Chess for kids

Here is a path in five steps, for you if you want to teach a child chess, or for the child who wants to learn on their own. Every step has a board to try right away. Feel free to stay on a step for a long time. It isn't a race.

1. The board and the pieces

Start by setting up the pieces together. Two things are good to remember: each player should have a light square in the corner on their right, and the queen stands on her own color. The white queen stands on a light square, the black queen on a dark one.

Let the child hold the pieces and say what they're called: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight and pawn. The knight looks like a horse's head, and lots of children call it a horse. That's fine. In books and at the club it's called a knight, and in notation it's written N.

2. The pawn game

The first real game needs only the pawns. Set them up on their usual squares and play with the usual pawn rules: one square straight ahead, two squares from the start, and capture diagonally forward. Whoever first gets a pawn to the other side has won. If all the pawns get stuck, so that no one can move, it's a draw.

The pawn game is short, and the child learns the hardest thing about the pawn right away: that it moves straight but captures diagonally. Soon the child also discovers that a pawn standing alone is easily captured, and that a pawn standing diagonally behind another protects it. That's real chess strategy.

Once the pawn game is going well, put the kings in too. Now the king can capture pawns and help its own pawns forward. Two can play on this board, taking turns:

With the kings on the board the usual rules apply: a king may never move into check, and a pawn that reaches the last rank becomes a queen. More about the pawn and promotion.

3. One piece at a time

Add one piece at a time. A good way to practice is to let a piece hunt pawns that stand still. Here the knight, the trickiest piece, gets to capture all the pawns. Count the moves and try to beat your record next time.

The same game works with the rook, the bishop and the queen. Set up a few pawns, choose a piece and hunt. Every piece has a page of its own with a board where you can move it around:

4. Check and mate

Now it's time for the most important thing: the king. Being in check means the king is under attack. Then you have to save it, and there are three ways: move the king, put a piece in between, or capture the piece that is attacking. If none of them works, it's mate, and the game is over.

Try two mates. Both can be done in a single move.

Mate in one is the best way to train your eye. There are lots more on the puzzles page, and everything about check and mate and how it differs from stalemate is in the rules.

5. Whole games

When the child knows how the pieces move and what mate is, it's time for whole games. The first games will be long and a little messy, and that's exactly how it should be. Castling and en passant can wait until the basics are in place.

If the child wants to play against the computer, we have three opponents who are kind to beginners. You'll find them among the opponents:

Tips for parents

• Short and often. Fifteen minutes a day does more than a long afternoon once a month. Stop while it's fun.
• Praise the thinking, not just the win. “Good, you saw that your rook was under attack!” says more than “Well done, you won.”
• Let the child win sometimes, but not always. It's better to play without some of your own pieces, the queen for example. Take away fewer as the child gets better.
• Ask instead of telling. “What am I threatening now?” teaches more than pointing out the move.
• A real board. Holding the pieces makes it easier to remember how they move. The screen is good for puzzles and for playing when no one else has time.
• Take-backs at home, touch-move at the club. At home you decide for yourselves whether moves can be taken back. In tournaments touch-move applies: the piece you touch, you must move.
• Lose with a smile. Children learn how to lose by watching how grown-ups do it. Shake hands, say thanks for the game and set up the pieces again.

Chess at school and at a club

Many schools have chess clubs. In Sweden, where LaviChess is made, the Swedish Chess Federation has clubs all over the country. It also runs Schackfyran, a competition for whole classes in fourth grade. According to the federation, around 25,000 fourth graders take part every year.

Updated November 6, 2026