Basics
The object of chess is to be the first player to capture your opponents king. This is called checkmate. Captures are made by landing on a piece of the opposite color. Each piece can only move in a particular way.
This piece is called a Pawn. It can only move forward by 1 square at a time. The exception is when it is moved for the first time when it is allowed to move 1 or 2 squares forward. If a pawn is moved 2 squares forward, an opposing pawn has the option of taking it as if it had only moved 1 square. This is called the en passant rule. When a pawn is advanced to the opposite end of the board it becomes a queen.
This piece is the Rook. It can move any number of spaces in a straight horizontal or vertical line as long as it is not blocked by other pieces.
This piece is called the Knight. It is unique in that it can hop over other pieces. It moves in an L shape, 2 squares in one direction and 1 square in a perpendicular direction.
This piece is the Bishop. It can move any number of spaces in a straight diagonal line as long as it is not blocked by other pieces.
This piece is the Queen. It can move any number of spaces in a straight line in any direction as long as it is not blocked by other pieces.
This is the King. You want to protect this piece at all times because if it gets captured, you lose the game. The king can move 1 square in any direction.
Castling
Castling is when the king and rook do a little tango and swap places. Neither the king nor rook can have previously moved. Also, the king cannot be in check nor move thru check to get to its new spot. To castle, move the king to its new spot and the game will automatically move the rook for you.
Checkmate
Checkmate is when you move in such a way that you can capture your opponents king and he cannot prevent it. If you checkmate your opponent, you win!
Stalemate
A stalemate is when one person cannot move any of their pieces without putting their king into check. If this happens, the game is a stalemate. A stalemate is the same thing as a draw and no points change hands.
Promoting
When a pawn reaches the last row of your opponents side it will automatically be promoted to a queen. Currently, our game does not support promotions to other ranks.
Points
The rankings of the players in the game are based on the points earned from completing games of chess. Each game of chess is worth a random amount of points.
Challenges
To challenge a player, first find the player in the rankings and click on their name. This will show you their details page where you can see their active games, their completed games, and a description of how many more challenges they can accept. If you both have available unplayed games, then you will see a link to challenge this player. Clicking this link will propose a game to them. The next time that player accesses the website, they will be able to accept or decline your challenge. You can retract a challenge at any time with no penalty.
Your opponent can reject the challenge. The penalty for rejecting a challenge is 1 point. This is to encourage players to accept challenges. Old challenges may sometimes be automatically cleared from the queue depending a variety of random factors.
If your opponent accepts your challenge, the game will now appear in the Current Games section. You and your opponent take turns making moves. You and your opponent do not need to be online at the same time.
Time Limit
To keep games moving along, there is a time limit for each move. The default time limit is 5 days, so if you take longer than 5 days to make a move, you will automatically forfeit the game. You can raise and lower the time limit for each game by setting your minimum time. Your opponent will set their minimum time as well and the actual time limit will be the greater of the two values. Example: You set your time limit to 3 days and your opponent sets theirs to 7 days. The time limit for each move in this game will be 7 days. You can use the comment box to agree on a suitable time limit and you can change the time limit at any point in the game.
Conceding
You can concede a game at any time and give the points to your opponent. If fewer than 10 moves have been made, no points are awarded to the winner. You will automatically concede the game if you do not make a move within the time limit. If fewer than 10 moves have been made you lose 10% of the point value of the game.
Draws
You can offer to have any game be a draw. Your opponent must agree to have the game become a draw otherwise the game continues. If either you or your opponent moves after a draw is offered, the draw will be retracted and the game will continue. In a draw, no points exchange hands.
Your Queue
Anyone can challenge you to a game. Your challenges appear in your "People Challenging You" list on your details page. This list is sorted in chronological order and you can only accept the challenge at the top of the list. You may decline any challenge, but there is a penalty of 10% of the game's points. If you are at your game limit, and do not accept or reject the top most challenge after some number of days, it may be automatically rejected.
You may challenge multiple opponents simultaneously however if you reach your maximum for the number of challenges in play, some of your outstanding challenges may be retracted automatically without a penalty.
Notification
When it is your turn to move in one of your games, a small pawn icon will appear next to the word "My Details".
Game Limits
When you first get your chess account here at Braingle, you be able to play 2 concurrent games. If you like playing chess and want to have more games in play at any given time, you can easily and instantly upgrade your account by purchasing upgrades. $5 will purchase you 2 more concurrent games. You can upgrade here or by using the link above your stats.
Inactive Players
If a player has not made a move for 14 days, they will be turned into an inactive player. Inactive players cannot play any games so you cannot challenge them. Challenging someone activates your account again. Any player who remains inactive for 90 days will have their account deleted.
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