Q&A for How to Teach Children Chess

Your king is your most important piece, because if he gets captured, you lose the game. The queen is your most powerful piece, because she can move in any straight direction any number of open squares. No other piece can do that.

Pawns can only move one space forward (two spaces if it is the first time the piece moves), and can only capture diagonally. Bishops can move any number of spaces diagonally as long as there is nothing blocking it. If so, it can capture. Knights move in an L shape (2 spaces forward, backward, left, or right, then you turn for one space). Knights are the only pieces that can "jump" over spaces, so it doesn't matter if any piece is blocking its way. Rooks can move forward, backward, or side to side for any number of spaces and capture that way, too. Queens move forward, backward, side to side, and diagonally for any number of spaces. The King can move any direction but only one space at a time.

Yes. No other piece is captured that way.

No. A pawn can never move backwards.

Play Magnus is a great one that allows the child to work their way up through levels as their gameplay gets more advanced.

A stalemate, or draw, is when one of the players cannot make any legal moves and isn't in check.

64.

No, any piece can take out any piece if put in the right position. Even a pawn can take out a king or queen if it is in a space diagonally behind and adjacent to it.

So it can switch places with the rook. This is an easy way to bring your rook out and move your king simultaneously.

It is the second strongest piece. It can be kept by the king for "castling". For more information, read wikiHow's article How to Castle in Chess.

Always think ahead and look at all your possible options. You can try sacrificing your remaining pieces at the right time if your king has no moves left, or move your king to the edge of the board for less mobility.

That's true. It's best to go easier on them in the beginning, and as they're getting stronger at chess, you can make fewer mistakes. An alternative way is to allow children to play against each other (if it's a group) or send them to tournaments to let them play with kids their age.

They are like coordinates, and tells which square is which. You read it as square letter number.