Rook + introducing ranks and files

Concepts to reinforce:

- Board setup

- Names of the pieces

- Rook moves

New concepts to learn: 

- Ranks and files

Game prep:

- together we setup the board

- repeated names of the pieces 

- pointed on the letters of the files A though H repeatedly (this is A file, this is B file etc)
- pointed on the numbers of the ranks 1 through 8 repeatedly 
- let her repeat with me both ranks and files at least once

Game:

 Gave her lego cubes and asked to make any straight lines just like the way the rook moves from letter A to letter H or from number 1 to number 8. 

 

After we finished building lines I repeated the names of the ranks and files. For example: if she decided to build along the rank would repeat (this is 6th rank, this is 4th rank etc). 

Placed the rook of her choice along the open "road". Repeated that the rook is going along the B file, rook is going along the D file etc. 

Then she would name herself the name of the "road" along which the rook walks. It was fun :). 

Hello Rook! - Part 1

Concepts to reinforce:

- Board setup

- Names of the pieces 

 

New concepts to learn:

- Rook moves in straight line only (has to stop in order to make a turn)

- Rook cannot jump over other pieces 

- Rook can go long distances 

 

Game prep:

 

- Together we set up the board

- Repeated names of the pieces

- Showed the white and black rooks 

- Removed all the pieces and asked to show original rooks' position on the board

- Showed that the rook moves up and down, left and right in straight line

Game:

Aligned Lego pieces in straight line and explained those are the walls you cannot cross. It was easier to see straight lines for the rook to move. We moved the rook around using correct rook moves both short ones and long ones.  I would start counting each move. On the picture below it was three long rook moves to go around the board. 

 

Added a Lego tower - "present". Rook has to go using correct rook moves without crossing the Lego walls to get to the present. I would again start counting the moves so that it's clear that it's not one long move but few ones. 

 

Moved the "present" to another central location.  Asked about couple different ways to get to it.  Counted the moves in both cases. 

 

Used couple examples from Igor Sukhin's books such as those:

 

This is it for the first Rook lesson.

Hello Lego and Chess!

 This blog is about teaching chess to small children. I recently started teaching my 2.5 year old daughter. She is showing a lot of interest and every single day we learn chess through playing.  Every time we play I chose a new "game" based on what we learnt last time with new elements added. The "lessons" are very short, perhaps only 10-15 min but we come back to them very often, at lease once a day.  She started asking for it more often lately so we play few times a day sometime.

We have already done a few games so I will try to catch up to what she knows already via few posts to come.

At this point all I use is a basic tournament plastic chess set with vinyl board and Lego duplo bricks (2x2) of different colors.