The pawn game
Ready when: nothing, this is the first card.
What you are learning
How pawns move and capture, through a game with only pawns: they move forward one square (two from the start) and capture diagonally forward. It is the first planning game in chess.
Words on this card Board, Pawn, Capture
- Board
- The board has 64 squares, light and dark in turn.
- Pawn
- Moves one square forward (two from its starting square) and captures one square diagonally forward.
- Capture
- Taking an enemy piece by moving onto its square.
Show it first for the one teaching
- Put eight white pawns on the second row and eight black pawns on the seventh.
- Move a pawn forward one square; from its starting square it may move two.
- Show a capture: a pawn takes an enemy pawn one square diagonally forward.
- Show a blocked pawn: two pawns face each other and neither can move.
Your part while they practise
Play against the child; explain the move when asked.
Step by step
- A pawn moves forward one square, or two from the start.
- It captures diagonally forward.
- Take turns, White first.
- Win by reaching the far end, taking all the pawns or leaving the other player with no move.
How much: 3 games 15 min a session 3 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Capture the flag
The pawn game, best of 5.
Who plays: the child against you.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Set up the pawns; White moves first
- Take turns moving one pawn
- The first pawn to reach the far row wins the game; so does taking every enemy pawn, or leaving the other player with no legal move
- Swap colours each game; play 5 games
- Fair play
- A grown-up plays with two pawns fewer.
- Points
- 2 points for each game won.
- Fouls
- Your opponent scores 1 point
- A pawn moved backward
- A pawn capturing straight ahead
- Two moves in a row
- Winning
- More points after 5 games.
- 2 points for 1 star
- 4 points for 2 stars
- 6 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Fewer pawns each.
Play with only two pawns each and no captures.
What you will see, and what to say
- the child captures straight ahead
Pawns take sideways, diagonally
One square forward on the slant. - they move backward
Pawns only go forward
Never back.
Self-check
The child plays a whole pawn game with 0 wrong moves.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains planning, pawn rules.
awiseathlete.com/sports/mind-sports/mind-sports-b1