The board is composed of an 8 x 8 grid of 64 equal squares alternately light and dark (Art. 2.1); The board is placed so that the near corner square to the right of each player is light (Art. 2.1); The eight vertical columns are files; the eight horizontal rows are ranks
Why people argue about this
People often assume that the orientation of the board doesn't matter as long as it's set up properly with light squares at each player’s near corner. However, they misunderstand that the official rule specifies a precise orientation: placing the light squares to the right and near corner for each player ensures consistency in notation and understanding across different games and tournaments.
