Chess Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield Chess facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. What is a 'weak square' in chess? → A square that cannot be protected by pawns and is vulnerable to enemy occupation
2. Who was the first American-born World Chess Champion before Bobby Fischer? → No American had won the title before Fischer
3. Who was the first officially recognized World Chess Champion? → Wilhelm Steinitz
4. Who was Anatoly Karpov's greatest rival in their legendary World Championship matches? → Garry Kasparov
5. What is a 'desperado' piece in chess? → A piece that is going to be captured and makes a final attack to gain compensation
6. In a move, which piece can jump over another piece? → Knight
7. How does a chess game ends in a draw? → Both B and C
8. What does 'gambit' mean in chess openings? → Offering a pawn or piece for positional or developmental compensation
9. What is the name of the opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4? → Scotch Game
10. Which chess piece is the only one that can't check a king? → King
11. What is a 'back rank checkmate'? → Checkmate delivered on the 1st or 8th rank when the king has no escape squares
12. What is the term for capturing an opponent's pawn that has just moved two squares, as if it had moved only one? → En passant
13. What is the English Opening? → 1.c4
14. What is Scholar's Mate? → A four-move checkmate targeting the f7 square
15. What is the 'x-ray' or 'x-ray attack' tactic? → A piece attacks through an enemy piece to a square behind it
16. In algebraic notation, how is a pawn capture written? → exd5 (file of capturing pawn × destination square)
17. What is 'king safety' primarily concerned with in the chess middlegame? → Ensuring the king is sheltered by a solid pawn structure and not exposed to open files
18. Which of the following moves allows a rook and a king to swap positions and be put side by side? → Castling
19. Who defeated Bobby Fischer to become World Chess Champion in 1972? → None — Fischer defeated Boris Spassky to become champion
20. How many squares are on a standard chessboard? → 64
21. What year was the World Chess Federation founded? → 1924
22. What is the highest chess player's title? → Grandmaster
23. Which piece can never change the color of the square it stands on? → Bishop
24. What is the 'outside passed pawn' strategy in endgames? → Using a passed pawn on the wing to distract the king while winning pawns on the other side
25. In a bishop endgame, what makes 'opposite-colored bishops' special? → The game is usually drawn because each bishop controls squares the other cannot reach
26. In the Petroff Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6), what is Black's main idea? → Counterattack White's e4 pawn symmetrically
27. What is a 'passed pawn'? → A pawn with no opposing pawns blocking or attacking its path to promotion
28. In king and two knights vs. king, what is the general result? → Draw — two knights cannot force checkmate against a lone king
29. What was the significance of Viswanathan Anand becoming World Champion? → He was the first Asian-born player to win the undisputed World Chess Championship
30. What is 'double check'? → Two pieces simultaneously give check, requiring the king to move