Chess is played between two players. To start the game, players must place the board and pieces accurately. Let’s learn about these rules in detail.

How to Set Up the Chessboard:

The chessboard can’t be placed randomly. It must be positioned so that the square closest to each player’s right hand is white.

If you look closely at the board, you’ll see that two corners, h1 and a8, are white squares. This means that when the players sit facing each other, the player on this side will have the h1 square closest to right hand, while the player on this side will have the a8 square closest.

This is the correct way to set up the board.

How to Place the Pieces on the Chessboard:

Each square can hold only one piece. Multiple pieces cannot be placed in a single square. White pieces are placed on the 1st and 2nd ranks, and black pieces are placed on the 7th and 8th ranks. The player sitting on the side with white pieces will navigate white pieces. So this player is referred to as the White Player. On the other hand, this player, controlling the black pieces, will be called the Black Player.

Both players must follow the same rules for piece placement. For the White Player, two rooks must be placed at the corners of the 1st rank, followed by two knights next to them, and two bishops after that. The white queen must be placed on the white square, and the king must be placed on the remaining square in the 1st rank. All pawns must be placed in each square of the 2nd rank.

Similarly, for the Black Player, two rooks must be placed at the corners of the 8th rank, followed by two knights and then two bishops. The black queen must be placed on a black square, and the king must be placed on the remaining square of the 8th rank. Pawns must be placed on each square of the 7th rank. Notice that the white king and black king face each other, as do the queens.

This is the correct way to set up the pieces on the board.