So you have found a good chess store online and have bought your chess set pieces - perhaps a good quality carved chess set. Now you come to play a game of chess and are faced with the chessboard.
At first sight the chessboard is simply a type of chequer board (or checker board) identical to that used by the game of Draughts (or Checkers). There are 64 squares set up in eight rows horizontally and eight vertically.
As with the chess set pieces, there is more to the board than you initially see. The lines of squares running away from you (front to back) are know as the 'files' and those that run right to left are the 'ranks.'
Already we have found the historical background to the game of chess as the terms 'rank' and 'file' are military terms used to describe the lines of troops matching. The term 'rank and file' is also used to denote members of political or trade union organisations, as an extension of the military usage.
Not only are the up and down rows of squares labeled but the diagonal rows of squares across the board are also know - as, er, 'diagonals.'
Generally a chessboard uses squares of contrasting light and dark colours. These can vary considerably, depending on the materials used to construct the board but a best chess set would be made from wood or leather and these generally use darker and lighter sheds of brown.
Each square tends to be between 2 to 2.5 inches (50 to 65 millimetres) in width and length: that is to say, 1.25 to 1.3 times the size of the base of the King.
Before starting to set up your chess set pieces, always ensure the board is orientated so each player has a white square in the right-hand corner.
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