Introduction
Chess is a board game that many people both young and old play around the world. It is popular among those who wish to play something that stimulates the mind and is also enjoyable at the same time. If you like board games, you should consider taking up this game. Continue reading so that you will learn a little more about it.
About chess
This is a game that is a few hundred years old. In fact, it got its current looks and 
moves in Spain during the 1500’s. It is played on a board which has black and white squares with eight rows horizontally and vertically. Each player starts off with sixteen game pieces which are either black or white. Here are the pieces and their powers.
The king
The king is the central piece on the board, and the goal is to capture your opponent’s one. It can be moved in any direction but only one square at a time. The only exception is during the castling move made with the rook.
The queen
This is the most powerful piece on the board, it too can move vertically, horizontally and diagonally but as many spaces at a time. You get one of these but it a pawn reaches the eighth row it can be promoted to a queen, which means you can have more than one.
The Bishop
You get two of them, and you can move them diagonally forward and backward as many squares as you wish.
The knight
Perhaps the unique piece on your board. You will have two of them, and it moves in an “L” shape both forward and backward.
The rook
You can move this piece horizontally and vertically as many places as you wish. It is also used during the castling move which can be useful to protect the king.
The pawn
You will start with eight pawns. These are the soldiers in your army and the frontline. They can move one step at a time except they can be moved two steps on the first step. They can cut an opponent’s piece diagonally. As mentioned above, when it reaches the last row, you can change it to any piece including the queen.
The goal
The aim of this board game is to trap the king of your opponent by checkmating him. It is where the other person cannot make a move without being defeated. Chess is a fantastic game which will help you develop your mind, and you will also enjoy the strategy that you have to use when playing.