Mastering Chess: How to Properly Read the Board in the Game

Are you new to the game of chess and wondering how to navigate the chessboard? Understanding the layout of the board is crucial in mastering the game.

We will explore the different parts of the board, how to set it up for a game, and most importantly, how to read it effectively. From understanding the orientation of the board to recognizing patterns and strategies, we will cover everything you need to know to enhance your chess skills.

Let’s dive in!

What is the Board in Chess?

The board as referred to in chess is comprised of a flat rectangular surface that has a grid of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 square grid. Each of these squares is an equal size and alternates between light and dark color. There are 32 dark squares and 32 light squares. Players refer to the board by looking for the answers to questions about the type of material distributed.

FIDE (the Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation) defines the board along with the rest of the pieces, not including the pawns, as the men. The men are either white or black. They are usually called chessmen or pieces. In nineteenth-century chess sets the pieces could be made out of ivory or other valuable material. With the obvious social drawback. Amateurs, however, are compelled for the sake of convenience, to use figures made of less precious material. In America, clubs, public and private, have introduced the so-called Staunton pieces. By dark is understood the green field with yellow spots, by light, the pale field with the dark spots. Most of the problem compositions hitherto published have been made for the dark field. “

How to Set Up the Board for a Game of Chess?

To set the board for a game of chess is simple, taking a few minutes at most after all pieces are put away in their box like organization. Find the a file on the board and ensure it is on your right to place the corner of the side of your color at the right-hand extreme space for alignment.

If the piece order does not face correctly, you know the board has been set wrong. This organization covers 8 files and the 8 ranks and produces the following piece placement as the board is seen at the start.

What are the Different Parts of the Board?

• The left side is the queenside, signified by a big ‘Q’ and is where each player’s queen starts the game.
• The right side is the kingside and is symbolized with a ‘K’, where the respective kings of each player start the game.
• Each of the two 64 squares has a color that is either black or white. A sequence of squares of the same color is known as a dark square diagonal or light square diagonal (distinguished by direction).
• The board in chess begins with pieces lined up just behind the two back rows.
• Eight pawns are lined up in the center of the second row for each side, forming a barrier that other pieces must move around.
• The back row is the chessboard space where a player’s eight pieces are seen facing the opponent.

The orientation of the back row changes depending on if the white or black pieces are in use, and if the board is in chess notation H8 corner or a1. The initial piece location on the board is as follows in the chess notation H8 corner sense.

• Utmost left of back row (Kingside), respectively: Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook
• Utmost right of the back row (Queenside), respectively: Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, Rook

The Squares

The squares on a chessboard are the starting point for all board analysis. In physical terms, there are 64 squares that alternately change between light and dark colors. The horizontal ranks are known as the files and are denoted by numbers 1-8. The vertical ranks are known as the ranks and are denoted by letters a-h.

The board is used for notation, which allows players to quickly record their games, to identify strengths and weaknesses for future reference, and to analyze plays and tactics that are particularly tough to understand. For board analysis, learners must consider the movement or control of these various squares as a function of the pieces on the board.

The Ranks

The ranks refer to the individual horizontal rows of the chessboard (1-8) from one file to the next. The interaction of the higher and lower tiers of the board allows for future movement while avoiding threats or securing new threats quickly. For example, a pawn well-advanced on its rank (2nd rank in the starting position) is well-suited to promotion, whereas one still on its second rank (7th rank in the starting position) is vulnerable to immediate harass if left undefended.

The Files

The files consist of the half-dozen or so columns of squares from a through h. One creates a physical line of demarcation between white and black pieces. When one side has exclusive control or protection of a file with all of the pieces of a given type, then that piece is said to “occupy the file.” Additionally, one says that side “has the file” or “controls that file.” If a piece has no other low-hanging tactical “branches” on other files to pluck, as in the pawn fork earlier, the piece occupying the file is not only exerting downward pressure but was “supposed to” the entire time. This is sometimes obvious, but only if one has learned to read the board. For example after White’s Nxf7, sacrificing the knight to remove the defender, the control of the f2 file by his queen is known to experts to be key for initiating the middle game.

Famous games illustrate the tremendous strategic value of controlling a file. Perhaps most famous is the Aksakian versus Rubinstein game, where Aksakian’s thoughtful, consistent moves eventually limited Rubinstein’s control and support of his files until Aksakian made a simple move that drew resignation from Rubinstein merely a half dozen moves later.

The Center

The center refers to the 16 squares at the center of the board, including e4, d4, e5, and d5. Control of the center is a key part of knowing how to read a chessboard. If you control the center with pawns and pieces, you can better control the pace of the game and influences trades. Having fewer pieces in the center will result in a lower probability of exchanges, which is something to consider if you are at an advantage.

The Edges and Corners

• a. Edges: The term board edge refers to the squares along the four sides of the 8×8 chess board. A piece on the edge of a board has a more limited choice of destination squares than one closer to the center. However, pieces on the board edge are called radiators and can be made use of during the opening and control of the board. It is very common to place the rook close to the corner to allow it to have a file of its own, and many important games have been won because the rook was in this position. Nonetheless, pieces on the edge of the board have less mobility due to the smaller number of squares to which they can advance. An edge square such as h1 (for white) has only three possible moves available to it from g1, f1, g2.
• b. Corners: Three corners exist, with each corner having its properties. The h-file corner for white is the optimal piece to place a rook. A cornered rook will utilize an extreme number of moves to mobilize due to fewer squares available once the corner is moved from. The a-file corner for white provides the best spot for a queen due to its ability to range across any diagonal for a white queen. These corner pieces and moments are not always ideal, but they can be advantageous if employed and played properly.

How to Read the Board in Chess?

You read the board in chess by breaking it up into smaller parts and evaluating the pieces, pawns, space, center control, development, king safety, and other patterns that occur. This approach allows you to quickly see the strengths and weaknesses of each side and plan accordingly.

For example, this screenshot from the redbullet’s game shows traditional tenets of reading the board. In the diagram, the following represent likely strategic steps the two players will take as they read the board.

Understanding the Board Orientation

In chess, the board is oriented to the player so that each player always has a light-colored square at the corner of the board on their right-hand side. Chess moves are defined using the orientation of the board, and Forsyth-Edwards notation (FEN) is the standard notation for describing the arrangement of pieces on a chessboard at a particular point in time.

Looking from the point of view of the player with the ‘Mover’ tag in the standard analysis of these moves, the lower left corner square is always a light-colored one, called the ‘A1’ square. Row 8 at the top is called ‘8-rank’, and columns labeled ‘a’ to ‘h’ define the eight different files. Any square can be referred to as its column letter and row number opening at ‘A1’ in the lower left of the board. The main point is that the board being oriented to the player makes sure every move is clearly comprehended.

Identifying the Pieces and Their Starting Positions

To identify the chess pieces and their starting positions on the board, you will mostly look at the first two rows of the board. On the second row, the `p` character represents a white pawn while the `P` character represents a black pawn. Moving from left to right of the board on the first row, you see that the rook is represented with Php7, and the black rook is PHh0, both represented by a `k` character. Similarly, you can identify the white knights and bishops with the leading `N` and `B` characters. To know each piece’s optimal starting position on the board for the initial setup of pieces, here is the layout starting with the `k` character for the rook and flipping sides.

1. `k` Rook/`k` Rook
2. `q` Knight/N Knight
3. `r` Bishop/`r` Bishop
4. `w` Queen/`m` King
5. `m` King/`w` Queen
6. `r` Bishop/`r` Bishop
7. `q` Knight/N Knight
8. `k` Rook/`k` Rook

During the game, the pawns occupy the third row of the board, and all `1` characters in these `chess` strings indicate the initial pawn setup. On the left side of the board, the leading `P` characters represent the pawns for each color, while the `p` characters represent the black pawns. In the third row from the left corner to the right corner, the white and black pawns have the following setup.

• `p1` Black Pawn
• `p1` Black Pawn
• `p1` Black Pawn
• `p1` Black Pawn
• `p1` Black Pawn
• `p1` Black Pawn
• `p1` Black Pawn
• `p1` Black Pawn

Two of the rarest chess moves in history were caused by misplacement of pieces at the start of the game, as in the case of dueling players Grandmaster Vlastimil Hort in 1970 Bangkok and Grandmaster Hugo Meier in 1953 Zurich.

Recognizing Patterns and Strategies

Recognizing patterns on the board and understanding strategies are vital board reading skills in chess. With experience and practice, players will come to know many stereotyped patterns, or motifs, which repeat themselves from game to game. Knowledge of patterns and strategies relieve a player of the need to calculate the possible outcomes of every move, helping make a game easier to read.

Chess experts advise beginning players to learn just a few patterns to get started. Recognizing patterns early in the game and strategizing based on these patterns is what players should aim for.

A player’s ability to recognize patterns and strategy development while reading the board are both key to long-term understanding of the game.

Analyzing the Position of Pieces

A key component of reading the board in chess is analyzing the state of the game by the position of the pieces. From move-to-move the interplay between pieces changes and so an accurate reading of the board means understanding how the relationships between pieces are affected by the developing state of the game. This improves predictive capabilities in terms of anticipating opponent moves and winning.

This refers most notably to the relative power of a player’s and his opponent’s pieces. Opposing pieces which are symmetrical may indicate an equal game, but a player who is able to create imbalances such as having a more powerful piece in an important position is said to have the advantage. This is one of the cornerstone principles of all national and most international chess learning curriculums established since the early 20th century and included in variants such as multiplayer chess and chess960.

A player should strive to maintain their pieces as powerful as possible and weakening enemy flanks is an equally important part of successful gameplay. Once a player runs out of strong moves they will be forced into a phase (called the endgame) where there are only a few pieces and thereby fewer possible moves available, which can allow easy calculation of who is winning.

Judit Polgar’s advice for judging the career of a pawn is a simple rule of thumb for judging the quality of a side. If a player can afford to have many advanced pawns while keeping pawns under protection of other pawns or the player’s pieces as often as possible, then their position is likely strong. Every time a player advances a pawn to the crucial center of the board her power on the board increases besides of getting points for a future queen.

What are the Common Mistakes in Reading the Board?

The common mistakes in reading the board in chess are expected and practically inevitable for most players. Shimon Zaremba, who is an active National Master in the US, explains the common mistakes made by beginners and how to avoid them. Mistake number one is not thinking about what the opponent is planning. Shimon says that when opponents make moves, they always make their own threats. So always think about what the opponent is threatening instead of focusing on your own immediate scoring advantages on the board. Mistake number two according to Shimon, is beginners’ overexcitement. If they see a threatening move, they often hurry to execute it without understanding it fully.

Scott Masschaele is a US Chess Federation-rated Expert and co-founder of Learn Chess Organization in the US who recommends during your visualization, questioning ‘Why is the piece there?’. Shimon and Scott are here to teach you how to use the board in chess.

Mistake number three from Shimon Zaremba is that beginners often fail to think about what would happen if they play their intended move next. In the excitement of planning a strategy, they often forget the expected future consequences. Evaluating your next few moves, and understanding the opponent’s threats as well as your defensive capabilities, will help you stop making the most common mistake in chess. Keep practicing how to respond and defend against the threats you see on the chessboard in addition to finding your scoring advantages.

Focusing Only on Your Own Pieces

Focusing only on your own pieces is one of the most basic forms of reading the board. This is important for new players because it gives them an understanding of their own positions and potential moves. It is just as important to be able to read the positions of your opponent’s pieces but reading the positions of one’s own pieces is a necessary foundation to developing more strategic board-reading skills.

Ignoring the Opponent’s Pieces

Ignoring the opponent’s pieces is a chess strategy where you focus exclusively on the relative values of your own pieces and where ignoring the opponent’s pieces can improve your overall board position. When to ignore the opponent’s pieces is given as a next-few-moves guideline by IM Andrew Martin in his course The Art of Planning which is available for purchase at www.ichess.net. You ignore the opponent’s pieces so long as one of their pieces is not liable to extract a cost on you exceeding the value of your cheapest effective defender.

Neglecting the Importance of the Center

Neglecting the importance of the center refers to not placing pawns in the center for migration of pieces into the center. This is important because at the beginning of a game the center is the only area that can be directly attacked by all pieces and pawns, and so is critical for control of the board.

Naturally, pieces do not have long-range movements into the rest of the board from their initial positions, so an active chess strategy for reading the board is to secure the center.

In the absence of a particularly strong reason for moves elsewhere, players should prefer moves into the center over other areas of the board when developing pieces. Instead of forgetting the center, develop pieces with moves such that at least some of them have central freedom in future moves.

Not Considering the Potential Moves of Pieces

Potential moves need to be added to the board evaluation as this scenerio demonstrates. Rook A2 to B2 would leave open the path from a1 to g1 for the White queen to move out of the way of the impending Black queen at B1 non-checkmate. Potentiality refers to the future path of pieces or identifying opportunities that are available due to the absence of moves. In such a hypothetical scenerio one would not have considered the potential moves of pieces. Moving the rook though is only a partial solution since now the White rook at A2 would slaughter the Black queen. This scenerio is generally so rare as to not be considered. Because it is a rare scenerio, it would be best for the Black to play and win in four moves scenerio to be reflected as Black advantage. Without factoring potential moves into these evaluations, this situation is missed entirely.

This is often overlooked in evaluating complicated triple trade-off moves, or in gauging the importance of a threat or a counter-threat to the player making that decision. Neglecting the addition of potential chess piece moves on the board is a common mistake when conducting a board evaluation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of reading the board in chess?

The purpose of reading the board in chess is to assess the current position of the game and make strategic decisions based on the pieces’ locations and potential moves.

How do I read the board in chess?

To read the board in chess, you must first familiarize yourself with the chess pieces and their movement capabilities. Then, observe the current position of the pieces and plan your next move accordingly.

Why is it important to read the board in chess?

Reading the board in chess is crucial as it allows you to anticipate your opponent’s moves, identify potential threats, and plan your moves strategically to gain an advantage in the game.

What are some common strategies for reading the board in chess?

Some common strategies for reading the board in chess include controlling the center, developing your pieces, and attacking your opponent’s weaknesses.

How can I improve my ability to read the board in chess?

To improve your ability to read the board in chess, practice regularly and analyze your games to identify your strengths and weaknesses. You can also study chess tactics and openings to enhance your strategic thinking.

Can reading the board in chess help me win a game?

Yes, reading the board in chess can significantly increase your chances of winning a game. It allows you to make informed and strategic decisions, anticipate your opponent’s moves, and capitalize on opportunities to gain an advantage.