Another silly newbie question

[Michael S. Sanders]

I'd like to ask another silly newbie question folks =)

When reading/writing diagrams -as the board faces you-, is red (black or darker that is) ontop or bottom? Looks mainly to be topmost from what I've read. The reason I ask is that while the board is consistently numbered the same across all the books I've been studying, I've seen it produced with red on bottom & white on top... Thanks!

[matthewkooshad]

The darker color plays first when a game begins.

I've seen more positions (most of them not necessarily derived from a game probably) where it is the 2nd player (white) 's turn. I prefer to see a position where the color to move is on the bottom.

[Michael S. Sanders]

Hey Matt.

So there is no hard & fast rule, I take it. Thanks.