That’s why we’ve told Linus too also produce a short video explaining the chess starting position for you in under a minute (okay, maybe his intro was a bit too long): Sometimes, a picture and some text just isn’t enough to fully grasp a concept (we totally get it!). Video Explanation: Correct Chess Board Setup That is called a vis-à-vis (face-to-face 👀) position, in case your French is rusty. The black pieces are mirrored perfectly, so that each black piece has a counterpart on the other side.

Pawns: All eight pawns are now placed in the row above.Rooks: Both rooks complete the back row with their placement in the corners.Knights: The knights occupy the squares directly next to both bishops.Bishops: The two bishops get placed right next to the king and queen in the back row.King: The white king takes the position right next to the queen – the dark, middle square.Queen: The white queen is placed on the white, middle square of the back row.Notation: The a1-square is in the lower left corner of the white player.The Board: Both players need a dark square in their lower left corner.Chess Starting Position: A Step-by-Step Guideįrom the perspective of the white player, the chess board setup is as follows: The correct chess board setup is surprisingly simple once you get the hang of it.įor those of you that are in a hurry to jump into battle, here is the correct way to set up a chess board: Chess Board Setup: This is the Correct Starting Position for a Chess Gameīut don’t rush to setting up the pieces right away: the orientation of the board is important! Both players need a dark square in their lower left corner. Trick question : What is the first move of every game of chess? Setting up the board (correctly), obviously! So, let’s dive right in and save you from the embarrassing mistake of misplacing your pieces before the game even starts 😉. Chess Board Setup: How to Set Up a Game of Chess

King and queen chess pieces