Chess Masters

Is chess a sport?


"It is not recognised as a sport in the UK and receives no public funding. However, the International Olympic Committee and over 100 countries recognise chess as a sport."


Chess is a competitive and strategic game, which needs players to think ahead. Although it is not recognised as a sport, many see it as having sporting qualities.

We learnt the basic rules of chess, and used this website to practice our skills.

The basic rules are:

• white always moves first
• each piece moves in its own way
• if the king is threatened it is called check
• if the king is threatened and has no possible moves without being taken, it is called checkmate

Chess moves:

• The king can move one square in horizontally, vertically or diagonally
• The queen can move any number of spaces horizontally, vertically or diagonally
• The rook/castle can move any number of squares vertically or horizontally
• The bishop can move any number of squares diagonally
• The knight can move in an L shape eg. two forward and one left, or two right and one forward. It is also the only piece which can jump over others
• The pawns can move two squares forwards on its first move and then one square forward or backwards. They take diagonally