Step 1: Meet the Pieces · about 20 min
The Chessboard
Goal: Kids can put the board the right way round and name rows, columns and diagonals.
You need: One board per pair · Optional: masking tape to mark one corner
1 · Teach it (15 min)
Read these out loud, or put them in your own words. Show each board on screen or set it up on a demo board.
1.“This is a chessboard. It has 64 squares, light and dark, taking turns like a checkerboard.”
👉 Show the empty board on screen and hold up a real board.
2.“Before we play, we always check one thing: the corner square on your right-hand side must be light. Say it with me: light on the right!”
👉 Have every pair turn their board so the bottom-right square is light.
3.“Lines of squares going side to side are called rows. Lines going up and down, from you to your partner, are called columns.”
4.“Squares that touch corner to corner make a slanted line called a diagonal. A diagonal is always one color.”
5.“Every square has a name: a letter for its column and a number for its row. This square is e4.”
👉 Skip this beat for kids who are still learning to read.
- Board turned the wrong way (dark square on the right). Check every board before each game.
2 · Play it: Row, Column, Diagonal (5 min)
Set up: Pairs with an empty board.
- The teacher calls out 'row', 'column' or 'diagonal'.
- Kids trace one with a finger as fast as they can.
- Older kids: the teacher calls a square name (like c6) and partners race to touch it.
3 · Practice and pass check
On iPads, kids open Student → Step 1 → The Board Is a Town. On paper, print the worksheet. A kid passes by getting 2 of 3 on the pass check. The pass code for this lesson is S1-L1-3B.
Practice (4) with answers
1.Circle the corner square on White's right-hand side.
Answer: h1
2.Is the corner square on your right light or dark?
- ✓⬜Light
- ⬛Dark
3.Circle the square e4.
Answer: e4
4.How many squares are on a chessboard?
- 32
- ✓64
- 100
Pass check (3) with answers
1.Which corner square must be light when you set up the board?
- ✓👉The one on your right
- 👈The one on your left
2.A slanted line of squares that touch at the corners is called a…
- ↔️Row
- ↕️Column
- ✓↗️Diagonal
3.Circle the corner square in the top-left.
Answer: a8
Topic order based on: Chess for Children, Part 1 (topic order). All wording is original.