So you want to set up the chessboard but are confused about where will the queen go? Luckily, you are in the right place. I’m going to explain to you how to place the queen on the chessboard. So let’s start!
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Where does the queen go in chess?
The queen is placed on the first row of the chessboard just by the side of the king. For white, the queen goes on the d1 square while for black the queen goes on the d8 square. The trick for remembering this is the white queen on the white square while the black queen on the black square.
You can check out my article on how the queen moves in chess here.
Now, as you can see in the above image, the white queen is placed exactly next to the white king in the first row. In terms of chess notation, its square is d1 square.
Whereas look at the black queen is also placed exactly next to the black king. However, in terms of chess notation, its square is d8 square.
One important thing to check after you step onto the chessboard is to make sure whether both the white queen and the black queen are facing each other or not.
In the above-shown image also, you will be able to observe that the d1 square white queen is exactly on the same column of the chessboard as the d8 square black queen.
My Personal Story About Forgetting Where The Queen Would Go
I used to get confused a lot of times about the placement of chess pieces on the chessboard, even after learning chess for some time.
I used to every time do a google search to check if I had placed the chess pieces on the board properly or not. I used to also search where the queen goes.
If it is one or two times then it is okay, but every time when I used to set up the chessboard I used to forget.
At last, on one fine day, I thought about settling this issue. And after that day, I never got confused.
Actually, the trick is so logical that once you will understand it you’ll never forget it.
Trick To Remember The Queen Placement On The ChessBoard
“Pawns on the second row. Then from the first row, Rooks on the corner. King and queen go in the center, white queen on a white square, black queen on a black square. In the remaining square on the first row first bishops are placed closer to the king and the queen, and then come to the knights.”
Isn’t that easy? Let’s understand: To remember the setup you have to imagine as if you are setting up your chess pieces kingdom.
- The first line of defense is the small pawns that are placed on the second row from your side.
- Then, rooks are placed in the corner which you’ll be able to remember. Personally, I think that the design of the rook is such that, after doing chess board setup two-three times, you’ll automatically realize the position of the rooks is at the corner squares so there’s no such confusion regarding the rooks.
- After that, you have to straight go and set up your king and queen.
- Now, looking at the chessboard you’ll be able to see the two center squares of the first row. These two squares are for the king and the queen.
- Now without any thought, you can recite to recall the queen’s position by saying “White queen on a white square and black queen on the black square.”
- So according to that, you can place the queen and thus fill one of those two center squares. After that, you place the king in the remaining of those two center squares.
- Chess bishops are placed just by the side of the queen and king.
- And in the remaining two squares of the first row, you’ll be able to place your knight.
So in this way, if you follow this procedure of setting up the chessboard then I don’t think that you are ever going to forget the chessboard setup.
At least, I have been able to remember the position of the pieces on the board very well after following this format. So I hope you are also going to find this method.
Actually, you have to explain yourself logically and make a pattern so that you can memorize that pattern and implement it every time you do the chessboard setup.
Where can the queen go in chess?
A queen can go up to any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. However, the square through which the queen moves has to be unoccupied and no other chess rules shall be violated while making the move.
So the first thing is you have to make sure the square through which you can move your queen is unoccupied. This means the squares should be vacant and shouldn’t be occupied by any other pieces.
And the next thing is while moving the queen you shouldn’t violate any standard chess rules. Otherwise, that move would be considered an illegal move.
Now the first concept you might have already understood. But for the next concept you need to be aware of some rules, right?
Just think, about how you can violate any rules if you don’t already know any rules! And so you can refer to the FIDE Laws Of Chess.
On this blog, I have also written an article on basic chess rules. I highly recommend you to check that out especially if you are a beginner.
Where does the queen go in chess when you get it back?
When a pawn reaches the last row (8th rank), a player has the chance to promote that pawn to a queen. In that case, a player can pick up the same color queen from outside the chessboard and replace the pawn with the queen.
The process of promoting a pawn when it reaches the last rank of the chessboard is called pawn promotion.
Moreover, a pawn can not only be promoted to a queen. But also, you can promote that pawn to a knight, rook, or a bishop.
And if you already have a queen, then also you can promote the pawn to get another queen. You can see my article on can you have more than one queen in chess.
And to know more about pawn promotion you can read this article.
Conclusion
In short, a queen is a chess piece that goes on by the side of the king while setting up the chessboard. A queen of white color will go the white-colored square while a queen of black color will go the black colored square.
The queen can move up to any number of squares along the diagonals, horizontal row, or the vertical column of the chessboard as long as those squares are vacant and no chess rules are violated in making the move.
So this was all about the queen placement and where it can go on the chessboard. If you found this article helpful then do consider sharing this with others. Thanks!
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