How to Set up a Chessboard

This article was co-authored by Sahaj Grover. Sahaj Grover is a Chess Grandmaster, World Champion, and coach, who attained his Grandmaster title at the age of 16. He has been a World Junior Bronze Medalist, World U10 Champion, South African Open 2017 & 2018 Champion, and the Winner of the Arnold Classic 2018 & 2019. Sahaj is known for dynamic attacking skills and being an excellent endgame player.

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Chess is an ancient game that humanity still plays—and enjoys—to this day. Although chess has only a few rules, games can become remarkably complex. Luckily, setting up a chessboard is straightforward, and learning the rules of play is not difficult. This wikiHow will help you get started.

1. Place 2 Rooks (Castles) in the corners of the last row.
2. Set the 2 Knights directly next to the Rooks.
3. Put the 2 Bishops next to the Knights.
4. Place the Queen on the remaining square in the last row that matches her color.
5. Set the King in the last remaining square in the last row.
6. Fill the second-to-last row of the board with all 8 Pawns.

Setting Up a Chessboard

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• You set up your pieces on the two horizontal rows ("ranks") closest to you. The major pieces go on the first rank. The pawns go on the second rank.
• Unlike in checkers, chess uses every single square on the board.
• When setting up your chessboard, a tip to keep in mind is that White is always on rank 1 and 2 and that Black is always on ranks 7 and 8.

• On a novelty board, such as Civil War sets or movie-themed pieces, it may be impossible to tell what a piece is without knowing the icons (or rule-book symbols) which may be marked on the bottom of the pieces. The symbol for a rook is ♜.

• The symbol for a knight is♞.

• The symbol for a bishop is♝.
• The left bishop will start on a dark square (and always remain on dark). The right bishop starts on a light square (and always remains on light).

• The symbol for the queen is ♛.

• The symbol for the king is ♚.

• The symbol for pawns is ♟.
• Once both players place their pieces like shown above, they're ready to play.

Sahaj Grover is a Chess Grandmaster, World Champion, and coach, who attained his Grandmaster title at the age of 16. He has been a World Junior Bronze Medalist, World U10 Champion, South African Open 2017 & 2018 Champion, and the Winner of the Arnold Classic 2018 & 2019. Sahaj is known for dynamic attacking skills and being an excellent endgame player.

Try this variation: There's a variant of chess called Chess960. In this format, the pieces are set up randomly on the first rank, and the pawns remain the same. This was developed so players aren't able to prepare beforehand, so they have to be more creative when they play.

Understanding Chess Rules

• You never actually capture a king. Once it's apparent that a king cannot avoid being captured on the next move, checkmate is immediately declared, and the game is over.
• Some players like to say "check" when they make a move that puts the opponent's king in immediate danger.
• You may not place your own king in check. Such a move is considered "illegal" and must be immediately rescinded.

• With the exception of the pawn, you can capture pieces only with a "normal" move. For example, rooks can capture only with vertical or horizontal moves.
• You cannot move over a piece to capture another one. If your piece "hits" another piece during its movement, it stops, captures the piece, and stays on that square. The knight is the only exception to this, as it takes a piece only when it ends a move by landing on that piece's square.

• A player must move a piece every turn. They cannot skip a turn simply because they don't know where to move. If a player has no legal moves and is not in check, the game is a stalemate (see below).
• The only exception to the "move one piece" rule is called "castling," which allows a player to move two pieces at once in a specific pattern to protect the king. See below for more on castling. [3] X Research source

• Remember that you can never put yourself in check. Thus, if it's your turn to move and your only available move would put your king in check, the game is over, and a stalemate is declared. [4] X Research source In some tournaments this means you lose, although most players call this a draw.
• Stalemate does not occur if either king is currently in check.

Moving the Pieces

• If your pawn gets all the way to the first rank (for White) or eighth rank (for Black), you can '"promote"' the pawn to any piece other than the king or pawn. That means that a pawn that has advanced very far along its file becomes quite powerful. Players typically promote to a queen but may promote to another piece to avoid stalemate or use the knight's move (promoting to a piece other than the queen is called "underpromotion").
• In its very first move, a pawn may (but does not have to) move two spaces forward instead of one.
• A pawn can capture a piece that is diagonally one square in front of it. It cannot capture an otherwise adjacent piece.
  • En passant, or "capture in passing", can occur when the opponent moves their pawn two spaces ahead to avoid moving into your pawn's capture position (forward-diagonally adjacent). If this happens, only on your very next turn you can move your pawn diagonally into the space they skipped and take that pawn anyway.
  • If an enemy piece is in the way, the rook must stop before the piece or capture it. If it's your own piece, it must stop before it comes to that square. (You cannot capture your own pieces.)
  • Knights are the only pieces allowed to hop over other pieces of either color. They capture a piece only by finishing their move on a square occupied by an enemy piece. (They cannot finish on a square already occupied by a piece of their own color.)
  • Bishops cannot hop over pieces. If there is a piece in the way, the bishop must either stop or (if it's an opponent's piece) capture it.
  • A queen cannot move in the knight's L-shaped pattern.
  • A queen cannot move over pieces. She must complete her move either by stopping before coming to another piece or by capturing that piece.
  • Neither the king nor the rook can have moved at any point in the game thus far.
  • There can be no pieces in between the rook and the king.
  • The king cannot be in check at the time of castling, nor can the king in castling move through or to a square in which he would be in check.
  • In one turn, move the king two spaces towards the rook, then slide the rook into the square the king skipped over. They will now be on opposite sides and right next to each other.
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  Chess Help

  Community Q&A

  Which color goes first, white or black? Community Answer

  White always goes first, but the player black has the advantage of choosing which side of the table to sit on and on which side should the clock be. I good way to decide who plays white and who plays black is to have one person takes one pawn of each color, put them behind his back, mixes them, and the other player chooses a hand. The color that player picked is the color he gets to play with. After the first game, the player who lost plays white.

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  What is the rule on castling? Community Answer

  Castling is a defensive tactic involving moving your king and one of your rooks at the same time. If castling to the king's side, the king moves two squares to his right, and the rook moves two squares left to stand to the left of and next to the king. If castling to the queen's side, the king moves two squares to the left, and the rook moves three squares to the the right to stand to the right of and next to the king. Castling can be done only when there are no pieces between the king and the rook you will move. The king and rook cannot have moved previously. You cannot castle if your king is in check or if doing so would move your king through or to a square where he would be in check.

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  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow