Introduction to the Chessboard

The chessboard has 64 squares, arranged in 8 rows (ranks) and 8 columns (files). The squares alternate between light (light) and dark (dark) colors.

Notice the labels: letters (a–h) at the bottom and numbers (1–8) on the side. Together, these form coordinates for every square. For example, the bottom left corner is a1.

Rule of thumb: the bottom-right square should always be light.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h