How to Set Up a Chess Board
The game of chess was first played in the ancient Persia and the current rules were established in the late 1400s. Chess is the original "war game," a game of skill and intelligence. Learning how to play chess is simple; mastering it is not. Children as young as two or three can be taught simple moves, and many kids can play a full game by the age of four or five. All chess players must learn how to set up a chess board. A chess board is an 8 by 8 board of light and dark squares. There are a total of 64 squares on the board. One player uses the white pieces, and the other player uses the black pieces. Each side has 8 pawns, which are smallest, and 8 larger pieces. So each player has 16 pieces, and there are a total of 32 pieces. Learn how to set up a chess board in this article, and be on your way to gaining a new--and very old--skill.
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Instructions
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1
Count the pieces. Each side should have 16 pieces total. There should be a King (who usually has a cross on top), a Queen who has a crown, two Bishops which have a pointy top with a slit in it, two Knights which look like horses, two Rooks which look like castles, and eight pawns which have a round head.
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2
Decide the colors. The players need to agree who will play the White pieces, and who will play the Black. If you're not sure, then try hiding a white pawn in one hand and a black pawn in the other, and let your opponent pick a hand.
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3
Arrange the board. The two players sit opposite each other, with the board in between them. From each player's perspective, the corner square on the right should be a light colored square.
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4
Set up the major pieces. The eight major pieces stand next to each other on each player's back row. They are arranged by height on most sets: the Rooks are shortest and stand in the corners The slightly-higher Knights stand next to the rooks. The Bishops are a little taller than the Knights, and stand next to them. Finally, in the middle of the back row, stand the King and Queen.
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5
Get the King and Queen right. The white Queen stands on a light square and the black Queen stands on a dark square.
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Set up the pawns. The pawns all stand on each player's second row.
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7
Check for mistakes. If you've done it right, each piece should be directly across from the same kind of piece of your opponents.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't use glass chess sets with small children. Even adults can break the chess pieces easily.
The most common mistakes are to put the Bishop next to the Rook instead of the Knight, and to mix up the King and the Queen.
Never use tiny chess pieces with children; they can be a choking hazard.
