← Lessons7

Step 7: Starting Well · about 25 min

Develop Your Pieces

🖨 Worksheet🔑 Answer key🖨 Easy-reading worksheet

Goal: Kids bring knights and bishops out early, move each piece once, and keep the queen home.

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.“'Developing' means bringing a piece off the back row so it can help. In the opening, the knights and bishops come out first.”

  2. 2.“Three opening rules. One: develop a new piece every move. Don't move the same piece twice unless you have to. Two: knights usually come out before bishops. Three: keep your queen home for now.”

  3. 3.“Why not the queen? If she comes out early, the other side develops pieces AND attacks her at the same time. Here Black's knight comes out and chases the queen. Black gains time, White loses it.”

  4. 4.“A quick test: count how many knights and bishops each side has moved. The player with more pieces out is usually winning the opening.”

With younger kids: Pieces are 'asleep' on the back row. Every developing move 'wakes one up'. Count the sleepy pieces together.
Watch for:
  • Moving the same knight three times while other pieces sleep.
  • Bringing the queen out on move 2 or 3.
  • Blocking the d- or e-pawn with a bishop (Bd3 before d-pawn moves).

2 · Play it: Wake-Up Race (10 min)

Set up: Normal game in pairs.

  1. Race to develop all four knights and bishops and castle.
  2. The first player to get all four minor pieces out AND castle scores a point.
  3. Moving the queen before move 6 costs a point. Keep playing the game after the race.

3 · Practice and pass check

On iPads, kids open Student → Step 7 → Wake Up Your Pieces. 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-L2-H6.

Practice (3) with answers

1.Develop your bishop to a good square. Draw an arrow or write the move.

abcdefgh

Move: Bc4 or Bb5

2.White to move. Which move develops a piece?

abcdefgh
  • h3
  • ✓Nc3
  • Ke2

3.Circle a white knight or bishop that hasn't been developed yet.

abcdefgh

Answer: b1 or c1

Pass check (3) with answers

1.Develop a knight. Draw an arrow or write the move.

abcdefgh

Move: Nc3 or Nf3

2.Black: develop a piece AND protect the pawn on e5. Draw an arrow or write the move.

hgfedcba

Move: Nc6

3.In the opening, how often should you move each piece?

  • ✓Once, until all your pieces are out
  • As often as you like
  • Only move the queen

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.