PARENTS – HOW TO TEACH CHESS BASICS

✅Hi, let's start our lesson.

✅During this lesson, we will explore the basics of teaching chess, that
is, learning the chessboard, the chessmen and their moves. We will
discover how to deliver teaching materials and other teaching nuances.

 Teaching chessboard
1. Draw a square;
2. Then, divide each side of the square into 8 equal parts and draw lines
connecting the opposite points.
3. And at the end, starting from the lower left corner of the square, paint
the squares skipping every other, and now you have a chessboard.
 At this stage, you can involve your children and draw a
chessboard together.

✅After drawing the chessboard, you should present the chessboard

lines, comparing them with the everyday images:
1. Horizontal line, very similar to a row, marked with numbers from
bottom to top, from 1 to 8. There are 8 horizontal rows.
2. Vertical line, very similar to a column, marked with Latin letters from
left to right, from A to H. There are 8 vertical columns.
3. Diagonal line, a sloping line with squares of the same color, which is
not marked with letters or numbers. There are 26 diagonals, 13 black
and 13 white ones, each at least two squares.
 At this stage, you can check your children have understoodt,
questioning them to find out how well they position chess
lines.

✅After learning the chessboard lines, you should teach the square names
and the naming system in the following way։
1. The square where the vertical and horizontal lines intersect is called
square. In other words, the square is the intersection of two straight
lines.

1
 Diagram1 Diagram2
2. The name of the square is marked with letters and numbers. First, the
name of the vertical is written - the letter, and then the name of the
horizontal - the number.
 The square names can also be taught by home address
example, where the streets are the verticals and the house
numbers are the horizontal numbers. For example, Ashot lives
in the 3rd house on A street, the home address will be A3.
 At this stage, it is necessary to make a series of
questions, pointing
at individual squares, practicing the new knowledge gained
by the students.

 Teaching chess pieces and pawns (the chessmen) and

their moves
✅Presenting the chess pieces should be a well-prepared introduction.
✅The introduction should start with the most important piece, the
king, and then, according to their power, the queen, the rook, the
bishop, the knight and the pawns.
✅When presenting the pieces, it is necessary to describe the piece,
introducing one of its interesting features. The goal is for the student's visual
and nominal memory to be connected to another imaginative memory.
 "King" - the most important piece of the game, there is no game
without a king.
 "Queen" - the most powerful piece of the game, very often the
decisive force.
 "Rook" - a master of open lines, the queen's youngest friend.
 "Bishop" - a ruler of diagonals, another piece which can attack
from distance.
 "Knight" - a unique chess piece that can jump over all other
pieces.
 "Pawn" - a fighter moving only forward, striving at the far end
of the chessboard to become a commander.
2
✅When teaching the moves, you can refer to the approximate
values of the pieces, which are marked with numbers.

3
 ✅It is desirable to start teaching the moves from the "King" piece.
Why the king? Because the king is the main piece of the "Chess" game. The
role of the king, the perception of its paramount importance should be well
understood by the student.
 "King" - can move in any direction - maximum one
square. The value is not specified because the king
cannot be taken.
✅When teaching the “King's” move, it is necessary to consider the
position of kings in different parts of the chessboard, in particular, in the
centre, in the corner, on the edges and in their initial positions.

Diagram 3 Diagram 4 Diagram 5

✅When teaching the king's move, you should also explain the
"Attacking square" and "Attack"concepts. In this case:

 The "Attacking square" (in green) is the square where the king
can make a move, and the "Attack" is the threat of taking a
chessman, when, after making a move, any of the opponent's
men appear in the king's attacking square.

Diagram 6 Diagram 7

✅It is noteworthy that after passing on this knowledge, the student

quickly perceives the rule of the opponent kings, according to which "none
of the kings can move into the other king’s attacking square".

4
✅In other words, "Kings don't like each other and always keep a social
distance ”։

Diagram 8 Diagram 9 Diagram 10

✅It is necessary to pay attention to the rule of taking (capturing) by the

king:

 When taking a piece or pawn, you should remove the

opponent's chessman and put your own piece in its place.

Diagram 11 Diagram 12

 The king can take the opponent's piece when it is necessary or

when there is no other way out.

Diagram 13 Diagram14
 You can't take your own chessmen It should be noted that it is
not necessary to take a chessman in chess (unlike draughts or
checkers).

5
 Diagram15 Diagram16

 "Queen" - can move on any line like the king, as

many squares as desired. The value = 9 points .

✅ Queen is the most powerful and most valuable piece in chess.

When teaching the queen, you can emphasize that it is so powerful that she
combines the moves of two pieces - a bishop and a rook. The queen's
moves, examples of its attacking the most and the least number of squares
on the chessboard, can be instructed during pair work.

Diagam 17 Diagram 17 Diagram 18

 By providing the student with chessboard and pieces, you can

put the queen in any position on the board and instruct them
to mark with other chessmen the squares where the queen
can move.

✅Given the knowledge gained during the king's lesson, it is easy to

explain the queen’s "Attacking square" and "Attack" concepts, as well as
taking a piece by the queen․

 Thus, the squares where the queen can move are considered
"Attacking squares", and if after making a move any of the
opponent’s men appears in the queen's attacking square, it
means that the queen has attacked that piece and can take
it on its next move (except for the king)

6
 Diagram 19 Diagam 20 Diagram 21

✅After teaching how the queen moves, one of the most important
concepts of chess, called "Check", should be explained.

 Thus, the action is called "Check" when a chessman, in this

case the queen, attacks the opponent's king.
 You should present a position with a queen and kings to the
students and instruct them “to mark all the squares from where
it is possible to check the opponent’s king”.

Diagram 22 Diagram 23

✅When teaching check, it is very convenient also to teach "Getting

out of check" and, if that is not possible, the concept of "Mate".

 Thus, getting out of check means freeing the king from the
opponent’s attack, which can be done in three ways:
• Escape - move the king to another square not under
attack.
•Interpose- block the attacking line of the piece giving the
check with another chessman.
• Capture -take the chessman giving the check with
another chessman.

7
 Diagram 24 Diagram 25 Diagram 26

✅After learning how to get out of check, in order to explain the concept
“Mate” all that remains is to say that:

 The position when the king cannot be freed from check is called
"mate".
 Then the students should be acquainted with the positions of
mate by queen, the solution methods of which we will talk about
in the next lessons.

Diagram 27 Diagram 28 Diagram 29

✅After passing on the knowledge about the king and queen, teaching
the moves of the remaining pieces is an easier process, as the student
already has some knowledge of the basic concepts and can apply them as
needed.

 "Rook- can move on straight lines, vertically and

horizontally - the maximum number of squares. The
value = 5 points .

✅When teaching the “Rook”, it should be noted that it is the second

most powerful chess piece after the queen. You can show any position of a
rook, mark the fields of its attack, taking a chessman by the rook, check,
and at the end show examples of mate by the rook.

8
 Diagram 30 Diagram 31 Diagram 32

Diagram 33 Diagram 34

 Interestingly, unlike the queen, the rook can attack the same
number of squares from any position.

✅The method of working in pairs can be used during the teaching about
the rook.

 Provide students with a game from several levels, where in the first level they
have to show the squares attacked by a rook, then in the second level they play
"hungry rook", where they have to take all the opponent's chessmen by making a
constant sequence of captures by the rook, in the third level they have to show
positions of check by a rook, and in the last, the fourth level they have to solve
tasks of mate by a rook.

Diagram 35 Diagram 36

9
 Diagram 37 Diagram 38

 “Bishop" - can move on a sloping line, diagonally - the

maximum number of squares. The value = 3 points .

✅When teaching the “Bishop” piece, it should be noted that it is less

powerful than the rook, because unlike the rook, it can move only on squares
of one colour. You can show any position of a bishop, mark the squares of its
attack, taking a chessman, check, and of course, examples of mate․

Diagram 39 Diagram 40 Diagram 41

Diagram 42 Diagram 43

✅The method of pair work can also be used during the bishop teaching.

1
0
  Provide students with a game from several levels, where in the first level they have to
show the squares attacked by a bishop, then in the second level they play "hungry
bishop", in the third level they have to show positions of check by a bishop, and in the
last, the fourth level they have to solve tasks of mate by a bishop.

Diagram 44 Diagram 45

Diagram 46 Diagram 47

 “Knight” can move 2 squares straight and 1 square to the side, often
calleed “L” shaped. The value = 3 points.

✅Teaching the moves of the "Knight" is one of the most interesting, but at the same time
challenging for chess teachers. There are two main methods of teaching: teaching the move
through the letter "L" and using the formula "straight, straight, to the side".

1. Thus, when explaining the moves of the knight, you should write the letter "L" on the
board and show it on the chessboard. Then the letter "L" on the chessboard should be
displayed in different positions, after which the knight can be placed on the chessboard,
showing its moves.

10
 Diagram 48 Diagram 49

Diagram 50 Diagram 51

 Let’s mention that the knight is very strong in the centre, because it attacks 8 squares, on
the edge it attacks half of the squares, and it is very weak in the corner, because it attacks
only 2 squares.

Diagram 52 Diagram 53

2. When using the second method, it should first be noted that the knight is the only
chessman that can jump over both its own and opponent’s chessmen. For example, if a
wall is built around a knight, which is marked in yellow, the knight can jump over that
wall.

11
 Diagram 54 Diagram 55 Diagram 56

 Also the knight takes the opponent's chessman if, at the end of its jumping move, the
knight lands on the square of that chessman. It should be mentioned that alongside the
way of jumping, the knight cannot take any chessman that it jumps over and, in general in
chess, it is not possible to take more one chessman in one move.

Diagram 57 Diagram 58

 At the end of teaching the knight piece, the attacking shapes of it should be displayed, and
also examples of checks and mates by the knight.

Diagram 59 Diagram 60 Diagram 61

 To complete the lesson of knight and to repeat it through the game, you can play a
4-level game, where children must, first show where a knight can go, in the
second level they have to play “hungry knight", in the third level the students find

12
 all the possible checks by a knight, and in the fourth level all the mates should be
found.


Diagram 62 Diagram 63

Diagram64 Diagram 65

 The “Pawn” – can only move forward straight ahead, except when taking a
chessman, which it does diagonally. Value = 1 point - a unit of measurement.

Diagram 66 Diagram 67 Diagram 68

✅When studying the "Pawn." it should be mentioned that in contrast to the pieces, of which
each side has one or two, each army starts the game with 8 pawns, but it is also the least
powerful chessman. Unlike pieces, the pawn moves and attacks in different directions. While it
moves straight ahead, it attacks diagonally. We have distinguished three features of the pawn that
will complete our knowledge of this piece.

 Feature one․ From its start position the pawn can move 1 or 2 squares, and after that only
1 square.

13
 Diagram 69 Diagram70
 Feature two․ Reaching the last horizontal (or rank) the pawn must be promoted to a queen
or other piece except the king, with that piece replacing the promoted pawn on the board.

Diagram 71 Diagram 72 Diagram 73

 Feature three․ The pawn can diagonally capture the opponent’s pawn when it passes the
pawn’s attacking square while moving 2 squares. This is called en passant. In other
words, the opponent’s pawn cannot escape from what could be a capture had it only
moved one square forward.

Diagram 74 Diagram 75

 In order to complete the pawn’s topic and repeat it by the game method, it is necessary to
teach the students a game of pawns, when there are only pawns on the board, and the one
which reaches the last level or captures all the opponent’s pawns wins. In this game,
however, en passant capture is not permitted.

14
  Summarizing knowledge and teaching material
✅In order to complete the basics after learning the chessboard and chessmen, it is
necessary to refer to two concepts: "Castling" and "Stalemate".

✅One of the stages of chess alphabet teaching is the “Castling” move which is a
simultaneous move of a king and a rook.

Diagram 78 Diagram 79

 Thus, the castling move is the move when the king moves two squares horizontally and
the rook stands next to the king on the opposite side.

✅When teaching the castling move all the cases in which it is not possible to
castle should be mentioned.

Castling is not possible when:

 The king is in check.
 There is another piece on the castling line. See Diagram 80.
 The king has already moved. See Diagram 81.
 Castling rook has already moved. See Diagram 82.
 The king is in check at the beginning or end of castling. See Diagrams 83-84.
 On the way to castling, the king crosses through an opponent's attacking square.
See Diagram 85.

15
 Diagram 80 Diagram 81 Diagram 82

Diagram 83 Diagram 84 Diagram 85

✅The last stage of chess basics teaching is “Stalemate”.

 Stalemate is a position, when during one’s turn to move there is no move for the
king or any of its chessmen and the king is is not in check (which would be mate)..

✅In order to explain stalemate, it is necessary to show that position, first only with the king, and
then using more chessmen.

Diagram 76 Diagram 77

✅ Now we have to talk about the results of a chess game. Remember that in order to win,
you have to administer checkmate, and if there is a stalemate, the game has ended in a draw, and
of course, if you are checkmated, you have lost the game.

16
 ✅At the end of learning about the chessmen, the students should know and follow these
rules of the game.

White always makes the first move of a game and then the players move alternately.
If you touch a piece, then you must move it if it has an opportunity to move.
If you let go of a piece you have to leave it there.
You should be respectful to the opponent.
In case of several impossible moves, defeat will be registered.

✅Dear parent, here we have presented a summary of the basics of chess. We hope
your children will like chess, and that through this game, they learn to enjoy spending
time thinking.

17
Annex

18
 CHESS TERMS AND EXPLANATIONS

Square (small square on the board), vertical (a column or file, consisting of light and
dark squares), horizontal (a row or rank, consisting of light and dark squares), diagonal (a
sloping line with all squares of the same colour), edge squares (all the squares along the edges
of the chessboard), move (a chessman’s move from one square to another), neighbour square
(squares next to each other), minimum (minimal number), attacking square (a square of
squares where a piece can move, but not a pawn), attack (a situation, when there is a threat to
capture the opponent’s chessman), simultaneous attack (attacking more than one chessman),
check (attacking the king), stalemate (position when the opponent has no move, but the king is
not in check), mate (a situation, when the king is in check and has no move), in check (a
situation, when the king is attacked by one or more of the opponent’s chessmen), safe square (a
square which is not being attacked), position (all the chessmen as they stand on the chessboard
at a moment in a game or in a teaching example), diagram (position representation in print or
on screen), long-range piece (a piece which can attack from distance, or from a long range),
typical position (teaching position), coordination (situation when pieces help each other), fork
(double attack, most often by a knight), promotion (pawn is replaced by another piece), half
board (4 horizontal lines in front of each player), queen’s side (all squares of the a, b, c, d
verticals), king’s side (e, f, g, h verticals), major and minor pieces (Queen and Rook are
considered major pieces, while Knight and Bishop are considered minor pieces), approximate
value (adjusted value), value (assigning relative and numerical value to the pieces), castling
(simultaneous move of a king and a rook), en passant (a move done only by the pawn, when it
captures a pawn which had moved 2 squares landing to the side of the pawn, passing through the
opponent’s attacking square).

19