Editing Rules of chess (section)

==Initial setup==
{{Chess diagram
| tright
|
|rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd
|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl
|rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl
| Starting position
}}

Chess is played on a [[chessboard]], a square board divided into a grid of 64 squares (eight-by-eight) of alternating color (similar to the board used in [[draughts]]).{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=article 2.1}} Regardless of the actual colors of the board, the lighter-colored squares are called "light" or "white", and the darker-colored squares are called "dark" or "black". Sixteen "white" and sixteen "black" pieces are placed on the board at the beginning of the game. The board is placed so that a white square is in each player's near-right corner. Horizontal rows are called ''{{chessgloss|ranks}}'', and vertical columns are called ''{{chessgloss|files}}''.{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=articles 2.1, 2.2, 2.4}}

Each player controls sixteen pieces:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; float:left;"
|-
! Piece !! [[King (chess)|King]] !! [[Queen (chess)|Queen]] !! [[Rook (chess)|Rook]] !! [[Bishop (chess)|Bishop]] !! [[Knight (chess)|Knight]] !! [[Pawn (chess)|Pawn]]
|-
! Number of pieces
| 1 || 1 || 2 || 2 || 2 || 8
|-
! Symbols
| [[File:Chess klt45.svg|25px]]<br />[[File:Chess kdt45.svg|25px]]
| [[File:Chess qlt45.svg|25px]]<br />[[File:Chess qdt45.svg|25px]]
| [[File:Chess rlt45.svg|25px]]<br />[[File:Chess rdt45.svg|25px]]
| [[File:Chess blt45.svg|25px]]<br />[[File:Chess bdt45.svg|25px]]
| [[File:Chess nlt45.svg|25px]]<br />[[File:Chess ndt45.svg|25px]]
| [[File:Chess plt45.svg|25px]]<br />[[File:Chess pdt45.svg|25px]]
|}
{{clear left}}
At the beginning of the game, the pieces are arranged as shown in the diagram: for each side one [[King (chess)|king]], one [[Queen (chess)|queen]], two [[Rook (chess)|rooks]], two [[Bishop (chess)|bishops]], two [[Knight (chess)|knights]], and eight [[Pawn (chess)|pawns]]. The pieces are placed, one per square, as follows:{{sfn|FIDE|2023|loc=article 2.3}}
* Rooks are placed on the outside corners, right and left edge.
* Knights are placed immediately inside of the rooks.
* Bishops are placed immediately inside of the knights.
* The queen is placed on the central square of the same color of that of the piece: white queen on the white square and black queen on the black square.
* The king takes the vacant spot next to the queen.
* Pawns are placed one square in front of all of the other pieces.
Popular mnemonics used to remember the setup are "queen on her own color" and "white on right". The latter refers to setting up the board so that the square closest to each player's right is white.<ref>{{Harvcol|Schiller|2003|pp=16–17}}</ref>
{{Clear}}