Java Chess piece Array

[obious]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to solve this problem where by I want to put the images in my chess game into an array A)to make the code neater and B) to help with further coding problems.

Here's what I've got so far

JLabel Piece;
JPanel board;

for (int i = 0; i < 64; i++) {
JPanel square = new JPanel( new BorderLayout() );
board.add( square );

int row = (i / 8) % 2;

if (row == 0)
square.setBackground( i % 2 == 0 ? Color.black : Color.white );
else
square.setBackground( i % 2 == 0 ? Color.white : Color.black);
}

JLabel whitepiece = new JLabel( new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
JPanel panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(8);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(9);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(10);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(11);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(12);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(13);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(14);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wp.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(15);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wr.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(0);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wk.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(1);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wb.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(2);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wq.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(3);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wk.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(4);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wb.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(5);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wk.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(6);
panel.add(whitepiece);
whitepiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\wr.gif"));
panel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(7);
panel.add(whitepiece);
JLabel blackpiece = new JLabel( new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
JPanel bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(48);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);
blackpiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(49);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);
blackpiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(50);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);
blackpiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(51);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);
blackpiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(52);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);
blackpiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(53);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);
blackpiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(54);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);
blackpiece = new JLabel(new ImageIcon("C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\bp.gif"));
bpanel = (JPanel)board.getComponent(55);
bpanel.add(blackpiece);

....and so on.
My question is, how do I put the 'pieces' into an array whilst at the same time putting them on the board (obviously this isn't all the code).

Thanks in advance

[ozzyman]

public static final String IMG_RES = "C:\\Users\\user\\Desktop\\Chess Game\\Resources\\";

List<ImageIcon> imgList = new ArrayList<ImageIcon>();
 
private ImageIcon newImageIcon(String path) {
    ImageIcon ic = new ImageIcon(IMG_RES+path);
    imgList.add(ic);
    return ic;
}

blackpiece = new JLabel(newImageIcon("bp.gif"));