Your first step

Every game of chess is played on a board of 64 squares, arranged in eight rows and eight columns. The squares alternate between light and dark colours.

Before you learn how the pieces move, it helps to know your way around the board. Being able to find a square quickly will make later lessons much easier to follow.

Which way does the board go?

The board must face the right way. The corner square on your right must be light, whichever side of the board you are sitting on.

When looking from White's side, the bottom-left square (a1) is dark and the bottom-right square (h1) is light.

An easy reminder is: light on the right.

Files, ranks and square names

The files are the eight columns running up and down the board. They are named a to h, from White's left to White's right.

The ranks are the eight rows running across the board. They are numbered 1 to 8, starting nearest White.

Every square has its own name: a letter followed by a number. The letter tells you the file; the number tells you the rank.

For example, e4 is on the e-file and the fourth rank. You will see square names like these throughout the course, so it is worth getting comfortable with them.

Diagonals: another way across the board

There is one more direction worth knowing: diagonally. A diagonal is a line of squares running at an angle, rather than along a file or a rank.

Look at the diagonal from a1 to h8. Every square along it is dark. In fact, all the squares on any single diagonal are the same colour. This will become particularly useful when we learn how bishops move.

Practise finding squares

Where do the pieces begin?

Each player starts with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns.

White's pieces begin on ranks 1 and 2; Black's begin on ranks 8 and 7. The pawns form a row in front of the other pieces.

Looking across White's back rank from left to right, the order is rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook. Black's pieces follow the same pattern on the opposite side.

A helpful way to remember the queens' positions is queen on her own colour. The white queen begins on the light square d1, while the black queen begins on the dark square d8.

Seeing the Board from Both Sides

So far, we've looked at the chessboard from White's side, with White's pieces nearest to us and Black's on the far side. But what happens when you're playing Black?

Imagine walking around the table and sitting opposite your opponent. You're looking at the same board, just from the other direction. From White's side, rank 1 is closest; from Black's side, rank 8 is closest. The files appear in the opposite order too.

The names of the squares, however, never change. The square e4 is always e4, whichever colour you're playing. And the rule we learnt earlier — light on the right — still applies when the board is set up correctly.

Why does this matter?

White's and Black's pawns travel towards opposite ends of the board:

• White's pawns begin on rank 2 and move towards rank 8.
• Black's pawns begin on rank 7 and move towards rank 1.

When a pawn reaches the far end, it must be promoted to another piece. We'll explain promotion properly in the pawn lesson. For now, think of it as a reward for getting a pawn all the way across the board.

Here is something worth remembering: a white pawn on e7 is just one rank away from promotion (assuming it can advance), while a black pawn on e7 is still on its starting rank. Same square, very different situation!

Learning to recognise the board

When you look at a chess puzzle, watch a video or play online, White won't always be at the bottom of the screen. Sometimes the position is shown from Black's side.

Before deciding what is happening, take a moment to ask yourself: Which side am I looking from? Which way are the pawns going? That small check can make a surprising difference to how you understand the position.

Looking from one side does not tell you whose turn it is

There is one more detail to watch for: the way the board is facing does not tell you who moves next. A puzzle might show Black's pieces nearest to you but still ask you to find White's best move. Look for the instruction White to move or Black to move before trying to solve it.

What to remember

• A chessboard has 64 squares, with eight files and eight ranks.
• The bottom-right corner is light when the board is positioned correctly.
• A square's name is its file letter followed by its rank number.
• White starts on ranks 1 and 2; Black starts on ranks 7 and 8.
• The queens begin on d1 and d8, on their own colours.
• A diagonal runs at an angle, and every square along one diagonal is the same colour.
• The board can be viewed from either side, but each square keeps the same name.
• White pawns move towards rank 8; Black pawns move towards rank 1.
• The board's viewpoint and whose turn it is are two different things.

Test yourself: The chessboard

Before moving on, see how much you can remember. Take your time — if something doesn't make sense yet, go back and look at the examples again.

In the next lesson, we will look at how the pawns move.