Chess Board Setup

Chess boards are placed between two players; White sitting on one side and Black on the other side. Both players should see a white square in the right corner ("White on right").

If the board has numbers printed on it, they should be placed so that '1' is nearest to White and '8' is nearest to Black, as shown. If the board has the letters 'a' through 'h' printed on it, the 'a' should be on White's left. If it isn't, there's something wrong with the board!

Pawn Positions

The eight Pawns are placed on each player's second row.

Rook, Knight, Bishop Positions

The Rooks are placed in the corner, the Knights are placed next to the Rooks, and the Bishops are placed next to the Knights.

King and Queen Positions

For the White player, the Queen is placed on the white square; for the Black player, the Queen is placed on the black square ('Queen on her color'). The King is placed on the remaining square. The diagram shows all the pieces in their initial position. The piece in each column faces an opponent's piece of the same type.