"Check" in Chess

First, let's review the idea of check. When a move is made that attacks a King, that King is "in check".

Black to Play. Notice that Black is in Check.

Consider the diagram to the right. It's black's move. Notice that his King is attacked by the white Rook. This means that Black is in Check.

When your King is in check, you must make a move that removes him from check. You can't allow your King to be captured - this is against the rules!

Look at the diagram again. Do you see all the ways that black can get out of check?

In general, there are 3 ways of escaping check:

1. Moving the King out of the way.
2. Capturing the checking piece (this can be done with another piece, or the King himself).
3. Blocking the check with another piece.

In the diagram above, black has all of these options:

1. He could move his King to safety on the g7 square.
2. He could capture the white Rook with his Bishop.
3. He could block the check by moving his Rook to the g8 square.

Here are two other important points about check. First, It is illegal to make a move that puts your own King in check. In other words, you can't make a move that allows your own King to be captured. And secondly, you can't move your King next to an opposing player's King, as this would put your own King in check.

Next, we'll look at checkmate.