Chess/Arranging The Board

Before starting the game, it's very important to arrange the board in the right manner.

The 1 - 8 horizontal squares are called "ranks", and the vertical ones are called "files".

Your chess board is an 8×8 board. Place the board in such a manner that the bottom right hand corner on your side is white ("White on the right"). On that white square, place the Rook (known also as the "Castle") and place the other Rook on the bottom left corner. Next to the Rooks, place the Knights, followed by the Bishops.

Wrong placement of the Queens is a common mistake. While arranging these pieces, make sure that the black Queen goes on a black square and the white Queen goes on a white square ("Queen on her own color"). The King then goes on the square next to the Queen. It is very important that you place these two pieces properly. Any game found to be set up incorrectly, i.e., King on its own color, will result in the game being voided and a restart called using the same colors.

Fill the next rank with your eight pawns. You're ready to play!