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Follow these simple steps to set up your chessboard:

Open the board between you and your opponent. The square closest to you on the left-hand side must be dark. If not, just turn the board until it is.
Decide who is playing which colour. Usually one player takes a black piece in one hand and a white piece in the other, and the other player picks a hand. Divide the pieces by colour. Each player should have sixteen pieces.

On the second row, place all eight pawns. The pawns are the smallest pieces.
On the first row, put a castle (rook) on each corner.
Next to each castle, put a horse (knight).
Next to each knight put a bishop (The bishops usually have helmets).
There are now two empty squares in the middle of the first row.
Put the queen on the empty square of the same colour.
Put the king on the remaining empty square.

Your opponent should follow the same instructions. Double check that all the black and white pieces are in the right place. If someone else has set up the board and asked you to play, check everything before starting. The left corner closest to you must be dark, and the kings should be across from each other.

Now you're ready to play. Wasn't that easy?

What if pieces are missing? You can save the game by making new pieces. Cut out or tear a piece of paper that will fit inside a chess square. If you are replacing a white piece, simply draw a picture of the piece or use a letter (P = pawn, R = rook, N = knight, B = bishop, Q = queen, K = king). If you are replacing a black piece, draw the picture or letter as an outline, and colour in the rest of the paper.

In fact, you can make a complete set this way. You will need eight pawns, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen and one king in each colour. For the board, use a square piece of paper. Fold it in half three times one way, then three times the other way. When you open it up, you will have a chessboard with 64 squares. Now simply colour in every other square and you're done.

As you get more experience playing chess, setting up the board will become second nature, but getting it right when you first start is critical to learning how to play and become the best player you can be.

Learn more about this author, Michael Honeth.
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