♟️ Chess for Kids · Lesson 1 of 8

The board and the setup

Files, ranks, and where each piece stands.

The board

A chessboard has 64 squares in 8 rows and 8 columns, light and dark. Turn it so each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner — “light on the right”.

Square names

Columns are called files and have letters a–h (from White’s left). Rows are called ranks and have numbers 1–8 (from White’s side). Each square has a name: the file and the rank, like e4 or a1.

Setting up

Rooks in the corners
Knights next to the rooks
Bishops next to the knights
Queen on her own color: the white queen on the light square d1, the black queen on the dark square d8
King on the last square in the middle (e1 and e8)
Pawns fill the whole second rank in front

Who starts?

White always moves first. Players take turns, one move each. You can’t skip a turn.

Tip

💡 “Queen on her color”: if the white queen is on a light square and the kings face each other, your setup is right.

✏️ Practice: your turn

Set up the board without looking at a picture
Check “light on the right” and “queen on her color”
Name 5 squares: put a coin on e4, a1, h8, d5, c3
Teach someone else how to set up

🧠 Quick quiz

Answer all 4 questions correctly to mark this lesson as done.

1. Which corner square is on each player’s right?

2. Where does the white queen start?

3. Who moves first?

4. What are the columns called?

0 of 4 correct

🏁 The board and the setup