OBJECTIVE
Place your opponent's King in checkmate — a position where it cannot escape capture.
PIECE MOVEMENT
♔ King — One square in any direction
♛ Queen — Any distance, any direction
♜ Rook — Any distance, straight lines only
♝ Bishop — Any distance, diagonals only
♞ Knight — L-shape: 2 squares + 1 perpendicular, can jump
♟ Pawn — 1 forward (2 on first move), captures diagonally
SPECIAL MOVES
Castling — King slides 2 squares toward a Rook (neither may have moved)
En Passant — Pawn captures an adjacent pawn that just advanced 2 squares
Promotion — Pawn reaching the back rank becomes any piece (usually a Queen)
AI DIFFICULTY
Novice — Beginner friendly, mostly random moves
Knight — Intermediate, thinks 2 moves ahead
Master — Advanced, deep strategy with positional evaluation