Chessboard Geometry & Terminology

Here are some common terms that are used to describe various aspects of a chessboard, and are common to the chess vocabulary.

The Center The "center" refers to the squares e4, d4, e5 and d5. These squares have particular importance in chess strategy. The surrounding ring of squares shown by the lighter shade of red are centrally-positioned and usually see a lot of action.

Kingside and queenside These terms refer to the left (queenside) and right (kingside) halves of the chessboard.

Diagonals A diagonal is a straight line of squares of the same color that touch corner to corner.  The diagram shows various diagonals and how they are named.

Ranks Ranks are rows of squares on the chessboard that extend from left to right. The diagram shows the names and  locations of the 8 ranks.

Files Files are sequences of squares on a chessboard that extend from the top to the bottom.  The diagram shows the eight files of the chessboard.

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