Today he is mostly remembered as a player who preferred Knights to Bishops. He didn't, really; instead, he had a more modern understanding of the relative values than his contemporaries, he realized that it all depends on the position, and that losing a tempo to get B for N is usually a bad idea.
Black begins with two Rooks, on h8 and a8, four Bishops, on g8, f8, c8, and b8, a Queen on d8, plus King and Pawns.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | r |:b:| b |:q:| k |:b:| b |:r:| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p |:p:| p | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:::| |:::| |:::| |:::| | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:| P |:P:| +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |:R:| N |:N:| C |:K:| N |:N:| R | +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ |
According to the FIDE rules, Pawns can promote to anything that was on the board at the start of the game, except that promotion to King is illegal; and this is how I usually interpret the rule when applied to Chess with Different Armies.
However, in this case, I rather like the rule that Pawns can promote to anything (except King) that was in the player's army at the start of the game. This is also a valid interpretation of the FIDE rules, and seems to be especially appropriate for this game.
Other than that, the standard rules of FIDE Chess are used.
However, it is also a good game in its own right. It emphasizes a single aspect of the struggle found in FIDE Chess, and therefore is easy to understand and to enjoy.