Game pieces are set as indicated on the picture. White pieces are on ranks (rows) 1 and 2, and black pieces are on ranks 7 and 8.

1. Rooks are in the corners.

2. Knights are next to rooks on files b and g.

3. Bishops are next to knights on files c and f.

4. Queens are on file d.*

5. Kings are on file e.*

6. Pawns are in a line on ranks 2 and 7.

* Note: Queens are placed on the same file (file d) so that each queen is on a square with its matching color: White queen on a light square and Black queen on a dark square. This also means that both kings are on the same file too (file e).