Questions tagged [rules]
Questions relating to the rules of chess
139
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Can a piece pinned to my king put the opponent's king in check?
I was playing a game with a friend online. A situation came up where he put me in check with his bishop, and I moved my rook to block it. His king was on the g file and my rook was on g2. The website ...
89
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7
answers
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When is castling possible?
Is castling possible if any of the squares involved in the castling are under attack, or is this a problem only if the squares moved through by the king are under attack and not the ones moved through ...
43
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2
answers
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I made an illegal move. What happens?
Especially in blitz or bullet games, it is possible that a player makes an illegal move, for example castles through check.
If the opponent does notice the illegal move, then as far as I know the ...
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6
answers
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Can the King be attacked by a pinned piece? [duplicate]
A computer chess game does not permit moving the white King to d2 presumably because it's attacked by the black Knight which I suspect is correct, but the Knight can't actually attack that square ...
4
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3
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Moving king into check [duplicate]
Can a player move their king into check if the opponents piece that is able to take king, is putting opponents king in check?
22
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1
answer
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Why is it illegal to move into check?
In chess, it is against the rules to move into check, or to not move out of check. But why? Obviously, if you went against this rule, you'd immediately lose. But it seems strange to make it illegal to ...
27
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6
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What is sufficient mating material?
The FIDE chess rules describe that "The game is draw when a position is reached from which a checkmate cannot occur by any possible series of legal moves" (FIDE rule 9.6). This rules is sometimes ...
19
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4
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Bizarre pin rule: pinned pieces do not attack
I found this guy who likes playing chess, but not enough to bother reading the rules; he only plays using a physical board with his sister (she doesn't know the rules either).
The made up rule was ...
32
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What is the correct pawn promotion procedure?
This may be a frivolous question, as I believe that most chess players are good sportsmen, but I was wondering: what is the technically correct procedure for promoting a pawn to a queen? Do you ask ...
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Is taking the opponent's king an illegal move?
In competition blitz games, making an illegal move and then pressing the clock forfeits the game if the opponent claims the illegal move as long as they do not make a new move, as a new move would ...
33
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How should an arbiter handle copying moves from another game?
In 2004 the British illusionist, Derren Brown, despite being a very poor chess player scored +4 -3 =2 against 9 strong chess players including scoring 2/4 against 4 grandmasters in a simul. Of course ...
8
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Does checkmate over ride 50-move rule?
If a move reaches the 50-move rule and gives checkmate at the same time, does the checkmate take priority over the draw?
3
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Can two Kings stand next to each other?
My white King is separated from the Black King by one square (between) which is protected by my white rook. I moved my white King next to the black King putting him in check (from the square ...
69
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When (if ever) was it a rule that pawn promotion was optional?
I'm reading a very old chess book ("The Chess Pocket Manual" by G.H.D. Gossip, copyright 1894), and I find this passage in it's section on "The Laws of Chess":
When a Pawn has reached the eighth ...
46
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4
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Arbiter ignored cheating, and I signed the scoresheet. Did I lose my right to object?
I am currently playing in an ELO tournament.
Today, while I was playing, my opponent occasionally got up and walked around. At first, I did not care much. Then, I realized that some people were ...
13
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4
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Is it technically a checkmate if the king is not in check, but all moves will result in check?
In other words, after white's move, black king is not in check. It is now black's move, but any move that black could make results in check. Is this a checkmate? Is there a chess term for this ...
8
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4
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Formal rules for two-player bughouse without a clock
I would like to know what are the formal rules for two-player bughouse without a clock. I'd like to think of each team as a single player.
It seems to me that bughouse chess works primarily because of ...
4
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4
answers
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would a board for calculating "non-blindfold" help GMs in slow games?
I have often wondered, how would it be if the rules were different and you could calculate on a "non-blindfold" board during slow games.
For example, you could picture each player in the ...
27
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Why is castling through and out of check prohibited?
Why is castling disallowed when the king is in check or when the square the rook will be placed on is under attack?
What is the rationale behind this ruling?
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Is it a draw by insufficient material if the board is K vs K, N & N?
It isn't possible to force checkmate with King vs. King, Knight & Knight. A checkmate position, however, is still possible to achieve, so does that mean the 50 move rule applies, or does ...
25
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Should you let your opponent know if they have forgotten to press their clock?
I'm in two minds here.
The good sportsman says you should always let your opponent know (maybe limited to once per game).
The more hard-nosed part of me says that managing the clock is part of the ...
22
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What stops me from pumping up my rating by playing a 200 game match against a much weaker (>400 point difference) player?
This question is inspired by this extract from a question about minimum rating gain:
One of the top 10 players in the world (say Magnus Carlsen), wants to increase his rating to 3000. He has a good ...
18
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2
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Do the official rules of chess forbid promoting a pawn to a piece of the opposite color?
Not that it would be everyone's first choice, but it is possible to concoct positions where having an extra piece block your opponent's moves and thus gives you an advantage (think blocking an escape ...
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Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant?
Why can't a piece (that isn't a pawn) capture en passant? When a pawn makes a two-square move, the en passant rule says that on the next move, any pawn that could have captured it on the single-...
15
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How does one promote a third queen in an over-the-board game?
Most chess sets come with only one spare queen, and according to the video in the question Is holding the opponent's captured pieces legal or allowed?, one cannot use an upside-down rook because ...
11
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Can a player move before his opponent hits the clock?
In a reply to another question, I made an explicit presumption that under FIDE Laws, a player can move as soon as the opponent’s move has been made. But someone wondered if this was this really ...
11
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Can you castle with a "ghost" rook?
I recently saw this mate-in-2 problem
[title "White to mate in 2"]
[fen "8/8/8/2B5/2p5/1kp5/8/R3K3 w - - 0 1"]
This was posed with the hint that the player of the White pieces was a strong player ...
9
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If I accidentally knock over a rook with my elbow while reaching for another piece, do I have to move the rook?
According to the official FIDE rules for otb games, does the above description warrant the touch move rule?
8
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answer
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Illegal Move Missed-Too Late?
This question is about standard games under USCF rules (if FIDE is different, I'd like to know). Say that one side makes an illegal move-specifically, castling through check. Neither player notices. ...
6
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4
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Is takeback allowed in real chess?
Is takeback allowed in real chess?
All chess engines allow take backs, but that's not important, it's just a computer, we make mistakes and correct them.
My question is about real chess, is it ...
5
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Is castling possible with a pawn promoted to a rook?
I was thinking about some rules and I came up with a really nice question. Is it possible to castle with a pawn promoted to a rook?
If the rules are followed-neither the king or the new rook has ...
5
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4
answers
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FIDE Laws of Chess pre-2017
I have to hold a lesson for B-Trainers about the law of chess, and I have to tell them what has changed in the last years. While I’m quite sure that I can teach the actual LoC (that’s what I regularly ...
1
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1
answer
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Simultaneous check [duplicate]
My pawn is pinned by the enemy bishop, however if I push the pinned pawn 1 space my rook would then put the opposing king in check resulting in a simultaneous check with my opponent to move next Can ...
1
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1
answer
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What are the rules of Glinski's Hexagonal Chess?
Wladyslaw "Bill" Glinski was a Pole who came to London immediately after the end of WW2. He developed what is probably the most popular version of hexagonal chess, a variant played on an ...
42
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1
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When was it possible for a player's king to be attacked by 3 of the opponent's pieces?
According to the current FIDE Laws of Chess:
3.9.1 The king is said to be 'in check' if it is attacked by one or more of the opponent's pieces, even if such pieces are constrained
from moving to ...
32
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4
answers
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Is it possible to checkmate with knight and king against king?
I would like to clarify two things:
Is it possible to checkmate with only a knight and a king against a lone king?
What will happen when one side has a king and knight and the other has just a king, ...
31
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Rules: en passant and draw by triple repetition
A question of rulebook pedantry:
One can claim a draw when the same position occurs the third time, the same player having the move.
Two positions are not the same if the earlier allows a capture en ...
27
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6
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Why is this a checkmate?
I'm new to chess and I'm confused about a puzzle I was practicing.
As you can see my black queen has put the white king in check, but I'm confused how this is possible if a rook is right next to my ...
26
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answers
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How did castling originate?
Castling to me has always seemed like such a huge leap in terms of game play that I've always wondered how it came to be.
Does anyone know the history behind how and why castling came to be?
23
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Can a pawn put a king in check?
I am only an amateur player, but have been playing for many years. Every now and then I come across people who are adamant that a pawn cannot put a king into check.
The last person who I discussed ...
20
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With only the King left, how can you get a draw?
Let's say I have only the King left.
I've read several rules and posts of people saying there is a limit to the number of moves your opponent has to check mate you in, but there are some ...
17
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What is the etiquette (or tournament rule) for the act of capturing a piece?
There are a few different possible ways of capturing an opponent's piece. You could:
Pick up both your piece and their piece simultaneously with both hands, then set your piece down where their piece ...
13
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1
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Draws, castling rights, and the FIDE's 2014 rulebook revision
A question of rulebook pedantry:
Effective July 2014, the FIDE has revised its Laws of Chess. As you know, the Laws have long allowed a player to claim a draw by repetition. The July 2014 Laws, ...
12
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2
answers
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What happens after two kings stay on the board?
A lot of times my sibling and I have played chess and have ended up with just two kings. We have never known what would happen next. Two kings on the board would somehow result in an infinite game, as ...
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2
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Is shuffling aimlessly for hundreds of moves permissible?
As I write this, game 73 of the TCEC Season 18 superfinal has just ended. What was most "interesting" about this game is the sheer amount of shuffling both sides did: starting from around ...
11
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About the 3D chess they play on Star Trek
They play a type of 3D chess on Star Trek ( the 60's series) not on a 8x8x8 3D board but on some smaller variation. Yet the game as they have it is supposed to be complicated. Are there real rules and ...
11
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1
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Is it illegal to write clock time in the score sheet during tournaments?
I have the habit of noting the clock time near my moves in tournament. I've been doing this for years now, but today a friend told me it is illegal according to FIDE. I wonderwhat the regulation ...
9
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What rule changes are proposed to minimize the incentive to draw a game?
Many world champion games are drawn, and people in the general public think that is disappointing. Not to debate that opinion here, but the question seems to be out there. So what would a rule change ...
9
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Why doesn't Promotion restrict choices to Queen and Knight only?
Queen, in a sense, is equivalent to Bishop and Rook. What is the logic behind "putting Rook and Bishop" in the promotion move's options? Why doesn't it (Promotion move) provide the choice between ...
8
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3
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Are score sheet booklets allowed to be in use?
Is it allowed to use a score sheet booklet for notations (with a recording of previous games), as opposed to a single "stand alone" sheet?
Reasons for not allowing this may, of course, be ...