Chess for Beginners: Learn to Play in 11 Steps Only

Teaching oneself how to play chess is an interesting process and demands knowledge of rules and mind games. There are multiple online chess coaching platforms one can use to improve their skills. Here are 11 steps to help beginners get started:

 Step 1: Setting Up the Board:

 There are 64 squares forming an 8×8 grid arrangement that make up the chessboard. Ascertain that the board is placed rightly with every player's white square on the right-hand side.

 Step 2: Understanding the Pieces:

The chess game involves six varieties of pieces, including a king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, and pawn. Every component has its own individual movements that one must know about.

 Step 3: The Role of the King:

Most important of all is the King. It moves only one square and in any direction, leaving it exposed. Guarding the King takes the highest rank. This guarantees your win or loss.

 Step 4: The Flexible Queen:

This makes the queen the strongest piece. It may go up, down, sideways or even diagonally. Direct the company's administration through it.

 Step 5: The Rooks:

Rooks are restricted to moving only in any direction of the board, horizontally or vertically, until the board ends. Their power may be useful towards the end.

 Step 6: The Lithe Bishops:

Bishops move diagonally. One of these bishops for each player stands on a light square while the other stands on a dark square.

 Step 7: The Knights:

The knights move with one forward step and two lateral steps that form an "L" shape. Such pieces can jump over other pieces.

 Step 8: The Foot Soldiers or Pawns:

Pawns can advance only one space, and they capture diagonally. Additionally, they can advance two squares in their first movement. A pawn becomes a queen, rook, knight or bishop when reaching the last square at the opposite side, but never a king.

Step 9: Understanding Check and Checkmate:

Check" is the case when the King is threatened. A King is "checkmated" when he is in check and cannot make a legal move away from that check. It indicates a win for the one who has called checkmate.

Step 10: Here are some of the special moves in chess that could be useful: 

Castling: The rook may jump over the King, moving two squares toward him. It is known to be a defensive and offensive move.

En passant: This is a French term that translates to "in passing". If a pawn moves two squares from its starting position and lands beside an opponent's pawn, the opponent can capture it as if it had moved only one square.

Pawn promotion: Once a pawn reaches the end of the board, it can be converted into a higher rank piece.

Step 11: Strategic Thinking:

Chess is more than simply moving the pieces – you need to have a plan, anticipating what your opponent might want to achieve. Here are some strategic tips for beginners:

Control the center: You should always aim to occupy the center of the board, using your pieces.

Develop your pieces: Take a lot of knights and bishops at the early stages and try not to move the same pawn multiple times during the first move.

Protect your King: One must make sure that your King is safe. Safeguard the King by castling early.

Think ahead: You should think of what you might expect your opponent to do next and then set up a strategy to counter that.

Conclusion:

One can enroll in any online chess coaching in India to improve their gaming skills. Practice is the key to learning how to play chess. Play frequently, identify famous games, and review your errors. Success in chess requires patience, practicing many times, and learning from defeats and victories. It is a game that challenges you to always think on your feet and be alert.