The Chess Board

Chess Board

Central squares

Square

The e4 square

Diagonal

File

The E-file

Rank

The 2nd

rank

White side and Black side

The Kingside and the Queenside

Starting position of the Pawns

White Pawns are placed on the 2nd

….rank. Black Pawns are placed on

the 7th rank.

Pawn starting position

The Pawn is the only piece that

….captures in a different way that it

….moves.

A Pawn cannot move backwards.

.A Pawn can move straight

forward one or two squares on its

first move and can capture one

square diagonally forward.

After a Pawn makes it’s initial

…move of one or two squares,

the Pawn can only move up

the board one square at a time

A pawn before a promotion

A White Pawn can be promoted to

either a Queen, Rook, Bishop or

Knight when it gets to the eighth rank.

The Player chooses which piece to

promote the pawn to.

Most often a players promotes the

pawn to a Queen ….

After promotion

When a pawn reaches the other

side of the board it gets promoted.

Bishop

….A Bishop moves diagonally and

captures diagonally

Knight

A Knight can move to any

other the squares marked with

“X” and can capture by jumping

over pieces. It moves one square to

the side up or down and lands or

take one square diagonally.

King

A King moves and captures one

square in any direction

Before castling

Castling is a special move in

which the King and the Rook both

move. It is the only time when a

player can move two pieces in a

single turn. It’s the only time when

The King moves 2 squares. It’s the

only time the rook jumps over the

king. The rook jumps over the king

and lands next to him.

Position after white castles long

and black castles short

Either player may choose castling

long or short

A King and Rook are the only

pieces that can be used for castling

Only when castling the King moves

two squares

Note: When castling, your King

cannot cross an enemy “line of fire”

say from a Bishop, Queen or Rook.

Rook

A Rook moves and captures in

straight line. Rooks either move up

and down on a file, or sideways along

a rank.

Queen

A Queen moves and captures

straight and diagonally as far as the

edge of the board.

Setting up the Chessboard

Put Rooks on the Corners and the Kings

on the E-file

Let’s add Pawns, White pawns on the

second rank

Black pawns on the seventh rank

Add the minor pieces Knights and

Bishops Knights are located next to the

Rooks

Last, put the White Queen on light

square

And the Black Queen on the dark square

Remember, a light square on a

chessboard is always in the lower right

hand corner

Chess Notation

This system, known as algebraic notation, is used all over the world.

Every square on the board is assigned a name in lower case letters.

The numbers on the side from 1 to 8 are numbered from White’s side of the

board and the letters denoting the files start on White’s left.

Pieces are designated by capital letters.

Pawns have no specific designation

but are referred to by the algebraic square they are on.

The ranks are numbered from White’s side of the board.

Starting with number 1st rank

all the way to number 8th

rank or Back Rank.

The letters denoting the files start on White’s left side.