- Check the space and the kit.
- Get your child's attention first.
- Show it from two sides.
- Say one thing only.
- End on one that works.
Put the phone down where you can see it. Tap Next with your thumb, or use the arrow keys.
Is the space marked?
- Set the board with a white square at the bottom right of each player
- Queen on her own colour
A board, one rook, bishop, queen or knight against pawns.
Three minutes to get warm.
Easy jogging on the spot, then arms and legs. How to warm up well is explained at workonfitness.com.
- Put the week's piece on the board and show every square it can reach.
- Rook: straight along rows and columns. Bishop: diagonals only, so it stays on one colour.
- Queen: both. Knight: an L shape, jumping over anything.
Show it once from the front and once from the side, slowly. Then let your child try.
- One piece against a row of pawns.
- The piece side wins by capturing all the pawns before one reaches the far side.
- A new piece each week: rook, bishop, queen, knight.
How much: 2 games each
A bishop stays on its colour
Knight's tour race
The rules
Visit every square of a small 4 by 4 area with the knight in the fewest moves.
- Mark a 4 by 4 area of the board with coins on every square
- Start the knight in a corner; each move, pick up the coin from the square it lands on
- Count the moves until every coin you can reach is gone, or no new square can be reached
Fair play: A grown-up must start in the middle of the area.
- Points
- 1 point for each knight move; the lowest total is best.
- Fouls
- Add 2 points: a move that is not an L shape; moving the knight outside the area
- Win
- The lower total.
- 25
- 20
- 16
The child names every square a piece can reach from the centre, for 4 pieces.
End on one that works. If it was hard today, finish with the easier version.
Well played.
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