Step 5: Finish the Game · about 25 min
The Ladder Mate
Goal: Kids can checkmate a lone king with two rooks (or a queen and rook) by taking turns, like climbing a ladder.
You need: One board per pair · Two rooks and two kings per pair
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.“When you have two rooks and your opponent has only a king, you can win without even using your king. It's called the ladder mate.”
2.“One rook makes a wall the king can't cross. The other rook gives check on the next row, pushing the king back one step.”
3.“Now the rooks take turns: the back rook jumps ahead and gives check, then the other one does. Step, step, step, like climbing a ladder, until the king is on the edge.”
4.“On the edge, one rook guards the second-to-last row and the other checks on the last row. Checkmate!”
5.“One danger: if the king walks up next to a rook, move that rook far away along its row, to the other side of the board. Then keep climbing.”
👉 Show a rook being attacked by the king and sliding to the far end.
- Letting the king capture a rook.
- Moving the wall rook, so the king escapes back.
2 · Play it: Two Rooks vs. King (10 min)
Set up: White: king a1, rooks a4 and b3. Black: king e5.
- White tries to checkmate using the ladder.
- Black moves the king and tries to catch a rook.
- If White gets checkmate in 15 moves or fewer, White wins. Otherwise, Black wins.
- Swap roles each game.
🎮 Kids with an iPad can also play this against the computer in student mode.
3 · Practice and pass check
On iPads, kids open Student → Step 5 → Climb the Ladder. On paper, print the worksheet. A kid passes by getting 2 of 3 on the pass check. The pass code for this lesson is S5-L1-QW.
Practice (3) with answers
1.Finish the ladder: checkmate in one. Draw an arrow or write the move.
Move: Rh8#
2.The ladder works sideways too. Checkmate in one. Draw an arrow or write the move.
Move: Rh2#
3.In the ladder mate, what does the rook that isn't giving check do?
- ✓It makes a wall the king can't cross
- It chases the king
- It rests
Pass check (3) with answers
1.Checkmate in one. Draw an arrow or write the move.
Move: Ra2#
2.Checkmate in one. Draw an arrow or write the move.
Move: Rb8#
3.The lone king walks up next to one of your rooks. What should you do?
- Leave it, the king can't capture
- ✓Move that rook far away along its row
- Give up the rook
Topic order based on: Chess for Children, Part 4 (winning your first games); How to Win at Chess, ch. 4 (ladder, king-and-queen and king-and-rook mates). All wording is original.