First checkmates
Ready when: King, check, checkmate, stalemate (b3) done.
What you are learning
The first checkmates: the back-rank mate (a rook or queen checking along the back row while the king's own pawns trap it), two rooks driving the king to the edge one row at a time, and the queen mating next to the king with her own king guarding her.
Words on this card Board, File, King, Queen, Rook, Pawn, Check, Stalemate, Back rank, Luft
- Board
- The board has 64 squares, light and dark in turn.
- File
- A file is a column of squares going up the board, named by a letter a to h; a rank is a row across, numbered 1 to 8.
- King
- Moves one square in any direction. Losing it to checkmate loses the game.
- Queen
- Moves any number of squares in a straight line or diagonal.
- Rook
- Moves any number of squares along a file or rank.
- Pawn
- Moves one square forward (two from its starting square) and captures one square diagonally forward.
- Check
- Check is an attack on the king; checkmate is check with no way out.
- Stalemate
- The player to move has no legal move and is not in check; the game is a draw.
- Back rank
- The row a player's pieces start on; a back-rank mate is checkmate along it when the king's own pawns trap it.
- Luft
- A space made by moving a pawn in front of the king, so it can escape a back-rank check.
Set up
A board with a king and two rooks, or a king, queen and pawns on the back rank.
Weather: any weather
Show it first for the one teaching
- Set up a king behind its three pawns; slide a rook to the back row: checkmate.
- With two rooks, check the king on one row, then use the other rook to check on the next row, like a ladder, until the king is on the edge.
- Show stalemate by mistake: leave the king no move without check. Then show how to leave it one square.
Your part while they practise
Be the defender; leave an escape square if the child asks.
Step by step
- Back-rank mate.
- Two rooks driving the king back one rank at a time.
- The queen mating next to the king with her own king guarding her.
How much: 3 mates each 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: Mate in one
Find the mate in each position on a sheet you set up.
Who plays: the child against their own best; you set the positions.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Set 10 positions where one move gives checkmate
- The child finds the move and plays it
- You check that it really is checkmate
- Fair play
- A grown-up has 15 seconds per position.
- Points
- 1 point for each correct mate; 1 bonus point when it is found in under 30 seconds.
- Fouls
- No points for that position
- A move that gives stalemate
- A move that leaves your own king in check
- Winning
- Beat your best from 10 positions.
- 6 points for 1 star
- 11 points for 2 stars
- 16 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
Mate in one.
Two-move mates where the reply is forced.
What you will see, and what to say
- the child gives stalemate
Leave the king one square
Check it has a move. - they forget their own king's escape
Make a luft first
One pawn step for your king.
Self-check
Two rooks checkmate a lone king within 8 moves, in 2 of 3 tries.
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 checkmate patterns, patience.
awiseathlete.com/sports/mind-sports/mind-sports-b5