Standard Chess

The original, and still the deepest. The rules as FIDE codifies them: the standard starting position, castling, en passant, promotion, the fifty-move rule and threefold repetition. After nineteen variants it is worth saying plainly what standard chess has that none of them do, which is roughly five hundred years of accumulated understanding sitting behind every position.

Start a free game of Standard Chess in the browser while you read; no sign-up.

The rules

The rules as codified by FIDE: standard starting position, castling, en passant, promotion, the fifty-move rule and threefold repetition.

Why it is worth playing

After nineteen variants it is worth saying plainly what standard chess has that none of them do: roughly five hundred years of accumulated understanding. Every variant here is interesting because it removes some of that. Standard chess is interesting because of it.

Four plans that win games

Control the centre

Central squares let your pieces reach both wings. It is the first principle because it is the one everything else depends on.

Develop toward a plan

Getting pieces off the back rank is not development. Putting them where they do something is.

Castle and connect the rooks

When your rooks see each other, your opening is finished. It is a useful checkpoint.

Play the structure

The pawns decide which squares exist and which files will open. Everything else follows from them.

Mistakes that lose games

What it teaches you about standard chess

Everything, slowly

The variants above each isolate one skill. Standard chess is where they all have to work at once, against an opponent who has also practised. That is why it remains the deepest of them, and why the others are worth playing.

Standard Chess does what every good variant does: it removes part of chess so that what is left gets your full attention, and the habit comes back with you to the standard game. The full argument, and which variant trains what, is in the coach's guide to variants.

Who it suits

Everyone. And if you have been playing only standard chess, the variants above will improve it more than another opening book will.

You can play it right now on any device, in a browser, against a full engine, with no download and no account. If you have never tried a variant before, give it three games rather than one: the first is spent learning the rules, and the second is where it starts being chess.

Common questions

What are the rules of Standard Chess?

The rules as codified by FIDE: standard starting position, castling, en passant, promotion, the fifty-move rule and threefold repetition.

Is Standard Chess hard to learn?

The rules take about two minutes. Everyone. And if you have been playing only standard chess, the variants above will improve it more than another opening book will.

What is the best strategy in Standard Chess?

Control the centre. Central squares let your pieces reach both wings. It is the first principle because it is the one everything else depends on.

Where can I play Standard Chess free?

Grandmaster Gains has Standard Chess playable in the browser against a full engine, free and with no sign-up, alongside nineteen other variants.

Will playing Standard Chess improve my normal chess?

Everything, slowly. The variants above each isolate one skill. Standard chess is where they all have to work at once, against an opponent who has also practised. That is why it remains the deepest of them, and why the others are worth playing.

What is the biggest mistake beginners make in Standard Chess?

Moving the same piece repeatedly. Every repeat is a free move for your opponent.

More variants

• Crazyhouse: Captured pieces switch sides and can be dropped back on the board.
• Chess960 (Fischer Random): The back rank is shuffled: 960 possible starting positions, no opening theory.
• King of the Hill: Get your king to one of the four central squares and you win instantly.
• Three-Check Chess: Check your opponent three times and you win. Checkmate optional.