Rules

What does illegal move mean in chess?

  • Rules
  • Legality
  • Result

An illegal move is a move that breaks the rules of chess. In tournament play it can carry penalties, so always resolve legality before continuing.

Illegal move FAQ

What does illegal move mean in chess?

An illegal move is a move that breaks the rules of chess. In tournament play it can carry penalties, so always resolve legality before continuing.

Put your own games under review

Knowing the vocabulary is the easy part. Chessiro's free chess game review runs Stockfish 19 over your Chess.com and Lichess games, marks the moves that cost you, and explains each one in plain English. Or paste any game into the PGN analyzer, including famous games from the classic games collection.

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