Session #3: Meeting the Knights

I began with something different this time.  I set up several boards with just the two kings and a queen in different positions.  These were all "Check or Checkmate?" problems.  We needed to look closely and decide if the situation presented was check or checkmate.  During that time, we discovered that a king can never move right beside a king or the opponent's queen because it is instant check.  Remember, you can never move your king into check.   When a king is in check, the player in check has to move the king out of danger by either moving the king, taking the attacking piece or moving another piece between the king and the attacker.  The question was asked: "What if your king is in check and neither player realizes it?"  My honest answer: "Don't do that."

I should look that one up somewhere and see, but I suspect that two good chess players always know when they are in check.  So the best answer is to become a good chess player, I guess.

Then we learned about the most sneaky of pieces: the knight.  The knight is not to be underestimated and can be the stuff of, ahem, knightmares to the poor chess player! *drum riff*

We learned:

• The knight moves two spaces then over either to the left or the right in any direction.
• The knight is the only piece that can jump over other pieces when it moves.
• The knight can be used to make a strong defensive position in the middle of the board.

We then played our first games with a full set of chess pieces.  I also switched the players in mid-game at one point as kind of an impromptu challenge.  Don't know if that went over too well...

Don't forget that we don't have chess club next week due to Student Led Conferences. See you on Thursday, March 3 for session 4!