6-Pawn Chess Board

The chess board is comprised of 54 hexagons in three colors: umber, amber and sand (dark, medium and light). It is organized into six files by ten ranks (columns by rows). Note that the ranks are not horizontal as in square chess, but slope 30° up and right.


Rank/File Coordinates

Rank and file coordinates are not necessary to play but they are useful for noting chess moves because they create an address for every hex on the chess board, and they are necessary when recording a match on a scoresheet using notation.

drawing of Hexes Chess 6-Pawn chess board

Each of the 54 hexagons on the chess board has an address determined by its rank and file (row and column). The files are lettered a-f. The ranks are numbered 1-10. For example, the coordinate a8 identifies the location at the intersection of the a-file and the 8th rank. (See above.) Note that on the chess board, the locations a1, a2 and b1 are absent from one end, and e10, f9 and f10 are absent from the other, giving the chess board its lozenge shape.