A position and a move are shown. Say whether the move is legal, as many times as you can in a minute.
Legal Move
Legal Move tests how well you know the rules under pressure. A real position is shown with one move marked, and you say whether that move is legal. The trap moves look possible: a pinned piece, a king stepping into check, a line that is blocked. Answer as many as you can in one minute.
How to play
- Press Start. The board shows a position and two marked squares: where the piece stands and where it wants to go.
- Press Legal or Not legal. The answer comes from the rules of chess, checked by the same rules library the rest of the site uses.
- After a minute you see how many you got right. Your best is kept on this device.
Questions
- Why would a move that looks fine be illegal?
- The usual reasons: the piece is pinned in front of its own king, the king would move onto an attacked square, your king is in check and the move does not deal with it, another piece stands in the way, or a pawn tries to capture a square with nothing on it.
- Where do the positions come from?
- Each one is reached by playing legal moves from the starting position, so everything you see could happen in a game.
- Does castling come up?
- Yes, when the position allows it. Castling is shown as the king moving two squares.