Every square has a name made of a file (a–h) and a rank (1–8). Seeing the board as lines (files, ranks and diagonals) is the base of all chess vision.
Key principles
- a1 is a dark square; a square is light when its file number plus rank number is odd
- Bishops never leave their starting colour
- The long diagonals a1–h8 and h1–a8 cross the centre
- d4, d5, e4 and e5 are the central squares
Common mistakes
- Mixing up files and ranks
- Reading the board from the wrong side when playing Black