Chess 101: Learn About Chess, Memorable Matches, and Different Strategies and Moves to Perfect Your Playing Style

The quintessential game of strategy and tactics, chess and its antecedents have captivated players for more than 1,400 years. From its origins as a pastime for kings and noblemen, chess has become the most widely played board game in the world—and one of the few sports where individual games have risen to the level of political or historical events.

The rules of chess are straightforward, and they take just a few minutes to learn. However, the strategy of chess and the ability to visualize the complex relationships between players and pieces takes years of study and practice to master. Learning how to play chess at a high level means studying all aspects of the game, from memorizing the main lines and variations of the most common openings to learning how to contest the center of the board to developing a strong grasp for tactics for the endgame.

But chess isn’t just an intensely intellectual game. It’s also an intensely psychological one. Every player must find and develop a strategy that suits their individual strengths.