Rank
In the context of chess, a rank is simply a row of squares on a chessboard.[1] Each rank has a number, one through to eight. Contrast with file.
In descriptive notation, each rank is numbered differently for each player, based on their own subjective point of view. For both players, the closest rank is the first one, and the furthest rank is the eighth one. At the start of a game, regardless of your colour, your Pawns are on your second rank, and all your other pieces are on your first rank.[2]
In algebraic notation, each rank is numbered the same for both players, based on only White's point of view. At the start of a game, White's Pawns are on the second rank, and all their other pieces are on the first rank, while Black's Pawns are on the seventh rank, and all their other pieces are on the eighth rank.
If you have trouble remembering which is the rank and which is the file, remember that as a Pawn progresses, he moves up the ranks. If he goes far enough, there's even a promotion in it for him!
References
- "The eight vertical columns of squares are called 'files'. The eight horizontal rows of squares are called 'ranks'. A straight line of squares of the same colour, running from one edge of the board to an adjacent edge, is called a 'diagonal'." "FIDE Laws of Chess taking effect from 1 January 2023" FIDE, FIDE Handbook, Aug 2022
- "As the same mode of describing the squares is adopted by both parties, White's first rank of squares is Black's eighth, and vice versa. This is one of the faults of the modern notation, and it was not found in the notation used in England but a few years back. By that system, the board was represented as a divided territory, one half of which belonged to White and the other half to Black. White, for example, was supposed to possess all the field so far as the fourth square inclusive, before all his men, and Black the same. If a White man were advanced to what we now should call the 'White King's seventh,' it would then have been said to be at the Black King's second. It is to be regretted that this mode of notation has fallen into desuetude." Chess: Theory and Practice Howard Staunton, 1876, pp. 45—47
Chessboard divisions: Rank
