← Lessons7

Step 7: Starting Well · about 25 min

Castle Early

🖨 Worksheet🔑 Answer key🖨 Easy-reading worksheet

Goal: Kids castle in the first ten moves and keep the pawns in front of their king.

You need: Demo board · One board and set 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. 1.“A king in the middle is in danger. Once pawns start trading, lines open up and the enemy pieces rush in. So: develop, then castle. Try to castle in your first ten moves.”

  2. 2.“To castle short, the knight and bishop between your king and rook must be out of the way. That's another reason to develop them early.”

  3. 3.“After castling, the three pawns in front of your king are its shield. Leave them alone! Every pawn you push there makes a hole an enemy piece can use.”

  4. 4.“Castling also brings your rook toward the middle, where it can join the game. Two jobs in one move.”

With younger kids: The king goes 'home to his castle' and the pawns are 'the wall'. Never knock down your own wall.
Watch for:
  • Forgetting to castle until the king gets attacked.
  • Pushing the g- or h-pawn right after castling.
  • Castling into an attack (check CCA first).

2 · Play it: Castle by Ten (10 min)

Set up: Normal game in pairs.

  1. Each player must castle by their 10th move.
  2. Castled in time: one point. Didn't castle: your partner gets a point.
  3. Pushing a pawn in front of your castled king before move 15 costs a point.

3 · Practice and pass check

On iPads, kids open Student → Step 7 → Hide Your King. On paper, print the worksheet. A kid passes by getting 2 of 3 on the pass check. The pass code for this lesson is S7-L3-ZN.

Practice (3) with answers

1.Your pieces are out. Make your king safe. Draw an arrow or write the move.

abcdefgh

Move: O-O

2.Before you can castle on the short side, which pieces must move out of the way?

  • ✓The knight and the bishop
  • The queen and the rook
  • All the pawns

3.After castling, should you push the pawns in front of your king?

  • ✓Usually not: they're the king's shield
  • Yes, push them all
Pass check (3) with answers

1.Black: make your king safe. Draw an arrow or write the move.

hgfedcba

Move: O-O

2.Make your king safe. Draw an arrow or write the move.

abcdefgh

Move: O-O

3.Why castle early?

  • ✓The king is safer, and a rook comes into the game
  • It wins a pawn
  • You must castle before move 5

Topic order based on: Chess for Children, Part 5 (beginning a game, planning); How to Win at Chess, ch. 2–3 (center, develop, castle). All wording is original.