Touch Move Rule

Beginners often touch a lot of pieces before they decide what they're going to play. But when you're getting more serious about chess, you need to know about the touch move rule—or you might get in trouble!

• What Is The Touch Move Rule?
• Why Is The Touch Move Rule Important?
• How To Adjust A Chess Piece Without Having To Move It
• Conclusion

What Is The Touch Move Rule?

The touch move rule in chess states that if a player deliberately touches a piece, they must move it (as long as a legal move is available). This means that a player can't touch a piece, release it on its original square, and play a move with another piece. The same is true if a player touches their opponent's piece. If they have a legal way to capture that piece, they must do so. 

The touch move rule only applies to pieces that players touch on purpose, so if a player accidentally touches a piece, they don't have to move it.

This rule is universally enforced in every official over-the-board tournament. In online chess, however, the touch move rule doesn't exist—so you can grab a piece with your mouse and then move another piece! 

Why Is The Touch Move Rule Important?

The touch move rule guarantees that players have to use their visualization skills while playing a game. Because of this rule, the player who can mentally move pieces inside their head without having to move them physically has an advantage. 

Since the touch move rule is adopted everywhere, chess players need to know it. Otherwise, they might be forced to make a losing move just because they touched the wrong piece! You can see an example of this happening in the video below. Sri Surya Bharathi S had to resign against IM Avinash Ramesh because his king was in check, and he touched his queen. He was forced to move his queen, but he had no safe squares for his piece, causing him to resign:

How To Adjust A Chess Piece Without Having To Move It

But what if your pieces are not correctly centered, and they're driving you crazy? Do you have to just deal with a messy army just because of the touch move rule?

Fortunately, you can still adjust the position of your pieces by first announcing that you're doing so. You can do that by saying the French expression "j'adoube," which means "I adjust," or any equivalent expression in your own language. What matters is that you communicate that your intention is to adjust a piece within a square, and not to move it, before you touch it.

Just remember that you must do it before you touch the piece, or you'll still have to move it. In the video below, GM Hikaru Nakamura touched his king before saying j'adoube, so he had to move it and got into a bad position:

Conclusion

You now know what the touch move rule is, where it's enforced, why it matters, and more. Now, try solving some puzzles without picking up the pieces with your mouse to practice your visualization skills so you don't have to touch pieces you don't want to move.