Hello and welcome to the Kids Academy chess course! My name is Coach Rob, and I’m here to help you learn all about the exciting game of chess. Let’s dive into the world of chess and learn some cool new words!
The chessboard is a big square made up of 64 smaller squares. These squares are in two colors: light and dark. You might see boards with white and black squares or even blue and green squares. The important thing is that the colors alternate: light, dark, light, dark.
When you sit down to play, make sure there’s a light square in the bottom right corner. This helps you set up your pieces correctly, which is super important when you start playing!
Let’s learn three important words that will help you understand the chessboard better:
Ranks are like rows on the chessboard. They go from side to side. Imagine moving your arm from left to right; that’s how ranks work! There are eight ranks on a chessboard.
Files are like columns. They go up and down the chessboard. Just like ranks, there are eight files. So, when you hear “file,” think of moving up and down!
Diagonals are lines that go through the corners or slant across the board. Bishops and queens love to move diagonally, and pawns capture diagonally too! There are many diagonals on the chessboard, but only two long ones, each with eight squares.
Now you know about ranks, files, and diagonals! These words help us talk about where pieces move on the chessboard. Remember, the chessboard is a square with 64 squares inside, and it’s important to have a light square on the right-hand side when you start playing.
Thanks for learning with me today! Keep practicing, and you’ll be a chess master in no time. See you soon!
Don’t forget to check out more fun videos and games on our channel. Happy chess playing!
Chessboard Scavenger Hunt: Create your own chessboard using paper and crayons. Draw a big square and divide it into 64 smaller squares. Color them in an alternating pattern of light and dark. Once your board is ready, use small objects like coins or buttons as chess pieces. Practice placing them on different ranks, files, and diagonals. Can you find all the squares on the same rank or file as your favorite piece?
Chess Piece Movement Game: With a friend or family member, choose a chess piece like a bishop or a rook. Take turns moving your piece on the chessboard you created. Remember, bishops move diagonally, and rooks move along ranks and files. See who can reach the opposite side of the board first by following the correct movement rules!
Observation Challenge: Next time you see a tiled floor or a checkerboard pattern, try to identify the ranks, files, and diagonals. How many squares can you count in a row or column? Can you find a diagonal that has the same number of squares as a rank or file? Share your discoveries with your classmates or family!
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Welcome to Kids Academy! Hi, and welcome to the Kids Academy chess course. My name is Robert Lazorczyk, and I’m a certified teacher with international and national chess teaching certifications. I will be your guide as we begin to master this great game. Now, let’s get to the chess!
Hey, Kids Academy! It’s Coach Rob, and I’m here today to talk to you about the chessboard and learn three very important chess vocabulary words.
The first word we’re going to learn today is a word that means side to side. Instead of saying side to side or saying rows in chess, we use the word “rank.” Can you say the word “rank” for me? Very nice! Now say “rank” and move your arm side to side. This is side to side, and on the chessboard, there are eight ranks moving across the board. Rank is our word for row.
The second vocabulary word I want to teach you today is “file.” File is the word we use instead of columns or up and down. We can say moving along the file. If you put them together, we have ranks and we have files. There are also eight files in chess going up and down the board.
The last word that every chess player needs to know about is “diagonal.” Bishops move diagonally, queens can move diagonally, and pawns capture diagonally. Diagonally means through the corner or on the slant. If you play checkers, you already know what the word diagonal is because all the checkers pieces can move diagonally. In fact, it’s the only way they can move.
So here we have a very long diagonal made up of eight squares. In fact, there are two long diagonals on a chessboard: one on the light squares and one on the dark squares. There are also many other diagonals.
Speaking of ranks, files, and diagonals, let’s take a moment to talk about the actual chessboard. The chessboard is a square, and within this square, there are 64 smaller squares—half of them are light and half of them are dark. A lot of chessboards I see have the light squares represented by the color white, and the dark squares can be blue, green, or black. The chessboard can be any two colors as long as we have a light complex and a dark complex.
In chess, we have a chessboard that’s a square with 64 squares inside—half light and half dark, alternating in a pattern: a light square followed by a dark square. This will help us make our diagonals, ranks, and files.
Whenever you sit down to a chessboard, it’s very important that there is always a light-colored square on the right-hand corner. The white player would start with the light on the right, and the black player would also have a light square on the right side. This will help you set your pieces upon the correct starting colors and squares, which might not seem relevant right now, but once you start playing chess, you will see that it really does make a big difference.
So today in this video, we learned about ranks moving side to side, files as a word for columns, and diagonals. We also talked a little bit about the chessboard, how it’s a square with 64 squares inside, and the importance of having a light-colored square on the right-hand side for both players. There are eight ranks, eight files, and many diagonals, but only two long diagonals, each made up of eight squares.
Thank you for watching this video! I’ll see you soon. Bye-bye!
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