---
title: "How to play Pokémon Chess | pokee.si"
url: "https://pokee.si/chess/how-to-play"
description: "A family guide to chess: moving, capturing, checkmate, castling, en passant and promotion."
last_updated: "2026-10-24"
publisher: "pokee.si: a Pokédex for families (unofficial fan site)"
---

# How to play Pokémon Chess

A family guide to chess: moving, capturing, checkmate, castling, en passant and promotion.

## Meet the pieces

- [King](https://pokee.si/chess/pieces/king): The king moves one square in any direction. It must stay out of check.
- [Queen](https://pokee.si/chess/pieces/queen): The queen moves along a row, column or diagonal. It cannot jump over another piece.
- [Rook](https://pokee.si/chess/pieces/rook): The rook moves along a row or column. It cannot jump over another piece.
- [Bishop](https://pokee.si/chess/pieces/bishop): The bishop moves diagonally. It cannot jump over another piece.
- [Knight](https://pokee.si/chess/pieces/knight): The knight moves two squares in one direction and one square sideways, making an L. It can jump over pieces.
- [Pawn](https://pokee.si/chess/pieces/pawn): A pawn moves one square forward into an empty square. On its first move it may move two squares if both are empty.

## Set up and take turns

Use an 8 × 8 board with a light square at your bottom right. Put each queen on her own colour. White moves first, then the players take turns.

## Move and capture

You cannot land on a friendly piece. A capture removes an opposing piece. Here, it goes back to its Poké Ball. No move may leave your own king in check.

## Check and checkmate

Check means the king is attacked. You must get out of check. If there is no legal escape, it is checkmate and the game ends. The king is never captured.

## Stalemate

If the player to move has no legal move and their king is not in check, the game is a draw.

## Castling

Move the king two squares towards a rook, then put that rook on the square the king crossed. Neither piece may have moved before. The squares between them must be empty. The king cannot start in check, cross an attacked square or finish in check.

## En passant

If an enemy pawn moves two squares from its starting square and lands beside your pawn, your pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. You must do this on your very next move.

## Promotion

A pawn reaching the far end must become a queen, rook, bishop or knight of its own colour. Choose even if that piece has not been captured. Our evolution scene is a chess costume change, not a Pokémon evolution claim.

Practice games automatically handle the threefold-repetition and 50-move draws. There is no clock. Tournament claims work differently.

## Check a rule

- FIDE Laws of Chess, articles 1–5
- US Chess: Learn to Play
- Chess.com: how the pieces move

Chess puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database (CC0). [Credits and licences](https://pokee.si/licences).

---

Source: https://pokee.si/chess/how-to-play (HTML page). pokee.si is an unofficial fan site and is not affiliated with Nintendo, Creatures, GAME FREAK or The Pokémon Company. Pokémon and all related names and images are © their respective owners.