1. The Chessboard and Coordinates

What's in this lesson?

Learns the squares, files, ranks and coordinates.

1. Chess is played on a board of eight by eight, that is sixty-four squares. The squares are light and dark and alternate.
2. When you set up the board, there must always be a light square in the bottom-right corner. An easy reminder: light on the right.
3. The vertical lines running up the board are called files. Files are named with letters from a to h, left to right. The highlighted one is the e-file.
4. The horizontal lines are called ranks and are numbered from one to eight, bottom to top. The highlighted one is the fourth rank.
5. Every square has a name: first the file letter, then the rank number. This square, where the e-file meets the fourth rank, is e4.
6. Now it's your turn. Move the white rook from e1 to the e4 square.
7. One more: move the rook to the a1 corner.
8. Lines of same-coloured squares running at an angle are called diagonals. Some pieces move along these lines; we'll meet them soon.