Chess has always been the most fun game people played. But it could sometimes feel exceptionally complex as well despite its easy and straightforward rules. That’s why most beginners don’t even know how to set up a chessboard. Luckily, setting up a chessboard is not that complicated and learning its rules is also very simple.
This in-depth article will help you get started on how to set up a chessboard?
How to Set Up a Chess Board?
This is a simple guide to set up a chessboard for newbies and learners. And if you are new to Chess, then this essential guide can help you get started on setting up a chessboard.
Let’s begin.
To understand this setup, First, you need to clear all your chess pieces from the chessboard. We just need an empty chessboard.
How Many Pieces are there in Chess?
Each side of the chessboard starts with:
• 1 king
• 1 queen
• 2 rooks
• 2 knights
• 2 bishops
• 8 pawns
Once you have learned how many pieces are in a full chess set, you will need to understand the chess piece values to become more skilled in the game.
For now, let’s start with the Layout of the chessboard.
The Right Direction of the Chessboard
When you start learning how to set up a Chessboard, you should always remember to place the chessboard in the right direction. The chessboard should be placed in a way that a white square on board should always be on your right-hand side. The same rule applies to a chessboard of any different colors. For example, if you have a black and green color chessboard, then a green shade square should be on the right-hand side.
The below image illustrates the chessboard with a white square on the right-hand side.
As in the above picture, a player with white pieces must have the right white square.
How to Set up Pieces on a Chessboard
Before you start playing your game, you must know the right way of Setting up your Chess Pieces. We already know that Chess comprises two Pawns, two Bishops, Two Knights, Two Rooks, One Queen, and one King. Now let’s look at the correct way of placing those pieces on the board.
How to Set Up Pawns on a Chessboard
Each side has 8 pawns, for a total of 16 pawns in a chess game. Based on how it moves and other things, every piece on the chessboard is awarded specific points. There’s 1 point on each pawn. Pawns are organized on the second row from the corresponding sides when setting up a chessboard. It would be 7th rank (i.e., row no. 7) for black and 2nd rank (i.e., row no. 2) for white. To understand how to organize pawns at the beginning, check out the picture.
Pawns move straight ahead, and that, too, is only one step at a time. But when the pawn is in its original position, that is only when you can move the pawn directly in 2 steps. Pawns attack the immediate diagonal square ahead of them.
How to Set Up Rooks on a Chessboard
Each Rook is worth the 5 points. It can only move in the horizontal and vertical direction if the square is not already occupied. The 4 rooks take the boards’ four corners at the start. The King is the most critical piece, no doubt but compared to any other piece, Rook is the most vital piece after Queen. It has high significance and value due to its massive range of mobility.
You can see a picture of how the rooks are arranged. Take a closer look at those squares numbers with rooks to better understand the Rook position.
Board Squares for Rooks: H1, A1, H8, A8.
How to Set Up a Knight on a Chessboard
Whether white or black, Knights can jump over any piece. In a vertical or horizontal direction, knights move two and a half squares like two steps, then a turn to take its place. Each knight has 3 points, and it is believed that if you can correctly position your knights, you are strong at techniques.
Organizing knights is simple when doing a chess setup; just place each of your knights in the first row next to the Rook. To see how knights are arranged before playing a game, you can check out this chess image.
Board Squares for Knights: B8, G8, B1, G1.
How to Set Up a Bishop on a Chessboard
Bishops are only capable of moving diagonally. Bishops, but they can also move back and forth. There are 2 bishops on each side, one called the black bishop, and the other called the white bishop. The black bishop is the one that begins from the beginning on a black square, and the white bishop is the one that starts from the beginning on a white square. The white bishop can only move diagonally on white squares, and the black bishop can only move on black squares.
You should check the picture to understand where to put bishops in the initial state. Note how bishops are positioned next to knights.
Board Squares for Knights: c1, f1, c8 & f8.
How to Set Up a Queen on a Chessboard
It is most confusing to place queens on a Chessboard, isn’t it? Whether the Queen is positioned on the black square or white square, many people have the most difficulty in the setup of chess boards. Not to worry, We have given an answer to this as well. We’ll also tell you a better way to get out of this uncertainty with this chess setup tip. Queen has 9 points and can act as a bishop and Rook, so it is considered a blend of both.
As far as how and where the Queen should be put is concerned, here’s the answer. After all the other pieces are positioned, only two squares are left, now note that the Black Queen has to be put on a black square and the White Queen on a white square. And if you’ve already understood the instructions, here’s the designated position of the two queens. D1’s White Queen & D8 ‘s Black Queen.
Board Squares for Knights: D1, D8.
How to Set Up a King on a Chessboard
The last and most critical step to finish with this setup of the Chess Board is the King. It is the last and most vital piece left. King, though, can switch only one position to its neighboring squares. There is just one spot left on the chessboard at this time. So, to complete the setup of this chessboard, put the King on the only square left. Just to note it in the notations: White King on E1 and Black King on E8.
One big misconception about the King among learners is that it cannot move once it is under check. Nope, just to mention, even without check, King is free to move at any time.
Complete Chessboard Setup
We hope the setup guide for the chessboard was comprehensive and sufficient. Have a look at the image of the complete chess board setup.
Final Words
You’re ready to start the game once your pieces are set up. The player with the white pieces usually begins the game. This is simply one of the chess rules and not a game-winning strategy, as, over the years, the rules of Chess have been tweaked to ensure that no player has a built-in advantage.
You may need to have a timer in addition to your board and chess pieces. A small hourglass or timing clock is included with some chess sets. If you are playing competitive Chess or want to keep the game going forward at a reasonable pace, timers are critical.