January 30, 2013

Queen Day for Beginners (20 minutes)

Explained the Wolf and Sheep Game from Read, Write, Checkmate: Enrich Literacy with Chess Activities. Black queen on d8, White pawns on original squares, White to move. If the pawn promotes (even if captured immediately after) the pawns win. If you are the wolf, you can say "yum" and rub your tummy when you take a pawn. If you are the sheep, remember to say “baah” if your pawn promotes!

Practice: Played Wolf and Sheep with partners.

Voted whether the wolf should win or the sheep should win, both before and after the exercise, and told to practice it at home. Pointed out that a queen is worth 9 pawns. Value is based on mobility. The queen (wolf) should indeed be able to win against the sheep with correct play.

Queen Day for Intermediate Players (35 minutes)

Explained the Wolf and Sheep Game from Read, Write, Checkmate: Enrich Literacy with Chess Activities.

Practice: Played Wolf and Sheep with partners.

Voted whether the wolf should win or the sheep should win, before and after. Pointed out that a queen is worth 9 pawns. Value is based on mobility. The queen (wolf) should indeed be able to win against the sheep with correct play.

Played Exercise 7 “Queen versus Rook and Bishop.” from Read, Write, Checkmate: Enrich Literacy with Chess Activities. Quoting that exercise:

Have pairs of students get out a board, a white queen, a black rook, and a black bishop. Each piece should be placed on its starting square. Start the white queen on d1, the black rook on h8 or a8, and the black bishop on f8 or c8. White moves first. MacEnulty (2006, p. 116) recommends, ‘Let the two players chase each other around the board.” White wins if the black rook and the black bishop are captured. Black wins if the white queen is captured. After trying this from both sides, ask students whether it was easier to play white or to play black.

Did calculations such as “How many squares can a queen move to from the edge?” “How many squares can a rook move to on an empty board?” and related the math of mobility of the Q, R, and B (as explained in Read, Write, Checkmate).

Queen Day for Advanced Players (35 minutes)

First challenge: Create 8 positions where a black king (Black to move) is stalemated by a white queen. Write the notation of those 8 positions. From Read, Write, Checkmate: Enrich Literacy with Chess Activities, p. 38.

Second challenge: Create 6 positions where a K and Q have the enemy K (not in the corner) in checkmate.
Third Challenge: Practice the K and Q vs. K checkmate and then be tested on it. If pass the test, get to play Wolf and Sheep and Q vs. R and B (as listed in Intermediate lesson above).