Chess For Kids
Chess For Kids
Chess For Kids
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Here is the black army from our printable chess set lined up and ready for battle!
Every game of chess has its own story. Some are long-drawn out strategic a airs; others can be quick, but
complicated, tactical battles. The winner is the player who can out-think his or her opponent, and make
the best plans for attack and defence.
Chess is one of the oldest games in the world. Though no-one knows for sure, it was probably invented in
India more than a thousand years ago . If you have a chess set, or decide to make your own, here are the
rules you need to play the game.
The aim of the game is to use your army to capture the enemy king.
The armies:
There is a White army and a Black army. Both armies have the same pieces. These are:
2 Castles are strong pieces Any number of squares forward, back or across
Castles which are good both at (but not diagonally)
attacking the enemy and
defending the King.
Sometimes the Castle is
called a Rook .
2 Bishops are good at Any number of square diagonally
Bishops attacking late on in the
game. Because they move
diagonally, they always stay
on the same colour square
that they started on.
2 Knights are at their best L shaped two squares forward (or back) and
Knights when there are lots of one square across; or two squares across and one
pieces on the board, and square forward (or back). The Knight can jump over
they can use their ability to other pieces while doing this.
jump over other pieces.
8 Pawns are the foot soldiers Usually one square forward. If it is capturing an
Pawns in the army. They gradually opposing piece, however, it moves one square
advance on the opposing forward diagonally. Each pawn may move two
army, but also need to squares forward the rst time it moves. If it does, it
defend the King. cannot capture in the same move. Pawns can never
move backwards.
If the description of how a piece moves isn t clear, have a look at the diagrams at the end of these rules.
Set up the board so you have a white square on the corner of the board by your right hand. Then place
the armies on the board as shown in the picture below.
Hint: the White Queen starts on a white square, and the Black Queen starts on a black square.
White and Black take it in turns to move a piece (in Chess, the White army always goes rst). Remember
each piece has its own way of moving as described above. A piece can capture an opposing piece by
landing on that piece s square.
The aim of the game is to capture the enemy King. If you move one of your pieces to attack the King in
other words, your piece could capture him next move you say check . This means, roughly watch
out for your King! .
If he or she is in check, your opponent needs to defend the King either by moving him out of the way of
the attack, blocking the attack with another piece, or capturing the piece that threatened to capture the
King.
If your opponent can t defend the King in any of these ways, you say checkmate . This means the
king is dead . Remember that you must never move your King into check as this would mean your
opponent could capture your King straightaway.
You can play a version of chess using just the simple rules above, but two additional rules make game
much more exciting.
Promoting Pawns
Pawns are usually the slow-moving part of your army, but if you manage to get a pawn to the last row of
the board you can promote it to be a Queen (or a Castle, Bishop or Knight if you prefer). A Pawn being
promoted to a Queen can transform a game that seemed to be lost!
Castling
Castling is a quick way to get your King into a well defended position by moving towards the corner of the
board. The rule sounds complicated but is simple when you get the hang of it.
If there is nothing between your King and one of your Castles; and neither the King nor that Castle have
moved yet, then you can move your King two squares towards that Castle, and put the Castle the other
side of the King (this is the only time a piece other than a Knight can jump over another piece).
Before castling:
After castling:
The White King moves two squares towards the Castle, and the Castle moves to the other side of the King.
One last rule on castling you can t castle if your King is in check, or if any of the squares the King
moves through when castling are under attack.
Queen:
Castle:
Bishop:
Knight:
Pawn:
a) 2 squares forward
b) 1 square forward
c) captures
Tips
Start o by using your central Pawns to try to control the middle of the board.
Use your other Pawns to defend the central Pawns and each other.
Move your Knights and Bishops out from the back row early on (this is called developing your
pieces and means you are using the full strength of your army).
Be cautious with your Queen at the start try not to waste time moving her away from enemy
attacks.
Try to keep your King defended by your Pawns (castling is a good way to do this).
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