Learn about chess board setup and use our printable chess board image so you can play chess correctly.
Chess Board Setup with Printable Chess Board
Save this page or print our our chess board setup diagram to keep with your chess set. We’ve also got a printable chess board for you with a wooden chess board or a black and white chess board option.
How to Set Up a Chess Board
This diagram can help with your chess board setup. Key things to remember:
- The white square of the chess board should go in the right hand corner for both players.
- The rook (or castle) goes on the outside corners.
- The knight (or horse) goes next to the rook.
- The bishop piece goes next to the king and queen.
- The placement of king and queen depend on which color your are playing. For the white player the queen will be to the left of the king and start on a white tile. For the black player the queen will be to the right of the king and start on the black tile. King and queen pieces will always face each other in the starting positions.
- The pawn pieces form a line in the front.
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Print the chess board setup image here.
Print the Black and White or Wooden Chess Board
For best results, save the image to your computer before printing. I find it easiest to first click on the image to enlarge it, then drag and drop the image to my desktop, then print it from there.
Printables from Paper Trail Design are for personal use only. For more information on use of our printables see our copyright policy here.
How Chess Pieces Move
- King – The king can only move only one space at a time in any direction forward, back, sideways, or diagonal.
- Queen – The queen can move in a straight line in any direction forward, back, sideways, or diagonal.
- Rook – The rook looks like a castle and can move in a straight line forward, backward, or sideways.
- Knight – The knight looks like a horse and moves in an L-shape moving two squares in any direction and then one to the side. The knight is the only piece that can “jump” over other pieces.
- Bishop – The bishop moves on the diagonal in any direction.
- Pawn – The pawn can move either one or two spaces forward on its initial move. Thereafter it can only move one space forward. The pawn captures on the forward diagonal. If the pawn reaches the opposite end of the board it can promote to a queen, knight, bishop, or rook with the queen being the most common.
More Printables from Paper Trail Design
Scatergories Printables – Print Scattergories sheets to play for free.
Monopoly Board Printable – Monopoly is arguably the worst game in the world but you can customize Monopoly and make your own version with these Monopoly board templates.
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Paper
I often get asked what paper I recommend. For regular copy paper this 5 ream case of paper is one of the better deals. For cardstock I really like this card stock paper on amazon. It is much cheaper than I have found in stores and has a good thickness for most projects without being so thick that it jams the printer.
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