Chess Board Zones

Splitting the Chess Board up into distinct Zones can make it easier, later on, to understand different Tactics and Strategies, when it comes to deploying your army.

During Tournaments, or in retrospective Analysis of a game, you may hear references to “White’s Kingside Bishop“; or “Black’s Pawn Majority, on the Queenside” …

After breezing through this guide, you’ll have more of an inkling about what they’re talking about.

The remaining Chess Board Zones we cover, here, include the Center, Expanded Center, and the Flanks.

But, before those sections, we’ll kick things off by distinguishing between the Zones belonging to both White and Black … Unless, of course, you want to cherry pick your way through this guide, in which case, you’ll want the Index, below …

Chess Board Zones Index

In this Chess Board Zones guide, discover the difference between White’s Half v. Black’s Half; the Kingside v. Queenside; the Center v. the Expanded Center, and what the Flanks are:

1. White v. Black Half

With eight rows (Ranks), the Chessboard can be conveniently split, horizontally, into two halves of four Ranks. In algebraic notation terms, White’s territory, or ‘Half’ of the board includes all the squares from Ranks 1 to 4; while Black’s ‘Half’ includes all the squares from Ranks 5 to 8.

2. Kingside v. Queenside

Another way to assess the board is in terms of eight columns (Files). Again, the Chessboard can be split in two, though this time the split is vertically. In algebraic notation terms, the so-called “Queenside” includes all squares from Files a to d. It’s called the Queenside because both Queens start the game on this side of the board. The remaining squares, from Files e to f, are on the “Kingside”, since the Kings of both armies start the game on this side of the board.

3. Center v. Expanded Center

The ‘Center’ includes all 4 most-central square on the chessboard; whereas the “Expanded Center” contains the 16 most-central squares on the board.During the Opening phase, both armies develop their Pawns and Pieces to battle for Control of the Center (or, at the very least, to maintain an equal share of these vital squares).

4. The Flanks

There are 6 Flanks in total, made up of 3 Files on the Queenside (Files a to c) and 3 Files on the Kingside (Files f to h). If the Center squares become Closed, you and/or your opponent may have no choice but to take the ‘long way round’, via one or both of the Flanks.