2. Welcome to the basics of chess. This is a graphically designed program that will help you learn how to play chess. By Amir and Mike, 9B

3. There are eight pawns to each side. When a pawn reaches the back line of the board, it can become any piece except a king. The pawn is the only piece that takes an enemy piece different to the way it moves.

4. On the pawn’s 1st move, it has the option of moving two squares, or one. But after it’s first move it can only move one square. When taking pieces, it takes diagonally. The pawn can only move forward.

5. The rook is also known as ‘the castle’. The rook and the king have a special move where they swap positions.

6. The rook can only move vertically and horizontally. The rook can move as far or as short as it likes. The rook is a very powerful piece.

7. The knight has a very unusual moving pattern. It is the only piece that can jump over other pieces. Used well the knight can be very damaging.

8. The knight can jump over any piece on the board. It always moves in L shapes It can move forwards and backwards If the knight starts on a white square, it will land on a black one and visa versa.

9. The Bishop can only move diagonally.It can move as far or as short as you want, but if you have a king and Bishop versus a King it is a draw.

10. The Bishop can only move diagonally. You get to bishops at the start of the game and they are on different colors. Bishops can only stay on there original colors.

11. The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board. It can move in all the directions that the other pieces have except for the Knight. The Queen starts next to the king, and it is often used by knew players to checkmate.

12. Like all the other pieces except for the pawn the queen takes the same way it moves Because the queen is so versatile it is said to be the best piece on the board. It is best not to bring the queen out to early.

13. Once the King is taken the game is over! This is called checkmate. If there is no pieces left in the game it is a draw. When you attack the King you must say “check”.

14. The king can move in any direction, but it can only move one square at a time. When the king is in check it must either move out of the way or use another piece to block or take the offender. A king cannot give check to the opposite king, and it cannot move into check.

15. This is a diagram of the starting position. The person with the white pieces always moves first. In this diagram the knight is represented by the letter ‘N’

16. We hope that after reading this program you have learnt the basics of chess.If you would like to learn more about chess contact your local library or chess club.