Setting Up a Chess Board

Don't fret if you aren't a master at setting up a chess board. The structure of the chess board has changed very little over the centuries. Early chess predecessors used military-themed pieces, but as chess expanded into Europe, the pieces gained the monarchy-flavored character they retained in modern times.

The Chess Board
Chess is played on a square playing field called a board. The board is divided into 64 smaller squares that are alternately colored dark and light. The rows of a chess board are called ranks and the columns of a chess board are called files. In order to uniquely identify each square of the board, ranks are labeled with the numbers 1 - 8, and files are labeled with the letters a - h.

To correctly orient a chess board for play, the lower right hand square should be a light colored square. White also gets the first move when the game begins.

Placing The Chess Pieces
Chess is played with 16 pieces (called "chessmen") on each side. Each player has eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen and one king. Typically, the pieces are colored white and black. For each opponent, the pieces are set up in the following pattern:

• The back rank. Along the rank closest to you as you face the board, these pieces line up left to right: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight and rook.

• The front rank. The eight pawns line up along the next closest rank in each of the squares.

A good way to check your set up is to make sure that your queen is sitting on a square that matches her color.