A chessboard has 64 squares, alternating light and dark in color. There are 8 rows (called ranks) and columns (called files). The first file on the left is the 'a' file, next the 'b' file, and so on. Ranks are numbered 1 through 8 (see diagram). Throughout this tutorial, we will refer to specific squares such as 'f3' or 'h7' using this notation. A white square is always on the bottom right of each player.