Set Up a Chessboard

5 questions0m 0s

Learn the skill

Put a light square at each player's right-hand corner. From White's side, files a through h go left to right and ranks 1 through 8 go from near to far. Both colors of square are used in chess.

Worked example

Each player has eight pawns and eight other pieces: two rooks, two knights, two bishops, one queen and one king. Eight plus eight makes 16 pieces for one player. Double that for both players.

Standard chess starting position viewed from White. White fills ranks 1 and 2; Black fills ranks 7 and 8. White queen d1, king e1; Black queen d8, king e8. Back ranks have rooks, knights and bishops symmetrically beside the king and queen. — White at the bottom. The light square h1 is on White's right.

Ready for White's First Turn

White's back rank, from a1 to h1, is rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook. White pawns fill rank 2. Black has the same piece types on rank 8 and pawns on rank 7. Queens start on their own square color: White on light d1 and Black on dark d8. White goes first.

Question 1 How many small squares are on the 8-by-8 board? Answer

Question 2 How many pieces, including pawns, does one player start with? Answer

Question 3 How many pieces do both players have altogether at the start? Answer

Question 4 How many squares are empty in the starting position? Answer

Question 5 Where does White's queen start? d1 e1 d8 a1