- 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 scoresheet and a pencil.
Three minutes to get warm.
Easy jogging on the spot, then arms and legs. How to warm up well is explained at workonfitness.com.
- Show the letters a to h along the bottom and the numbers 1 to 8 up the side; every square has a name, such as e4.
- Move a knight to f3 and write Nf3. Move a pawn to e4 and write e4.
- Take a piece on d5 with a pawn from e4 and write exd5.
Show it once from the front and once from the side, slowly. Then let your child try.
- Learn the piece letters: K, Q, R, B, N; none for pawns.
- A square name, x for a capture, 0-0 for castling, + for check, # for mate.
- Replay the Opera Game from its moves.
- Write down your own game.
How much: 10 moves
Files are letters, ranks are numbers
Write and replay
The rules
Write your own game, then replay it a week later from the sheet.
- Play a game, each writing both sides' moves
- A week later, replay it from the sheet
- Count the moves that replay correctly before a mistake
Fair play: A grown-up writes both sides without looking back.
- Points
- 1 point for each move written and replayed correctly.
- Fouls
- The count stops: a capture written without the x; a wrong square name; a move missing from the sheet
- Win
- Beat your best count.
- 10
- 20
- 30
10 moves recorded and replayed with 0 mistakes.
End on one that works. If it was hard today, finish with the easier version.
Well played.
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