The chess board consists of 64 black and white squares arranged in an 8x8 grid. The rows on the chess board are called ranks and are marked with the numbers 1-8 (from bottom to top) and the columns, known as files, are notated with the letters a-h (or their correspondences in the relevant language; left to right).
Before setting up the chess board, note that the lowest square on each player's right has to be white. After you have verified that "white on (your) right", start with putting the chess pieces in their places.

Rooks

Start by placing the rooks on the chessboard. Place two white rooks on the two corners at the lowest rank of the board (a1, h1) and two black rooks on the opposite two corners (a8, h8).

Knights

The knights are placed near the rooks of the same color: the white knights on b1 and g1 and the black knights on b8 and g8.

Bishops

Place the bishops near the knights: put one white bishop on c1 and the second on f1 and the place the black bishops on the opposite side of the board (c8 and f8).

Queen

The white queen is placed on the white remaining square (at the same line with the rest of the pieces) while the black queen is put on the black square on the other side of the chessboard (d1 and d8).

King

The white and black kings are then placed near the queen of the same color on the e-ranks.

Pawns

The pawns are the last pieces to be placed in their spot. There are eight pawns of each color. You place one pawn on each square of the rank next to the one with the rest of the chess pieces (of the same color), so the white pawns are placed from a2 through h2 and the black pawns on a7-h7.