Chess is a strategy game for two players, each with 16 pieces on a board of 8×8 squares. There is no luck: both sides see every piece, and the better thinker wins. According to the generally accepted view, the game's ancestor was born in India, took the name shatranj in Persia and spread from there to the Islamic world and Europe. The word "checkmate" also comes from Persian.
This page explains the rules used in CetinsGame Chess. Our game follows the rules of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in full; the only difference when you play the computer is that some draws are declared automatically instead of waiting for a claim.
Board and pieces
The board is placed so that the bottom-right square is light. Each player has a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. White's pieces stand on the 1st and 2nd ranks, Black's on the 7th and 8th; each queen starts on a square of its own colour (white queen d1, black queen d8). White moves first and the players then take turns.
How do the pieces move?
- King: one square in any direction.
- Queen: straight or diagonally, as far as the way is clear.
- Rook: straight (horizontally and vertically), as far as the way is clear.
- Bishop: diagonally, as far as the way is clear. A bishop always stays on squares of one colour.
- Knight: jumps in an L shape (two squares straight, one to the side); it is the only piece that can jump over others.
- Pawn: moves one square forward; on its first move it may go two. It cannot capture straight ahead; it captures diagonally forward. It never moves backwards.
A piece captures by moving onto a square occupied by an enemy piece, which is removed from the board. You cannot move onto your own piece.
Special moves: castling, en passant, promotion
Castling: the only move made by two pieces. The king moves two squares towards a rook and the rook jumps over to the square next to it. Conditions: neither the king nor that rook has moved before, the squares between them are empty, the king is not in check and does not pass through or land on an attacked square. There is short castling (towards the nearer rook) and long castling. In our game you simply move the king two squares.
En passant: if a pawn advances two squares on its first move and lands right beside an enemy pawn, the enemy pawn may capture it diagonally as if it had moved only one square. This is allowed only on the very next move.
Promotion: a pawn that reaches the last rank becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight. Usually a queen is chosen; our game offers all four (you can turn on "always queen" in the settings).
Check, checkmate and stalemate
A king under attack is in check. You may not make a move that leaves your king in check or puts it in check; you must get out of check (by moving the king, blocking or capturing the attacker).
Checkmate: the king is in check and no legal move can save it. The checkmated player loses.
Stalemate: the player to move has no legal move, but the king is not in check. Stalemate is a draw, so the side that is ahead must be careful.
Draws
- Stalemate (see above).
- Threefold repetition: the same position (same pieces, same player to move, same castling and en passant rights) occurs three times.
- Fifty-move rule: both sides make 50 moves without moving a pawn or capturing.
- Insufficient material: too few pieces remain to mate in any way: king v king, king and bishop v king, king and knight v king, bishops on squares of the same colour.
- Agreement: one player offers a draw and the other accepts.
Under FIDE rules, threefold repetition and the fifty-move rule must be claimed by a player; against the computer our game does not wait for a claim and declares the draw automatically. In a timed game the player who runs out of time loses, unless the opponent has only a king, in which case it is a draw.
What is a mansuba?
In the medieval Islamic world, chess problems were called mansuba (plural mansubat). Masters wrote these puzzles, showing how to mate from a given position in a set number of moves, into books and set them for one another. The game played then was shatranj, the ancestor of modern chess, in which the queen and bishop did not move as far as today.
The Daily Mansuba in CetinsGame is a daily mate puzzle that pays tribute to this tradition: everyone gets the same position each day. On Monday and Tuesday you look for mate in 1, on Wednesday and Thursday mate in 2, and towards the weekend mate in 3. If you find another way to mate in the same number of moves, it counts as correct too.
What's in CetinsGame Chess?
- Five levels against the computer: Beginner, Keen learner, Club player, Strong club player and Master, which unlocks once you beat the strong club player. The computer never cheats; weaker levels simply think less deeply.
- Rating: every game played without undo or hints counts towards your rating.
- Drag and drop or tap to move; legal squares, last move and check highlighted; undo, hint, flip board, move list, copy PGN.
- Optional clock: 10 minutes, 5+3, 15+10.
- The Daily Mansuba, streaks and sharing.
- Ads only when a game ends; never in the middle of a game.
Tips for beginners
- In the opening, control the centre (e4, d4, e5, d5) with pawns and bring out your knights and bishops early.
- Castle to keep your king safe.
- Before every move, ask: what does my opponent's last move threaten?
- Do not leave pieces unprotected; rough values: pawn 1, knight 3, bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9.
- When ahead, trade pieces; when behind, look for complications.
Common mistakes
- Trying a move that leaves your king in check: the rules do not allow it; you must deal with the check first.
- Forgetting the castling conditions: you cannot castle out of check or through an attacked square.
- Trying to capture en passant one move too late: it is only allowed on the very next move.
- Throwing away a won game with stalemate: leaving the enemy king no squares without giving check is stalemate.
- Bringing the queen out too early, where enemy pieces can chase it with tempo.
Frequently asked questions
What is stalemate in chess and who wins?
Stalemate is when the player to move has no legal move but is not in check. Nobody wins: the game is a draw.
When castling, do you move the king or the rook first?
Castling is a single king move: you move the king two squares towards the rook and the rook jumps to the other side by itself. In our game, just drag the king two squares.
What happens when a pawn reaches the last rank?
It becomes a queen, rook, bishop or knight. You may get a second queen even if your first one is still on the board.
When can you capture en passant?
Only on the move immediately after an enemy pawn advances two squares from its starting square and lands right beside your pawn. Your pawn moves diagonally to the square the enemy pawn skipped.
Does the computer cheat?
No. The computer sees the same board as you, follows the rules and thinks according to its level. Weaker levels calculate less deeply and sometimes make human-like mistakes; they never secretly get stronger or weaker.
Does the Daily Mansuba change every day?
Yes. A new mate puzzle arrives every day at midnight Turkish time, and everyone solves the same puzzle that day. Consecutive days you solve make up your streak.
