Setting up the board
To set up your board for play, you must first make sure the players are sitting on the correct sides of the board. Players should sit opposite each other with a side of the square board running directly in front of them. Both players should have a white square all the way to the right. A common phrase in chess is “white on the right” to remember this rule.
Once both players are properly seated, begin setting up pieces. Each player must choose a color, either black or white. Each color includes all the same pieces.
The pieces in chess are:
Pieces are placed on the board as follows:
Rooks for each player are put in the corners of the row nearest the player. Next to both rooks, a knight is placed, and then a bishop. Each player should now have a row on the edge of his side of the board with Rook, Knight, Bishop, Space, Space, Bishop, Knight, Rook.
Each player has two spaces in the middle of the first row: One black space and one white space. Each player places their queen on her matching color. The white queen is placed on the white space, and the black queen on the black. Another popular phrase for beginning chess players is “queens on color”. Kings, of course, are placed on the remaining space in the first row.
The second row for each player is filled by pawns.
Each player should now have two rows directly in front of them occupied by their 16 chess pieces. The board is ready for play!