Rules of chess are variations of the rules for fast chess, correspondence chess, online chess, and Chess960. Chess is a two-player board game utilizing a chessboard and sixteen pieces of six types for each player. Each type of piece moves in a distinct way. The goal of the game is to checkmate (threaten with unescapable capture) the opponent's king. Games do not necessarily end with checkmate; players often resign if they believe they will lose. A game can also end in a draw in several ways. Besides the basic moves of the pieces, rules also govern the equipment used, time control, conduct and
White and Black in chess in the first game. Staunton observed in 1871 that "many players still cultivate the foolish habit of playing exclusively with one colour." On October 19, 1857, Mr. Perrin, the Secretary of the New York Chess Club, informed those assembled at the First American Chess Congress that he had received a letter from Johann Löwenthal, a leading English master, "suggesting the advisableness of always giving the first move in public games, to the player of the white pieces." Löwenthal also wrote that London's chess clubs had adopted a new rule that White always moves first. The club evidently did not follow