The chessboard and its coordinates
In short
The chessboard has 64 squares in eight columns and eight rows. Columns are called files and are lettered a to h from White’s left to right.
By the end you can
- Set up the board the right way round
- Name any square (e.g. e4, g7)
- Know files, ranks and diagonals
The lesson
The chessboard has 64 squares in eight columns and eight rows. Columns are called files and are lettered a to h from White’s left to right. Rows are called ranks and are numbered 1 to 8 starting from White’s side. Every square has a name made from its file and rank: the square where White’s king starts is e1, and Black’s king starts on e8.
Set the board so each player has a light square in the bottom-right corner (“light on the right”). The white queen starts on the light square d1 and the black queen on the dark square d8 — each queen starts on her own colour.
Diagonals are lines of squares of one colour that touch at the corners, such as a1–h8. Learning to see files, ranks and diagonals quickly is the base of everything else: attacks, defence and calculation all happen along these lines.
Key points to remember
- Light square in the bottom-right corner
- Files a–h, ranks 1–8
- Queen on her own colour
- Say square names aloud while playing
Examples
Show the moves
1. e4 e5
Homework
Five minutes of the coordinates trainer each day. Set up the starting position from memory twice.
Free further reading
- The Blue Book of Chess, Howard Staunton (revised edition) (1910, public domain)
More rules & board lessons
- Long-range pieces: rook, bishop and queen (Foundation)
- Knight, king and pawn (Foundation)
- Check and the three ways out (Foundation)
- Castling (Foundation)
- Promotion and en passant (Foundation)
- What the pieces are worth (Foundation)