Chess is the most popular board game in the world. Many people enjoy the skill and strategy that the game requires. And while it only takes a little while to learn how to play the game, you can spend your entire life perfecting your strategy.
The object of chess is to be the first to put your opponent’s King in checkmate. Checkmate occurs after a series of strategically-placed moves make it so the King is blocked in and can’t move from that position on his next move. Skilled chess players can put a king in checkmate in just a few moves; others can spend hours playing chess with no checkmate.
When learning how to play chess, one of the first things you will need to learn is how to set up the chess board. Chess is played on a board with a checkerboard of sixty four squares, half white and half black, or another dark color. Many chess sets have diagrams that show you exactly how to set them up according to the numbers on the grid.
Pieces
First make sure you have all the right pieces. Many chess boards and pieces are works of art, with intricate hand carved pieces or even pieces that represent cartoon or movie characters. However, a standard chess game has the following pieces for each color:
•1 king. Typically the King will be the tallest piece and have a cross on the crown.
•1 queen. The Queen is the second tallest. This piece will have a crown with several points.
•2 rooks. The rooks are the pieces shaped like towers.
•2 bishops. The bishops are the next tallest after the queen and typically hold a miter.
•2 knights. Knights are shaped like horses.
•8 pawns. These are the smallest pieces on the board.
Setting up the board
When setting up your chess board, the color of the queens should coordinate with the colors on the board; so, the light queen is positioned on a light square, and the dark queen on the dark square. Once all the pieces are set up completely, the two armies will be facing each other as mirror images.
You can set up your chess board in whatever order you want, whether you put your pawns first or start from the back and move up. If you are just beginning, set up your chess board from the outside working in:
•First, place your two rooks on the two outside corners of the first row, or the row closest to you.
•Place your knights beside your rooks.
•Next to the rooks, place your knights.
•Next, put your queen in the first row in the same color square as the color of your pieces. •So, if you’re playing white, the white queen goes on the white square.
•Place your King beside your Queen. The King will be on the color opposite the color you are playing (if you are black, your King will be on a white square.)
•On the second row, line up your pawns.
Chess is an enjoyable game that people around the world have been playing for centuries. The above instructions will show you how to properly set up your chess board so you can be on your way to playing the most popular game in the world.