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It's easy to set up a chess board. One very important rule to remember is that the square on the far right of your board should always be white. If it is not, you are using the board incorrectly, so turn it around to fix it. The vertical rows of a chessboard are known as files and the horizontal rows are known as ranks. In chess, every square can be identified in a system known as algrebraic notation. For example, the white king is placed on the fifth file and first rank. This can be written as e1. Black's king is on the same file but on a different rank, the eighth rank. This can be written as e8.

Starting with white's first rank, place a white rook on a1. This is known as a queen rook. Next place a white knight on b1. This is a queen knight. On c1 place a bishop, the queen bishop. White's queen bishop goes on a dark square, but notice that black's queen bishop goes on a light square. Likewise, white's king bishop goes on a dark square but black's king bishop goes on a light one. On d1 place the white queen. Notice that the white queen is placed on a light square. In contrast, the black queen is placed on a dark square. To ensure that the queens are on their correct squares, ensure that the white queen is on a light square and the black queen on a dark one. The white king goes on e1. Next we have the king bishop which goes on f1, the king knight on g1 and the king rook on h1.

With the black pieces, the files are the same but of course the ranks are different. We have the queen rook on a8, queen knight on b8, queen bishop on c8, black queen on d8, black king on e8, king bishop on f8, king knight on g8 and king rook on h8. Here are the positions and names of the pieces for both white and black:

a1, a8 queen rook
b1, b8 queen knight
c1, c8 queen bishop
d1, d8 queen
e1, e8 king
f1, f8 king bishop
g1, g8 king knight
h1, h8 king rook

Next we have the pawns. All of white's pawns are placed on the second rank and all of black's pawns are placed on the seventh rank. Here are the positions and names of the pawns for both white and black:

a2, a7 queen rook pawn
b2, b7 queen knight pawn
c2, c7 queen bishop pawn
d2, d7 queen pawn
e2, e7 king pawn
f2, f7 king bishop pawn
g2, g7 king knight pawn
h2, h7 king rook pawn

This is the set up of a chess board. Each side has eight pieces and eight pawns, a total of sixteen units. Pawns are of such low value that they are not called pieces, just pawns or units. The knights and bishops are known as minor pieces and the king and queen are called major pieces. What is their relative value? The pawns are assigned a value of one point, the knights and bishops three points, the rooks five points, and the queen nine points. What about the king? The king is important because if it is checkmated the game is over, but it often sees little combat. Nevertheless, it can become an important fighting unit in the endgame, so for this reason, it can be assigned a value of about 2.5 points.

Important points to remember regarding the set up of chessboard are that the square on the far right should always be white, the white queen should be placed on a white square and the black queen should be placed on a dark one. If you remember this, you should have no difficulty whatsoever setting up your chessboard correctly.

Learn more about this author, Les Zsoldos.
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