Stepsies
For the parent

How to set up a chess board

Lesson 1 of 20 Age 4+ Time 10 minutes

In short

Turn the board so each player has a light square in the right-hand corner. Put the eight pawns on the second row. On the back row, from the corners in: rooks, knights, bishops. The queen goes on her own color and the king next to her.

  • Light square on the right.
  • Rooks in the corners, then knights, then bishops.
  • The queen on her own color: the white queen on d1, a light square; the black queen on d8, a dark square.
  • The king on the last square, next to the queen. White moves first.
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The start position. Each queen stands on her own color, and the queens face each other.
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A light square in each player's right-hand corner: h1 for White, a8 for Black.

Teach it

  1. DoPut the board between you. Look at the corner square at your right hand.
  2. Say“A light square goes in the right corner. Light on the right.”
  3. Ask“Is your right corner light?”
  4. Child“Yes!”
  5. DoPut the eight pawns on the second row, in front of you.
  6. Say“The rooks go in the corners. Next to them go the knights, then the bishops.”
  7. Say“The queen goes on her own color. Our white queen goes on the light square in the middle.”
  8. Ask“Where does the king go?”
  9. Child“On the last empty square, next to the queen.”
  10. TipCheck the queens: they stand on the same line, facing each other.
Hand the screen to your child

Your turn!

Tap the white queen.

Three quick questions

  1. Which corner square goes at your right hand?

  2. Where does the white queen start?

  3. Who moves first?

Practice sheet: Set up the board

One page, free to print, no sign-in. The answers print on the next page.

Set up the boardName ____________________
  1. a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1

    Which two pieces are missing? Draw them on the right squares.

  2. a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1

    Two white pieces are missing. Which ones, and where?

  3. a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1

    Color the corner square that goes at White's right hand.

  4. a8b7c6d5e4f3g2h1

    One black piece is missing. Which one?

Answers: Set up the board

  1. The queens: white on d1, black on d8.
  2. The white knights, on b1 and g1.
  3. h1, a light square.
  4. The black knight on b8.

Questions parents ask

Does the queen go on the left or the right?

The queen goes on her own color: the white queen on the light square d1, the black queen on the dark square d8. Then the two queens stand on the same line, facing each other.

What if the right-hand corner is dark?

Turn the board a quarter turn. The rules say a light square goes in each player's near right-hand corner.

Who moves first in chess?

White moves first. Then the players take turns, one move each.

Rules checked against FIDE Laws of Chess, taking effect from 1 January 2023 (Articles 2.1 to 2.3) on . Found something to fix? Tell us on the contact page.