An ancient Esport

 During the December holidays of 2020, I  was very bored since I could go out and play so I stayed at home and learned about online chess. I had to learn all the rules of chess since I previously had no prior experience with the game. There is an ELO rating in chess and from a measly 300 in chess to the present, I have climbed up to 900 elo in chess which itself is a great feat. Chess has a history that traces back to 1500 years ago and now because of a recent rise in popularity of online chess is lowly becoming an Esport. This game has survived generations and I hope that can learn it too!

The rule of chess is as follows:

General rules:

White is always first to move and players take turns alternately moving one piece at a time. Movement is required. If a player's turn is to move, he is not in check but has no legal moves, this situation is called “Stalemate” and it ends the game in a draw. Each type of piece has its own method of movement. A piece may be moved to another position or may capture an opponent's piece, replacing it on its square (en passant being the only exception). With the exception of the knight, a piece may not move over or through any of the other pieces. When a king is threatened with capture (but can protect himself or escape), it's called check. If a king is in check, then the player must make a move that eliminates the threat of capture and cannot leave the king in check. Checkmate happens when a king is placed in check and there is no legal move to escape. Checkmate ends the game and the side whose king was checkmated loses.

The chessboard is made up of eight rows and eight columns for a total of 64 squares of alternating colors. Each square of the chessboard is identified with a unique pair of a letter and a number. The vertical files are labeled from a through h, from White's left (i.e the queen's side) to the white's right. Similarly, the horizontal ranks are numbered from 1 to 8, starting from the one nearest White's side of the board. Each square of the board, then, is uniquely identified by its file letter and rank number, In the initial position setup. the white queen is positioned on a light square, and the black queen situated on a dark square the diagram below shows the pieces should be initially situated.

Chess moves

• The king can move exactly one square in any direction. Once every game each king is allowed to make a special move, known as castling.
• The queen can move any number of vacant squares in any direction.
• The rook can move any number of vacant squares vertically or horizontally 
• The bishop can move any number of vacant squares in any diagonal direction 
• Knight can move one square with any rank or file and then at an angle. The knight's movement can be also viewed as an "L" in any horizontal direction.
• A pawn can move forward one square if that square is unoccupied. If it has not yet moved the pawn can move two squares forwards a pawn cannot move backward. A pawn can capture diagonally but not in front of them

Pawn Promotion 

When a pawn reaches the opponent's edge of the table, it will be promoted- the pawn may be converted to a queen, rook, bishop, or knight, as the player desires. The choice is not limited to previously captured pieces. Thus it is possible to have up to nine queens or up to ten rooks, bishops, or knights if all pawns are promoted.

Castling 

Castling is the only time in a chess game when more than one piece moves during a turn. This chess move was invented in the 1500s to help speed up the game and improve the balance of the offense and defense. During the castling. the king moves two squares towards the rook he intends to castle with and the rook moves to the square through which the king passed. Castling is only possible if:\

• Neither the king nor rook involved in castling may have  moved from their original position 
• There must be no pieces between the king and the rook 
• The king must not currently be in check
• The king may not castle through a square that is under attack by an enemy piece ( does not apply to the rook

 En Passant 

 En passant may only occur when a pawn is moved two square son its initial movement, When this happens, the opposing player has the option to make the move in " en passant " as if it had only moved one square. This option, though, only stays open for one move. The En passant moved was developed after pawns were allowed to move more than one square on their initial move. The idea behind this rule was to retain restrictions imposed by slow movement, while at the same time speeding up the game

Normally I will play fast games like CS: GO and Fortnite but playing chess has trained my patience and taught me to become more patient and think things through before making my moves. I hope that these rules will help you in learning the game and improve at it!