Now, there are a few other technical aspects that go
into the placement of the pieces and how to keep track of a game. On
this page, you will see some of these more technical aspects.
The Board- A chess board consists of 64 square blocks compiled in 8x8 fashion. These 64 blocks are broken down like this: A1-A8, B1-B8, C1-C8, D1-D8, E1-E8, F1-F8, G1-G8, and H1-H8 all going horizontally. The white pieces are placed on the lower A1-H1 line with Pawns on the A2-H2 line. The black pieces are placed on the upper A8-H8 line with the Pawns on the A7-H7 line. When placed correctly, this should leave four lines or 32 blocks between the opposing Armies. The board is broken down into this fashion for the sake of "notation." Notation is a tactic which is used for keeping written record of every move throughout the game. By keeping notation, you can recall how you started and finished, and what caused the game to result in victory or defeat for you. Take notice of the board below and the number/letter alignment. An example of notation would be as follows G1-F3. This written form of notation would equal White Knight makes an opening move going from G1-F3. For further examples of notation, click here.
| King Placement |
The White King shall
be placed on E1 and Black King on E8. |
| Queen
Placement |
The White Queen shall
be placed on D1 and the Black Queen on D8. An easy way to remember this
is that the Queen is always on her own color. |
| Bishop
Placement |
The two White Bishops
shall be placed on C1 and F1 with the Black Bishops placed on C8 and F8. |
| Knight
Placement |
The two White Knights
shall be placed on B1 and G1 with the Black Knights placed on B8 and G8. |
| Rook
Placement |
The two White Rooks
shall be placed on A1 and H1 with the Black Rooks placed on A8 and H8. |
| Pawn
Placement |
The White Pawns shall be placed starting at A2-H2 and the Black Pawns from A8-H8. |
Now that you have been shown how to properly place the board with the pieces, put this knowledge to the test by taking an empty board and all of the pieces and placing them according to the above chart. As well, take this board challenge in order to test your placement/notation skills of board setup. After you have done so, reference the previous pages with boards to ensure you have done it correctly. Upon correct implementation of the board setup, you will be ready to move on to the Attack Strategies/Move Explanation page.