Knowing the Chess Board Well
One of the most important chess implements is the chess board. Before knowing anything else in the game of chess we have to acquaint ourselves well with the "ground" or "field" of battle—the chess board. Here are some facts about it.
A chess board, no matter what size it comes, have 64 squares in all—8 rows by 8 columns of alternately colored squares. The square colors are traditionally called "white" and "black." Some chess board variations may have white and green or white and blue but they're still referred to as "white and black."
To set up the board properly we first have to set it on its correct orientation—white square should be at the extreme right of the bottom or eighth row of the board. If we notice that the extreme right square of the last or eighth row is black, this means we're on the wrong side of the chess board.
When properly oriented we would notice numbers 1 to 8 on the left side of an official chess board with number 1 at the bottom and 8 on top. These are called "ranks." At the bottom edge of the board are letters from A to H. These are called "files." If we're playing white pieces we see the ranks to our left count from 1 to 8 starting from the bottom, and the files from A to H. But if we're playing black pieces we see the ranks and files in reverse—the ranks to our right from 8 to 1 and the files at the top edge of the chess board from H to A. Both ranks and files are called "coordinates" and are used as reference points.
A chess board always has two sides: the Queen Side and the King Side. Half of the board divided from the square and column where the king is located is the "King Side" and the other half of the board divided from the square and column where the queen is located is the "Queen Side." This is also used for reference purposes.
Finally, a chess board has what is called as the "Center of the Board" or the "Center Squares." This is also for reference purposes. For instance, in an official game we may hear moves being announced like "A pawn moved to the center of the board."
Now that we have learned the different facets of the chess board we're all set to about basic rules and strategies.