Chess.com - Play and Learn: Board Setup and Piece Rules Guide

To set up a game correctly in Chess.com - Play and Learn, orient the 64-square board so that each player has a light square in their bottom-right corner. Place your pieces on the first rank from the outside in—rooks on the corners, then knights, bishops, the queen on her matching color, and the king on the remaining square—with eight pawns lined up along the second rank.

Board Setup and Starting Positions

A standard chessboard consists of an 8x8 grid of 64 alternating light and dark squares, organized into vertical files and horizontal ranks. Proper orientation is required before placing pieces: the bottom-right corner on each player's side must be a light-colored square.

Once oriented, arrange the back-rank pieces along rank 1 for White and rank 8 for Black:

Rooks: Place on the outside corner squares (a1 and h1 for White; a8 and h8 for Black).
Knights: Place directly adjacent to the rooks (b1 and g1 for White; b8 and g8 for Black).
Bishops: Place next to the knights (c1 and f1 for White; c8 and f8 for Black).
Queen: Place on the central square matching her color (the light square d1 for White; the dark square d8 for Black).
King: Place on the remaining central square beside the queen (e1 for White; e8 for Black).
Pawns: Place all eight pawns across the entire rank directly in front of the back-rank pieces (rank 2 for White; rank 7 for Black).

Piece	Starting Squares (White / Black)	Movement Summary
Pawn	a2–h2 / a7–h7	Moves forward 1 square (or 2 on first move); captures 1 square diagonally forward
Knight	b1, g1 / b8, g8	Moves in an L-shape; can jump over other pieces
Bishop	c1, f1 / c8, f8	Moves any number of open squares diagonally; stays on its starting color
Rook	a1, h1 / a8, h8	Moves any number of open squares horizontally or vertically
Queen	d1 / d8	Moves any number of open squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally
King	e1 / e8	Moves 1 square in any direction; must be kept out of direct attack

How Each Piece Moves and Captures

Each piece follows distinct directional rules and physical limitations during play.

Pawns

Pawns only move forward toward the opponent's side of the board and cannot retreat.

Advance: On its first move, a pawn can advance forward either one or two vacant squares. On all subsequent moves, it can advance only one vacant square forward.
Capture: Pawns cannot capture pieces directly ahead. A pawn captures an enemy unit located exactly one square diagonally forward. If an opposing piece sits directly in front of a pawn, the pawn is blocked and cannot move forward until the path is cleared.
Promotion: When a pawn reaches the opponent's back rank (rank 8 for White, rank 1 for Black), it immediately promotes into a queen, rook, bishop, or knight.

Knights

The knight moves in an "L-shape": two squares along a rank or file and then one square perpendicular, or one square along a rank or file and then two squares perpendicular. The knight is the only piece on the board capable of jumping over friendly or opposing pieces. It captures an enemy piece by landing on its destination square, not by jumping over it.

Bishops

Bishops travel along diagonal paths across any number of unoccupied squares. Because they move strictly diagonally, each bishop remains on its starting color for the entire match. Each side operates one light-squared bishop and one dark-squared bishop, neither of which can jump over intervening pieces.

Rooks

Rooks travel in straight horizontal and vertical lines across any number of open squares along ranks and files. Rooks cannot jump over other pieces and require open lanes to control space.

The Queen

The queen combines the movement capabilities of the rook and the bishop. She can move any number of vacant squares along ranks, files, or diagonals in a single turn. The queen cannot jump over other units.

The King

The king can move exactly one square in any direction: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. The king cannot move into a square attacked by an enemy piece.

Responding to Check and Checkmate

The primary objective of the game is to trap the opposing king while protecting your own.

Check: When an opponent's piece attacks your king, your king is in check. You must resolve the check immediately on your turn. You have three legal ways to escape check:
Move: Step the king to an adjacent, unthreatened square.
Block: Place a friendly piece directly between the checking piece and your king. Blocking does not work against checking knights because they jump over pieces.
Capture: Eliminate the checking piece with your king or another friendly unit.
Checkmate: If your king is in check and you have no legal move to escape, block the path, or capture the attacking unit, the position is checkmate. Checkmate instantly ends the match in victory for the attacking player.