Setting up the board: light on the right, queen on her colour

Before the first move, there is a small puzzle every chess player has to solve: where does everything go? Setting up the board is a lovely first job for a young child. It teaches the names of the pieces and lets them feel in charge before the game starts. With two little sayings, most children soon manage it on their own.

Light on the right

First, turn the board the right way round. Each player should have a light square in the corner nearest their right hand. The saying to remember is "light on the right". If the board is turned the wrong way, the king and queen end up on the wrong squares, so this is worth checking every time.

The back row, from the corners in

All the big pieces go on the row closest to each player. Children often find it easiest to fill it from the outside in, like building a wall:

• Rooks go in the two corners. They look like little towers, and towers stand at the corners of a castle.
• Knights go next to the rooks, one on each side.
• Bishops go next to the knights.
• That leaves two empty squares in the middle, one for the queen and one for the king.

The queen picks her colour

Here is the bit that trips up grown-ups too. The queen always starts on a square of her own colour. The white queen goes on the light middle square, and the black queen goes on the dark middle square. The saying is "the queen gets her colour", or, for little ones who like stories, "the queen likes to match her dress".

The king then takes the last empty square beside her. When both sides are set up correctly, the two queens face each other across the board, and so do the two kings.

Tip: After setting up, ask your child to "check the queens". If the two queens are looking straight at each other down the same column, and each one is standing on her own colour, the middle of the back row is right.

A row of pawns in front

Finally, the eight pawns line up on the row just in front of the big pieces, like a row of small helpers standing guard. Each player has eight pawns, and between them they fill that whole row.

Make it a game

Setting up can be fun on its own, not just a chore before playing:

• Race the clock. Time how long it takes to set up one side, and see if your child can beat their own time next week. Keep it light, and praise getting it right over going fast.
• Spot the mistake. Set up the board with one thing wrong, such as the king and queen swapped or the board turned the wrong way, and let your child find it.
• Name as you place. Say each piece's name out loud as it goes down. This is a gentle way for younger children to learn rook, knight and bishop.

Who goes first?

Once everything is in place, remember one last rule: white always moves first.

In ChessMons, the How to Play lessons with voice-over introduce each piece one at a time, so children get to know the rook, knight, bishop, queen, king and pawn before they need to place them all at once. Setting up a real board together brings those lessons to the kitchen table.