# Gameplay
The player controlling the white pieces is named "White";
the player controlling the black pieces is named "Black".
White moves first, then players alternate moves.
Making a move is required; it is not legal to skip a move,
even when having to move is detrimental.
Play continues until a king is checkmated, a player resigns,
or a draw is declared, as explained below. In addition,
if the game is being played under a time control,
a player who exceeds the time limit loses the game unless
they cannot be checkmated.
The official chess rules do not include a procedure for determining who plays White.
Instead, this decision is left open to tournament-specific rules
(e.g. a Swiss system tournament or round-robin tournament) or,
in the case of non-competitive play, mutual agreement,
in which case some kind of random choice is often employed.