Set up the board

The eight up and down columns called files and the eight side-to-side rows called ranks make up the 64 squares of the chequered chess board. The 8 files have letter names : a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h. The 8 ranks have number names: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Place the chess board between players so that each player has a white square at the right hand corner of the board.
White always moves first. The letters of the 8 files begin from white's left-hand side--a-h.

The square in the upper left hand corner of the board would then be named a8 while the square in the bottom right hand corner would be named h1. Using this algebraic notation, you can easily follow the chess pieces around the board.
For a full game, set up the pieces in the positions as follows. The white pieces are placed on rank 1 with the white pawns in front of them on rank 2.

WHITE:

a1 rook b1 knight c1 bishop d1 queen e1 king f1 bishop g1 knight h1 rook
pawns on a2 through h2

BLACK:

The black pieces are placed on rank 8 with the black pawns in front of them on rank 7 a8 rook b8 knight c8 bishop d8 queen e8 king f8 bishop g8 knight h8 rook
pawns on a7 through h7