How to Set Up a Chess Board

Place all 32 pieces in their correct starting positions in under a minute.

1. Orient the board so each player has a light square in their bottom-right corner

   Remember "light on right" — if the corner square nearest your right hand is dark, rotate the board 90 degrees.

2. Place the rooks on both corner squares, then the knights next to them, then the bishops next to the knights

   The order from corner inward is Rook, Knight, Bishop — same on both sides, for both players.

3. Place the queen on the remaining center square that matches her color

   White queen goes on the light center square, black queen goes on the dark center square — "queen on her own color."

4. Place the king on the last open square in the back row, next to the queen

   This means the kings and queens of both sides directly face each other across the board.

5. Line up all eight pawns on the second row in front of your other pieces

   Every square in the row immediately in front of your back rank should have a pawn — no gaps.