Hello and welcome to the Kids Academy chess course! My name is Robert Lazorczyk, and I’m here to help you learn and enjoy the amazing game of chess. Let’s get started!
First, let’s learn how to set up the chess board. It’s important to have a light-colored square in the bottom right corner of the board. Remember, “light on right” to make sure it’s set up correctly.
Now, let’s place the pieces on the board. The player with the white pieces should have rows one and two closest to them, while the player with the black pieces should have rows seven and eight closest to them. This helps keep everything organized.
Pawns are like the foot soldiers of your chess army. For the white pieces, they start on the second row, and for the black pieces, they start on the seventh row. They help protect the more powerful pieces behind them.
Rooks are like the walls of a castle. They start in the corners of the board. For white, they go on a1 and h1, and for black, they go on a8 and h8.
The queen is very important and starts on her own color. The white queen goes on d1, and the black queen goes on d8. The king stands right next to the queen, on e1 for white and e8 for black.
Bishops are like advisors to the king and queen. They start next to them. For white, bishops go on c1 and f1, and for black, they go on c8 and f8. Each player has one bishop on a light square and one on a dark square.
Knights are the last pieces to place. They go on b1 and g1 for white, and b8 and g8 for black. Knights are special because they move in an “L” shape!
Now that your board is set up, you’re ready to play! Remember, white always moves first. Shake hands with your opponent and say “good luck” before you start. Have fun and enjoy your chess games!
Don’t forget to check out more videos and apps from Kids Academy to keep learning and improving your chess skills. See you soon!
Chess Piece Scavenger Hunt: Create a scavenger hunt at home or in the classroom. Hide chess pieces around the room and give each child a list of pieces to find. Once they find a piece, ask them to identify its name and where it belongs on the chessboard. This will help reinforce their memory of the piece placement and their roles.
Draw Your Chess Kingdom: Encourage the children to draw their own chess kingdom on a piece of paper. Ask them to include all the chess pieces and label them. They can use colors to differentiate between the white and black pieces. This activity will help them visualize the board setup and understand the importance of each piece.
Chess Moves Dance: Organize a fun activity where children mimic the movements of different chess pieces. For example, they can move in a straight line like a rook, hop in an “L” shape like a knight, or diagonally like a bishop. This physical activity will help them remember how each piece moves on the board.
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, it’s Coach Rob from Kids Academy, and today we’ll be learning how to set up the pieces as well as the board. The first thing you need to ensure is that there is a light-colored square in the right-hand corner. If you have white or black, there should be a light square in the right-hand corner. An easy way to remember this is “light on right.”
The second thing you need to do with the board is to make sure that the player with the white pieces has ranks one and two closest to them, while the player with the black pieces should start with ranks seven and eight closest to their side. This ensures that the white army starts on ranks one and two, and black starts on ranks seven and eight. This is a good habit to develop, especially if you plan on recording your moves. If the pieces aren’t starting on the correct squares, recording the moves will be confusing.
Now that we have “light on right” and the ranks set up correctly, we can start setting up the board. Pawns are the foot soldiers of the game. For black, they start on the seventh rank, and for white, they start on the second rank, acting as shields for the stronger pieces behind them.
Next are the rooks. I like to think of the rooks as the walls of the kingdom. The rooks start in the corners: for white, they start on a1 and h1, and for black, they start on a8 and h8.
Next come the queens. The queens and kings start in the middle of the board since they are the most important pieces. An easy way to remember is that the queen starts on her own color: a dark queen starts on d8, and a light queen starts on d1.
Next to the queens come the kings. You will notice that every piece is lined up: both players have rooks on the a-file, queens on the d-file, and kings on the e-file—it’s a mirror image.
Next come the bishops. I like to think of the bishops as advisors to the king and queen, so they start right next to them. White has a bishop on c1 and f1, while black has a bishop on c8 and f8. This way, both players have bishops starting next to the royalty, and each player has a bishop of each color: a light square bishop and a dark square bishop.
There are two spaces left for each side, which are reserved for the knights. White has a knight on b1 and g1, and black has knights starting on g8 and b8. This is the starting position of every single chess game.
To review: the rooks start in the corners, followed by the knights, then the bishops next to the king and queen. The queen goes on her own color, and you start with eight pawns on the second rank for white or the seventh rank for black, acting as foot soldiers in front of the more important pieces.
Once the pieces are set up, you can shake hands and say good luck. Remember, white always goes first, and I wish you the best of luck in your practice games. I’ll see you soon!
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