- 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 with a king and two rooks, or a king, queen and pawns on the back rank.
Three minutes to get warm.
Easy jogging on the spot, then arms and legs. How to warm up well is explained at workonfitness.com.
- 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.
Show it once from the front and once from the side, slowly. Then let your child try.
- 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
Leave the king one square
Mate in one
The rules
Find the mate in each position on a sheet you set up.
- 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
- Win
- Beat your best from 10 positions.
- 6
- 11
- 16
Two rooks checkmate a lone king within 8 moves, in 2 of 3 tries.
End on one that works. If it was hard today, finish with the easier version.
Well played.
Saved in this browser only. Next time, "What should we practise today?" picks up from here.