Your first board. Your first moves.

Sit with a light square in the corner nearest your right hand. From White’s side, the bottom row runs a1 to h1. The letters name the files, which run up and down; the numbers name the ranks, which run across. A square gets its file first and rank second: e4, not 4e. The names stay the same when you look from Black’s side.

White’s back row is rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook, with eight pawns in front. Black mirrors this arrangement on the far side. Put each queen on her own color: White’s queen on d1 and Black’s on d8. The kings then sit on e1 and e8. White makes the first move.

To check your setup, find both queens, then count eight pawns on each side. A reversed board can still look plausible, which is why the light corner and queen checks are useful even when someone else has arranged the pieces.

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Try it yourself

Can White begin by moving the bishop from f1 to c4?

Show the answer

Not yet. White’s pawn on e2 blocks that diagonal. Moving it to e3 or e4 opens the bishop’s path. The knight on g1 can move immediately because knights can jump.

A rook travels along a rank or file. A bishop travels diagonally and stays on the color where it started. A queen combines those paths. These pieces can travel several squares, but they cannot jump over another piece. If an enemy piece is on their path, they can capture it and stop on that square; they cannot carry on through it.

A knight moves two squares in one direction and one sideways. Think of the destination rather than tracing a path: from g1, its possible on-board destinations are e2, f3 and h3. At the start, e2 has a friendly pawn, so only f3 and h3 are available. Knights can jump over pieces between the start and destination.

The king moves one square in any direction, provided the destination is not attacked. A king is never captured. If your king is attacked, you must make a move that removes the attack. Two kings cannot stand next to each other because each would attack the other.

A pawn moves forward one square into an empty space. On its first move it may advance two squares if both squares are empty. White’s pawns advance toward rank eight; Black’s advance toward rank one. A pawn never moves backward. It captures one square diagonally forward, rather than straight ahead.

This difference explains why a pawn can become blocked by a piece directly in front of it. A White pawn on e4 cannot capture an enemy piece on e5. It could capture an enemy on d5 or f5. Before advancing a pawn, notice the squares it will stop protecting: unlike a knight or bishop, it cannot simply return.

Reaching the last rank promotes a pawn to a queen, rook, bishop or knight of the same color. You can choose a queen even if your original queen is still on the board. Two special rules—castling and en passant—deserve their own careful checks. Castling moves the king and a rook under specific conditions; en passant is an immediate pawn capture after an opposing pawn’s two-square advance. Neither allows you to leave your king in check.

A move can match a piece’s movement pattern and still be illegal. A bishop might be pinned in front of its king; moving it would expose the king to a rook. Check the whole board, not only the piece you want to move.

For a first practice session, play slowly and say the start and destination aloud: “knight g1 to f3.” If you are using a physical board, alternate sides after each legal move. If a move is refused in the app, look for a blocking piece or an attack on your king before trying another square. Understanding the reason is more useful than repeatedly clicking.