How to Set Up a Chess Board the Correct Way (Beginner Guide with Images)

Setting up a chess board the right way takes about thirty seconds once you know the order — but almost every beginner gets one or two things wrong the first few times. This guide walks you through it piece by piece with clear images, and explains the two rules that fix the most common mistakes: "light on right" and "queen on her own colour."

Step 1: Turn the Board the Right Way

Before any pieces go down, the board itself has to face the right way. The rule is simple: each player should have a light-coloured square in their bottom-right corner. Players remember this as "light on right."

Step 2: Place the Rooks

The rooks (the castle-shaped pieces) go in the four corners of the board. They are the easiest pieces to place because the corners are obvious.

Step 3: Place the Knights

The knights (the horse-shaped pieces) go right next to the rooks, just inside each corner.

Step 4: Place the Bishops

The bishops go next to the knights, one step further toward the centre. Each side now has two empty squares left in the middle of the back row.

Step 5: Queen on Her Own Colour

This is the step beginners most often get wrong. Two central squares remain. The queen always goes on the square that matches her own colour: the white queen on a light square, the black queen on a dark square.

Step 6: Place the King

The king takes the last empty square, right next to the queen. When done correctly, the white king faces the black king, and the white queen faces the black queen, straight across the board.

Step 7: Add the Pawns

Finally, fill the entire row in front of your pieces with pawns — eight on each side. The board is now ready, and White moves first.

That's it — a correctly set up chess board, ready to play.

Common Setup Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Almost every setup error comes down to one of these. Here's how to spot and fix each one:

The Wrong Way vs the Right Way

Below, the king and queen are swapped — a very common mistake. Notice the white queen is on a dark square, which is the giveaway that something is wrong.

Compare it with the correct final position:

Once your board is set, the next step is learning how the pieces move and what a good first move looks like. See our guides on how to play chess for beginners, the best openings for beginners, chess piece values, and good moves vs bad moves. For the complete official rulebook, you can also read the full rules of chess.