Objective
The goal is to checkmate the opponent's King, meaning the King is under attack ("check") and has no legal moves to escape.
Piece Capabilities
♔
King
1 square, any direction
♕
Queen
Any distance, any direction
♖
Rook
Any distance, straight lines
♗
Bishop
Any distance, diagonals
♘
Knight
L-shape, can jump
♙
Pawn
Forward 1, captures diagonal
- King: Moves one square in any direction.
- Queen: Moves any number of vacant squares diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.
- Rook: Moves any number of vacant squares horizontally or vertically.
- Bishop: Moves any number of vacant squares diagonally.
- Knight: Moves in an 'L' shape (two squares in one direction, then one 90-degree turn). It is the only piece that can jump over others.
- Pawn: Moves forward one square, but captures diagonally. On its first move, it may advance two squares.
Special Global Rules
- Castling: Moves the King two squares towards a Rook, and the Rook jumps over the King. Allowed only if neither piece has moved, the path is clear, and the King is not in check.
- En Passant: If a pawn moves two squares forward and lands beside an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn can capture it on the next turn as if it had only moved one square.
- Promotion: When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board, it must immediately become a Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight.
Draw Conditions
- Stalemate: The player whose turn it is has no legal moves and is NOT in check.
- 50-Move Rule: 50 consecutive moves occur without a capture or a pawn push.
- 3-Fold Repetition: The exact same board position occurs three times.
- Dead Position: Neither player has enough pieces to force a checkmate (e.g., King vs King).
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2026 FIDE Tournament Standards: Aegis Chess engine evaluates using modern FIDE global tournament standards, including support for standard 45+30 time controls recognized in elite Open tier competitions.
Check & Checkmate
Check occurs when the King is directly attacked by an enemy piece. The player whose King is in check must immediately escape by one of the following:
- Move the King to a safe square
- Block the attack with another piece
- Capture the attacking piece
Checkmate occurs when none of these options are available. The game is over and the attacking player wins.
Game Start Position
The board is positioned so each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner. White moves first. The Queen is placed on her own color (White Queen on light square, Black Queen on dark square).