- 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
Puzzle positions.
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 a rook behind your own bishop on a line to the enemy queen; move the bishop and the rook attacks.
- Do the same with the king on the line: a discovered check.
- Show a defender with two jobs: lure it away and take what it was guarding.
Show it once from the front and once from the side, slowly. Then let your child try.
- Discovered attack.
- Discovered check.
- Decoy: lure an overworked defender away.
- Destroy: capture the defender.
How much: 5 puzzles
Is the piece still guarded?
Guess the move
The rules
Play through Morphy's Opera Game (1858); the child guesses each of White's moves before you show it.
- Set up the board and play the game from a scoresheet, one move at a time
- Before each White move, the child guesses it
- Show the real move; talk about why
Fair play: A grown-up guesses Black's moves instead.
- Points
- 1 point for each White move guessed right; 2 points for guessing a sacrifice.
- Fouls
- No point for that move: guessing an illegal move; changing the guess after you start to move
- Win
- Beat your best guess score next time you replay a game.
Child
Grown-up
- 3
- 6
- 9
3 of 5 puzzles solved.
End on one that works. If it was hard today, finish with the easier version.
Well played.
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