How To Set Up Chess Board: Set The Pieces, Rule The Game

Chess is a game of mind, strategy, and patience. It is a game where you not only play but also bluff the opponent with your sharp moves. But have you ever wondered how to set up chess board? Many people find it quite confusing to know how to arrange a chessboard, especially when you are new to chess. It is very common to forget the positions of the chess pieces every time you decide to make the first move. However, setting up the chessboard is simple and easy; you must follow simple rules to align the whole technique of the game.

In today’s article, we will discuss various steps on how to set up chess board so you can place all the pieces in the correct spots before starting the game. Remember, Rooks, Knights, Bishops, Queen, King, and Pawns require a proper setup to make the first move. Once you know how to set up a chess game, it becomes easy to make moves one after another.

The Concept of Chessboard: Explained Simply

Before discussing how to set up chess board, let’s try to understand the concept of the chessboard and chess pieces. The checkerboard is an 8×8 grid with 64 dark and light-coloured squares. There are 32 pieces for each light and dark square or white and black square. However, the pieces have no fixed colour; you can choose any colour depending on your preference. For example, many chess boards use brown and yellow pieces, where brown represents the dark or black, and yellow represents the light or white.

Now you know the basic concept of how to set up chess pieces. Let’s try to understand step-by-step how to set up chess board

STEP-1: Place The Board In The Right Direction

The first step is to ensure you place the board in the right direction. Each side of the board should face the players so that each player gets the light-coloured square in the right corner. To ensure the board is placed correctly, observe from the first row if it is facing light colour; the placement is correct. If not, rotate the board 90 degrees clockwise. It is advisable to play with someone for the first time who has a proper idea of how to set up chess board.

Once you set up the chess board in the right direction, it’s time to place the pieces to start the game. Each player begins the game with 16 pieces that have:

8 Pawns
2 Rooks
2 Bishops
2 Knights
1 queen
1 King

Step 2: Placing The Pawns

Knowing how to set up chess board requires understanding how to set up the chess pieces, especially the pawns, as they are the most numerous. You start the game with 8 pawns on each side. Place the pawns on the chess board’s second rows or second ranks. The pawns will fill the entire rank from first to last in the row, a row of white and black pawns.

Step 3: Placing The Rooks

Also known as Castles, rooks should be placed at the four corners of the chessboard, just like the towers of an actual castle. Rooks are heavy pieces placed on the squares in the left and right corners of the board. However, their placement should be such that you can easily grab them simultaneously with one hand, right and left.

Step 4: Placing the Knights

To learn how to set up chess board, place the knights, also known as horses, next to the rooks. As we know, each player has two knights; place each knight square next to each rook without any spacing in between. However, there should be a row of four empty squares between each knight.

Step 5: Placing The Bishops

The fifth step is to place the bishops, also known as elephants properly. There are four bishops in total, and they are considered the easiest pieces to play in chess. Nevertheless, they establish their position among the knights and the King and Queen. You should set them in the remaining squares next to the knights. Moreover, the placement of bishops in line with the knights plays a very important role in learning how to set up chess board, where you need to set up everything from the first rank.

Step 6: Placing the Royal Queen

We are almost close to properly understanding “how to set up chess board as we are left with only two squares now, which are reserved for the royal King and Queen. In the sixth step, you must place the queen on the square of its colour. The queen must follow the same colour as her army, i.e., white queen on the white or light square and black queen on the dark or black colour.

Step 7: Placing the Royal King

The seventh and final step to know how to set up chess board is to place the king on the remaining square opposite the queen. However, when you reach this point, only one space will remain on the board, so your king will naturally take that place. Moreover, the white King must be placed on the black square, and the black king must be placed on the white square. The whole game revolves around the King; you just need to stay one move ahead to checkmate your opponent.

Step 8: Remember! White Moves First

You must have learned how to set up chess board by now. But before starting the game, remember that white pieces always make the first move. However, who will play white first? You can decide that by any method of your choice. An easy way to decide: hide the black pawn in one hand behind your back and ask the opponent to choose.

Once you properly follow these steps, your chess board is completely set up and ready for the game. However, you need to remember a few things for the placement of the white and Black Players.

For the white player (from left to right):