The Weekend - Playing Chess(0139)

Daddy:

Bobby! Come here, look what I got you!

Bobby:

What is that?

Daddy:

A chess board! Daddy is going to teach you how to play!

Bobby:

Cool!

Daddy:

Ok, each player gets 16 pieces. You can be the white ones and I'll play with the black pieces. Now in the front, you set up the pawns. Those are the least valuable pieces and can only move one space forward. When you are about to capture another piece, it can move one space diagonally.

Bobby:

What about all these other pieces?

Daddy:

See this one that looks like a tower? It's called the rook. The one with the tall hat is called the bishop. See this little horsey? This is called the knight, it's a very important piece so it's best to not let your opponent capture it.

Bobby:

And these two? They are husband and wife?

Daddy:

That's right! That's the queen and that's the king. If the other player captures your king, he will say "Check Mate" and the game is over! Doesn't this sound fun?

Bobby:

Nah! This is boring! I'm gonna go play Killer Zombies on my PlayStation!

Key Vocabulary

diagonally

General Adverb

on a diagonal, forward and to the left or right

set up

phrase

make ready for use

valuable

Adjective

very useful or helpful

capture

principle verb, present simple

to take

pawn

common noun, plural

the weakest piece in chess; a person or group without much power

boring

Adjective

not interesting

Check Mate

phrase

describes situation in which king cannot move

Supplementary Vocabulary

queen

common noun, singular

a very powerful piece in chess

knight

common noun, singular

a useful piece in chess

bishop

common noun, singular

a piece in chess that can only move diagonally

king

common noun, singular

the final and most important piece in chess

chess

common noun, non-variable

a game in which each player moves 16 pieces across a board and tries to capture the opponent's king

rook

common noun, singular

a piece in chess that can only move along straight lines