How to Set Chess Board Setup- Guide

kIANISeptember 5, 2024

31 3 minutes read

Setting up a chessboard is among the first things a beginning player needs to know. Even though it’s fundamental, newbies may find it somewhat overwhelming. You are left wondering what to do with a set of pieces on the board. But, don’t worry. I’ll help you out with that.

I will go over every step of Set a Chess Board Setup in this blog post. I will also add some images so that you can understand the whole procedure easily. Let’s start.

Table of Contents

Understanding the Basics:

The first thing you have to do is understand the basics of a chessboard and chess pieces. This board consists of an 8X8 grid. So, there are 64 alternate boxes in it that are usually in black and white colors. It is similar to a checker’s board.

There are a total of 32 chess pieces involved in a chess game. As you may already know, these pieces are equally divided into two groups. So, each player gets 16 of them. These two groups are known as Black and White even though the pieces can be in different colors.

Some other basic things are:

While placing the board, the light-colored (white) box should be on the right side of each player.
The rows of the board are called ranks and the columns are called files.
Each piece of chess has its own placement at the start of the game. I have attached an example image for guidance below.

How to Set Chess Board Setup?

I have mentioned details about this process below:

Step #1 – Place the board on any surface:

First, place the board in front of you. You can place it on the floor, bed, or a table. Just make sure the orientation is right. As I mentioned before, if the light colored box is on your right side, then the orientation is correct.

Step #2 – Set up the Pawns:

The second step is to set up the pawns. Each of the two players has 8 pawns. They are placed in the second row on the chessboard. This row is completed with these pieces. Keep in mind that you cannot place them anywhere else on the board.

Step #3 – Place the Rooks:

The rooks are also known as castles. These pieces are placed at all four corners of the chessboard. Take a look at the image below to get an idea.

Step #4 – Place the Knights:

In this step, you’re going to place the knights on the chessboard. Each chess player has two of them. Place the knights on the chessboard right beside the rooks without any gap/space.

Step #5 – Place the Bishops:

Now, it’s time to place the bishops. They are considered to be the easiest piece to play in chess. In earlier times, they were also known as the elephants. You have to place them right beside the knights without any gap.

Step #6 – Place the Queen:

In the second last step, we have to pace the queen on the board. The player has to place the queen next to the bishop.

Keep In mind that it will go in the box that matches its color. For example, if the queen is black, it will be placed in the black box. If it is white, then it will go in the white box. View the image below for guidance.

Step #7 – Place the King:

This is the last step you need to follow to set up the chessboard setup. There is only one box left on the board. So, there is no confusion left anymore about the placement of the king. Place the king in the remaining box (between the queen and the bishop).

Chess piece identification:

In case you’re finding it hard to identify a chess piece, look at the following image for guidance.

Conclusion:

The chess game has always been popular among people. It is an interesting game but can be very difficult for beginners. The first complex stage in the learning procedure of chess is knowing how to set chess board setup.

So, I have discussed the details of this stage in the information shared above. The method of placing the chessboard and chess pieces is discussed comprehensively. I have also provided images for better guidance of players.