Historians agree that chess was invented in the early 500’s but some argue that it was invented earlier. Many believe it first appeared in India but others believe it was invented in China or Persia. Through the years many, many countries have invented their own versions of the game of chess. Chess involves two armies. Each army has six members: pawn, rook, knight, bishop queen and king. Chess is more than a game…playing chess involves problem solving skills, which is important when working out real life problems!

Chess is played by two people on a game board made up of 64 squares set up in 8 rows of 8 squares each. Each player starts off with 16 pieces called chessmen, set up in 2 rows. Understanding how the chessmen move is the first step in learning how to play chess. Chess is a game of strategy. It is important to think ahead when playing chess.This means that instead of just moving a man each turn like you would do in checkers, it is important to plan several turns ahead before making your move in order to be sure your plan will work! A move that seems like a good move at the time may turn out to be a bad move depending on what your opponent does next!

Play and learn chess at ChessKid.com – the #1 chess site that is a 100% Safe Environment! There a many strategy tutorials available on this site for you! You can develop your chess skills at your own pace. 

Or do you just need a little guidance on how to get  started? Check out Kid Chess and their Skill Levels & Practice Resources page to view descriptions of the various levels and how they can improve their game.

Can you learn and practice the game of chess so you are ready for a match against this eight-year-old chess player from Pretoria?

Challenge:

• Design and create a larger than life chessboard!
• Create an 8 x 8 chessboard and integrate real math and problem solving skills! Make a to scale blueprint of your chessboard.  Include the measurements of  the desired location and  size of the chessboard squares.
• Where will the chessboard be located? Write a persuasive essay to the principal and/or the administration requesting access to the Chessboard’s desired location!
• Create the 32 Chessman (2 rooks, 8 pawns, 2 bishops, 1 queen, 1 king, and 2 knights) needed to play the game!  The material used to create the chess pieces is limited to cardboard!