initialising a checkers board

Hi there

I am new to java and i am trying to place checkers pieces into a checker board which is set up as an array. What i have done so far is create an array and fill it with nothing. I have then created a copy and now want to place the appropriate pieces into the array

Here is my code

 public class Checkerboard  {
      // Constructors
      private Object checkerboard;;


  // Creates a checkerboard where all
  the squares are empty.   
 public Checkerboard()    { 
  Checker checkerboard[][] = new Checker[8][8];
        for (int i=0; i < 8; i++)
           for (int j=0; j < 8; j++)
              checkerboard[i][j] = new Checker(null);   } 


public Checkerboard(Checkerboard old) 
{     if (old == null)        {
  System.out.println("Fatal error:  copying null Checker");
  System.exit(1);         }   this.checkerboard = old.checkerboard;
}

public void initialise()
{ 
  Checker checkerboard[][] = new Checker[8][8];

  for (int i=0; i < 1; i++)
         for (int j=0; j < 7; j=+2)
            checkerboard[i][j] = new Checker(true);

  for (int i=1; i < 2; i++)
     for (int j=1; j < checkerboard.length; j=+2)
        checkerboard[i][j] = new Checker(true);

  for (int i=2; i < 3; i++)
     for (int j=0; j < 7; j=+2)
        checkerboard[i][j] = new Checker(true);

  for (int i=5; i < 6; i++)
     for (int j=0; j < 7; j=+2)
        checkerboard[i][j] = new Checker(false);

  for (int i=6; i < 7; i++)
     for (int j=1; j < checkerboard.length; j=+2)
        checkerboard[i][j] = new Checker(false);

  for (int i=7; i < checkerboard.length; i++)
     for (int j=0; j < 7; j=+2)
        checkerboard[i][j] = new Checker(false);
}
}

My checker piece is in another class and is boolean type (red = true, black = false). I know I need to access the Checker piece, but I'm really not sure how to do this. And it seems really messy to have 6 for loops. Any advice would be very helpful.

Thanks