About Chess

Chess is a two-player strategy board game played on an 8×8 grid. Each player starts with 16 pieces: one King, one Queen, two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and eight Pawns. The objective is to checkmate the opponent's King.

Piece movements

Piece	Movement	Value (centipawns)
King (♔)	One square in any direction	- (cannot be traded)
Queen (♕)	Any number of squares in any direction	~900
Rook (♖)	Any number of squares horizontally or vertically	~500
Bishop (♗)	Any number of squares diagonally	~330
Knight (♘)	L-shape: 2 squares in one direction + 1 perpendicular; can jump over pieces	~320
Pawn (♙)	One square forward (two on first move); captures diagonally	~100

Special moves

Castling: the King moves two squares toward a Rook, and the Rook jumps to the other side. Neither piece may have moved previously, and no square the King passes through may be attacked.
En passant: if a pawn advances two squares from its starting position and lands beside an opponent’s pawn, the opponent may capture it as if it had only moved one square - on the very next move only.
Promotion: a pawn reaching the opponent’s back rank is promoted to any piece (usually a Queen).

Win conditions

Checkmate: the opponent’s King is in check and has no legal move to escape. The player who delivers checkmate wins.
Resignation: a player may resign at any time.
Draw by stalemate: the player to move has no legal move but their King is not in check. The game is drawn.
Draw by repetition: the same position occurs three times; either player may claim a draw.
50-move rule: if 50 moves pass with no pawn move or capture, either player may claim a draw.

AI difficulty

The built-in AI uses a single-ply greedy evaluation based on material value. It will make captures when available but does not look ahead, making it suitable for beginners.

Opening principles

Control the center: place pawns and pieces on or aimed at the central squares (e4, e5, d4, d5). Central pieces have more mobility and influence.
Develop knights before bishops: knights have only one ideal destination from the start (toward the center), while bishops' optimal diagonals depend on the pawn structure that develops later.
Castle early: castling tucks your king away from the center and connects your rooks. Most games should see castling completed by move 10–15.
Don't move the same piece twice in the opening: each tempo spent repositioning an already-developed piece is a tempo not spent developing another piece.
Don't bring your queen out too early: the queen can be harassed by minor pieces, wasting tempi. Develop knights and bishops first.

Endgame basics

King activity: in the endgame, the king becomes a fighting piece. Centralize it immediately; a king on e4 or d5 is far stronger than one on g1.
King and Rook vs. King: this is the most fundamental checkmate to learn. Use the rook to cut off the enemy king, then drive it to a corner or edge using king opposition.
Opposition: two kings are "in opposition" when they face each other with one square between them. The player who does not have the move has the opposition and the positional advantage in king-and-pawn endings.
Passed pawns: a pawn with no opposing pawns in front of it or on adjacent files is a passed pawn. Pushing passed pawns is often the winning strategy in the endgame.