Post by Queen Thrower on Sept 29, 2006 11:53:59 GMT 10
Article 1: The Chessboard
The game of chess is played between two opponents by moving pieces on a square board called a "chessboard".
1.1
The chessboard is composed of 64 equal squares, alternately light (the "white" squares) and dark (the "black" squares).
1.2
The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner to the right of each player is white.
1.3
The eight vertical rows of squares are called "files".
1.4
The eight horizontal rows of squares are called "ranks".
1.5
The lines of squares of the same colour, touching corner to corner, are called "diagonals".
Article 2: The Pieces
2.1
At the beginning of the game, one player has 16 light-coloured pieces (the "white" pieces), the other has 16 dark-coloured pieces (the "black" pieces.
2.2
These pieces are as follows:
A white king: K A black king: k
A white queen: Q A black queen: q
Two white rooks: R Two black rooks: r
Two white knights: N Two black knights: n
Two white bishops: B Two black bishops: b
Eight white pawns: P Eight black pawns: p
2.3
The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard is as follows:
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r | n | b | q | k | b | n | r | -- this square is "black"
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | . | | . | | . | | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | | . | | . | | . | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | . | | . | | . | | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | | . | | . | | . | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | N | B | Q | K | B | N | R | -- this square is "white"
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Article 3: The Right To Move
3.1
The player with the white pieces commences the game. The players alternate in making one move at a time until the game is completed.
3.2
A player is said to "have the move" when his opponent's move has been completed.
Article 4: The General Definition Of The Move
4.1
With the exception of castling (Article 5.1(b)), a move is the transfer by a player of one of his pieces from one square to another square, which is either vacant or occupied by an opponent's piece.
4.2
No piece, except the rook when castling (Article 5.1(b)) and the knight (Article 5.5), may cross a square occupied by another piece.
4.3
A piece played to a square occupied by an opponent's piece captures it as part of the same move. The captured piece must be removed immediately from the chessboard by the player making the capture (see Article 5.6(c) for capturing "en passant").
Article 5: The Moves Of The Pieces
5.1 The King:
(a)
Except when castling, the king moves to any adjoining square that is not attacked by an opponent's piece.
(b)
Castling is a move of the king and either rook, counting as a single move of the king and executed as follows: the king is transferred from its original square two squares toward either rook on the same rank; then that rook is transferred over the king to the square the king has just crossed.
(c)
If a player touches a rook and then his king, he may not castle with that rook and the situation will by governed by Articles 7.2 and 7.3 [Touched Piece rules].
(d)
If a player, intending to castle, touches the king first, or king and rook at the same time, and it then appears that castling is illegal, the player may choose either to move his king or to castle on the other side, provided that castling on that side is legal. If the king has no legal move, the player is free to make any legal move.
(e)
Castling is [permanently] illegal:
(i)
if the king has already been moved; or
(ii)
with a rook that has already been moved.
(f)
Castling is prevented for the time being:
(i)
if the king's original square, or the square which the king must pass over, or that which it is to occupy, is attacked by an opponent's piece; or
(ii)
if there is any piece between the king and the rook with which castling is to be effected [i.e. castling may still be legal even if the rook is attacked or, when castling queenside, passes over an attacked square] .
5.2 The Queen.
The queen moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) [No leapfrogging] on the file, rank, or diagonals on which it stands.
5.3 The Rook.
The rook moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) on the file or rank on which it stands.
5.4 The Bishop.
The bishop moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) on the diagonals on which it stands.
5.5 The Knight.
The knight's move is composed of two different steps; first, it makes one step of one single square along its rank or file, and then, still moving away from the square of departure, one step of one single square on a diagonal. It does not matter if the square of the first step is occupied.
5.6 The Pawn.
(a)
The pawn may move only forward [except as limited by Article 4.2].
(b)
Except when making a capture, it advances from its original square either one or two vacant squares along the file on which it is placed, and on subsequent moves it advances one vacant square along the file. When capturing, it advances one square along either of the diagonals on which it stands.
(c)
A pawn, attacking a square crossed by an opponent's pawn which has [just] been advanced two squares in one move from its original square, may capture this opponent's pawn as though the latter had been moved only one square. This capture may only be made in [immediate] reply to such an advance, and is called an "en passant" capture.
(d)
On reaching the last rank, a pawn must immediately be exchanged, as part of the same move, for [either] a queen, a rook, a bishop, or a knight, of the same colour as the pawn, at the player's choice and without taking into account the other pieces still remaining on the chessboard. This exchange of a pawn for another piece is called "promotion", and the effect of the promoted piece is immediate [and permanent!].
(e)
In a competition, if a new piece required for the promotion is not immediately available, the player may stop his clock to ask for the assistance of the arbiter. The player must complete his move correctly, in the manner specified in Article 5.6(d).
Article 6: The Completion Of The Move
A move is completed:
6.1
in the case of the transfer of a piece to a vacant square, when the player's hand has released the piece;
6.2
in the case of a capture, when the captured piece has been removed from the chessboard and the player, having placed his own piece on its new square, has released this [capturing] piece from his hand;
6.3
in the case of castling, when the player's hand has released the rook on the square [previously] crossed by the king. When the player has released the king from his hand, the move is not yet completed, but the player no longer has the right to make any move other than castling on that side, if this is legal;
6.4
in the case of the promotion of a pawn, when the pawn has been removed from the chessboard and the player's hand has released the new piece after placing it on the promotion square. If the player has released from his hand the pawn that has reached the promotion square, the move is not yet completed, but the player no longer has the right to play the pawn to another square.
6.5
When determining whether the prescribed number of moves has been made in the allotted time, the last move is not considered complete until after the player has stopped his clock. This applies to all situations except those governed by Articles 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and 10.6. [i.e. when the move has been completed in the sense of Articles 6.1-6.4, and the game ends immediately after the move in question, which may, for example, put the player's opponent into checkmate. This Law was introduced to prevent the situation where a player returns to the board to claim a win on time, possibly an hour after being checkmated!] .
Article 7: The Touched Piece
7.1
Provided that he first expresses his intention (e.g. by saying "j'adoube"), the player having the move may adjust one or more pieces on their squares.
[If a player's opponent is absent from the chessboard, it is best to inform one of his team-mates, or some other witness.]
7.2
Except for the above case, if the player having the move deliberately touches on the board:
(a)
one or more pieces of the same colour, he must move or capture the first piece he touched that can be moved or captured; or
(b)
one of his own pieces and one of his opponent's pieces, he must capture his opponent's piece with his own piece; or, if this is illegal, move or capture the first piece he touched that can be moved or captured. If it is impossible to establish which piece was touched first, the player's piece shall be considered the touched piece.
7.3
If none of the touched pieces has a legal move (or if none of the opponent's pieces which were touched can be captured legally), the player is free to make any legal move.
7.4
If a player wishes to claim that his opponent has violated Article 7.2, he must do so before he himself touches a piece.
[Note that the clause "deliberately touches" protects a player from having to move a piece accidentally touched by his elbow/wrist etc]
Please continue reading the rules in FIDE Laws of Chess Part II.
The game of chess is played between two opponents by moving pieces on a square board called a "chessboard".
1.1
The chessboard is composed of 64 equal squares, alternately light (the "white" squares) and dark (the "black" squares).
1.2
The chessboard is placed between the players in such a way that the near corner to the right of each player is white.
1.3
The eight vertical rows of squares are called "files".
1.4
The eight horizontal rows of squares are called "ranks".
1.5
The lines of squares of the same colour, touching corner to corner, are called "diagonals".
Article 2: The Pieces
2.1
At the beginning of the game, one player has 16 light-coloured pieces (the "white" pieces), the other has 16 dark-coloured pieces (the "black" pieces.
2.2
These pieces are as follows:
A white king: K A black king: k
A white queen: Q A black queen: q
Two white rooks: R Two black rooks: r
Two white knights: N Two black knights: n
Two white bishops: B Two black bishops: b
Eight white pawns: P Eight black pawns: p
2.3
The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard is as follows:
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r | n | b | q | k | b | n | r | -- this square is "black"
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | p | p | p | p | p | p | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | . | | . | | . | | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | | . | | . | | . | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | . | | . | | . | | . |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | | . | | . | | . | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | N | B | Q | K | B | N | R | -- this square is "white"
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Article 3: The Right To Move
3.1
The player with the white pieces commences the game. The players alternate in making one move at a time until the game is completed.
3.2
A player is said to "have the move" when his opponent's move has been completed.
Article 4: The General Definition Of The Move
4.1
With the exception of castling (Article 5.1(b)), a move is the transfer by a player of one of his pieces from one square to another square, which is either vacant or occupied by an opponent's piece.
4.2
No piece, except the rook when castling (Article 5.1(b)) and the knight (Article 5.5), may cross a square occupied by another piece.
4.3
A piece played to a square occupied by an opponent's piece captures it as part of the same move. The captured piece must be removed immediately from the chessboard by the player making the capture (see Article 5.6(c) for capturing "en passant").
Article 5: The Moves Of The Pieces
5.1 The King:
(a)
Except when castling, the king moves to any adjoining square that is not attacked by an opponent's piece.
(b)
Castling is a move of the king and either rook, counting as a single move of the king and executed as follows: the king is transferred from its original square two squares toward either rook on the same rank; then that rook is transferred over the king to the square the king has just crossed.
(c)
If a player touches a rook and then his king, he may not castle with that rook and the situation will by governed by Articles 7.2 and 7.3 [Touched Piece rules].
(d)
If a player, intending to castle, touches the king first, or king and rook at the same time, and it then appears that castling is illegal, the player may choose either to move his king or to castle on the other side, provided that castling on that side is legal. If the king has no legal move, the player is free to make any legal move.
(e)
Castling is [permanently] illegal:
(i)
if the king has already been moved; or
(ii)
with a rook that has already been moved.
(f)
Castling is prevented for the time being:
(i)
if the king's original square, or the square which the king must pass over, or that which it is to occupy, is attacked by an opponent's piece; or
(ii)
if there is any piece between the king and the rook with which castling is to be effected [i.e. castling may still be legal even if the rook is attacked or, when castling queenside, passes over an attacked square] .
5.2 The Queen.
The queen moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) [No leapfrogging] on the file, rank, or diagonals on which it stands.
5.3 The Rook.
The rook moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) on the file or rank on which it stands.
5.4 The Bishop.
The bishop moves to any square (except as limited by Article 4.2) on the diagonals on which it stands.
5.5 The Knight.
The knight's move is composed of two different steps; first, it makes one step of one single square along its rank or file, and then, still moving away from the square of departure, one step of one single square on a diagonal. It does not matter if the square of the first step is occupied.
5.6 The Pawn.
(a)
The pawn may move only forward [except as limited by Article 4.2].
(b)
Except when making a capture, it advances from its original square either one or two vacant squares along the file on which it is placed, and on subsequent moves it advances one vacant square along the file. When capturing, it advances one square along either of the diagonals on which it stands.
(c)
A pawn, attacking a square crossed by an opponent's pawn which has [just] been advanced two squares in one move from its original square, may capture this opponent's pawn as though the latter had been moved only one square. This capture may only be made in [immediate] reply to such an advance, and is called an "en passant" capture.
(d)
On reaching the last rank, a pawn must immediately be exchanged, as part of the same move, for [either] a queen, a rook, a bishop, or a knight, of the same colour as the pawn, at the player's choice and without taking into account the other pieces still remaining on the chessboard. This exchange of a pawn for another piece is called "promotion", and the effect of the promoted piece is immediate [and permanent!].
(e)
In a competition, if a new piece required for the promotion is not immediately available, the player may stop his clock to ask for the assistance of the arbiter. The player must complete his move correctly, in the manner specified in Article 5.6(d).
Article 6: The Completion Of The Move
A move is completed:
6.1
in the case of the transfer of a piece to a vacant square, when the player's hand has released the piece;
6.2
in the case of a capture, when the captured piece has been removed from the chessboard and the player, having placed his own piece on its new square, has released this [capturing] piece from his hand;
6.3
in the case of castling, when the player's hand has released the rook on the square [previously] crossed by the king. When the player has released the king from his hand, the move is not yet completed, but the player no longer has the right to make any move other than castling on that side, if this is legal;
6.4
in the case of the promotion of a pawn, when the pawn has been removed from the chessboard and the player's hand has released the new piece after placing it on the promotion square. If the player has released from his hand the pawn that has reached the promotion square, the move is not yet completed, but the player no longer has the right to play the pawn to another square.
6.5
When determining whether the prescribed number of moves has been made in the allotted time, the last move is not considered complete until after the player has stopped his clock. This applies to all situations except those governed by Articles 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and 10.6. [i.e. when the move has been completed in the sense of Articles 6.1-6.4, and the game ends immediately after the move in question, which may, for example, put the player's opponent into checkmate. This Law was introduced to prevent the situation where a player returns to the board to claim a win on time, possibly an hour after being checkmated!] .
Article 7: The Touched Piece
7.1
Provided that he first expresses his intention (e.g. by saying "j'adoube"), the player having the move may adjust one or more pieces on their squares.
[If a player's opponent is absent from the chessboard, it is best to inform one of his team-mates, or some other witness.]
7.2
Except for the above case, if the player having the move deliberately touches on the board:
(a)
one or more pieces of the same colour, he must move or capture the first piece he touched that can be moved or captured; or
(b)
one of his own pieces and one of his opponent's pieces, he must capture his opponent's piece with his own piece; or, if this is illegal, move or capture the first piece he touched that can be moved or captured. If it is impossible to establish which piece was touched first, the player's piece shall be considered the touched piece.
7.3
If none of the touched pieces has a legal move (or if none of the opponent's pieces which were touched can be captured legally), the player is free to make any legal move.
7.4
If a player wishes to claim that his opponent has violated Article 7.2, he must do so before he himself touches a piece.
[Note that the clause "deliberately touches" protects a player from having to move a piece accidentally touched by his elbow/wrist etc]
Please continue reading the rules in FIDE Laws of Chess Part II.