Tips in Setting Up Black Pieces in Chess

Many chess players think it a disadvantage to have the black pieces in chess. Thus, many players opt for playing white pieces and being accustomed to its offensive setup strategies and opportunities. But it's worthwhile to also learn about setup advantages with black ones.

Setting up black chess pieces positionally on the board is exactly like how we setup the white pieces. All we have to do is place the pieces opposite where the white pieces are. For accuracy, here is the order of distribution: on the very last white square on the extreme right of the board we place a rook, then a knight, bishop, and then the black queen. After the queen comes the king, a bishop, knight, and a second rook. On the front row are lined up all the black pawns.

Notice that when oriented from the very last white square on the extreme right (which, by the way, is always a white square even if we play white pieces) the black queen comes before its king. With white pieces, the king comes before the queen. This detail is quite important for a proper chess play so that when the pawns in front the kings and queens are gone the kings don't find themselves suddenly under check without any of the players intending to do so.

Playing the black pieces often gives us a defensive play. This is due to our acting last, often merely in reaction to what the white player acts first. But if we really think about it, we can choose not to be reactionary but do our own act, and even have the white player reacting to our play. This depends on the second phase of setting up black chess pieces—which is the strategy setup.

Playing the black pieces should also be aimed at gaining control of the board's center squares as when we play the white pieces. With the board's center it's always a first-come-first-serve basis; the first player who controls it gets the advantage. Hence, if we play the black pieces, the strategy for a setup on the center is to send out the knights first instead of pawns. The earlier we put out our knights and bishops in the center the better, even if the white player acts first.

Setting up black chess pieces also has advantages for a win. It often has to do with sending strong pieces to the center of the board and gain control of it.