piece at a time. The rook, the bishop, the queen, the knight, the king and the pawn each get their own lessons, including the awkward parts - blocked paths, the knight's jump, the pawn's first double step - drawn on the board so you can see them.
  • Check and checkmate, properly. The three ways out of check, the moves you are not allowed to play, the difference between checkmate and stalemate, and the other draws: the rules beginners most often get wrong, each with a position to work through.
  • The special moves, with their conditions. Castling and when you cannot castle, promotion, and en passant - the rule almost nobody learns from a friend - each get a lesson and a task.
  • You leave able to read a game. The last two chapters teach algebraic notation - reading moves, captures, check and mate, which knight went where - and the opening principles that carry you into your first real game.

Frequently asked questions about the rules of chess

How is the chess board set up?

With a light square in each player's bottom-right corner, rooks in the corners, then knights, then bishops, and the queen on her own colour (the white queen on a light square, the black queen on a dark one) with the king beside her. The first chapter has you set up the board yourself.

How does each chess piece move?

Rooks move in straight lines, bishops diagonally, and the queen either way. Knights jump in an L shape and are the only piece that can pass over others. The king moves one square in any direction, and pawns move forward one square (two on their first move) but capture diagonally. Each piece has its own lesson with a board to try it on.

What is the difference between check and checkmate?

Check means your king is attacked and you must deal with it this move - by moving the king, blocking, or capturing the attacker. Checkmate means the king is attacked and none of those three escapes exists, which ends the game. Stalemate is different again: no legal moves and no check, and the game is a draw.

What are castling, en passant and promotion?

Castling moves the king two squares toward a rook and the rook to the other side of the king, allowed only if neither has moved, nothing is between them, and the king is not in or passing through check. En passant lets a pawn capture an enemy pawn that has just jumped two squares past it. Promotion turns a pawn reaching the last rank into a queen, rook, bishop or knight.

How do I read chess notation?

Every square has a name - a letter for the file, a number for the rank - and a move is the piece's letter plus the square it lands on: Nf3 is a knight to f3, exd5 a pawn capture on d5, O-O castling, + check and # checkmate. The Writing Moves Down chapter teaches it with real games to read.

How long does it take to learn the rules of chess?

A couple of hours for the movement of the pieces and an afternoon for the rest, including the special moves. This section is 46 short lessons, most a few minutes each, and you can finish it in a week of short sessions or a single long one.
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