My name's Reggie Side. I'm going to teach you to become a TRAINED KILLER. Every chess game is a fight to the death. Kids who want to play chess have to learn to become the strongest, toughest, most violent kids in the world. In this lesson we're going to take a look at some of the nastiest ways to kill the enemy king. Scared? You will be!

The first way to kill the enemy King is the FIRING SQUAD. The firing squad consists of two Rooks, or a Rook and a Queen, or, if you're really lucky, two Queens. Each piece takes it in turns to shoot at the King. The King must run. When he reaches the end of the board it will be CHECKMATE!

Here's how it works. The Black King is in check from a White Rook. The other Rook stations himself so that the King cannot escape back down the board. So he has to move to the top, when the second Rook will come down and give CHECKMATE.

One Rook fires the fatal shot. The King cannot escape without running into the other Rook's gunfire. If you're a lot of pieces up and can't think of a way to get CHECKMATE, find two Rooks, or a Queen and Rook, and go for the FIRING SQUAD. One word of advice. If the enemy King gets too near your Rook, move it over to the other side of the board, out of harm's way. You'll be able to play through an example of this CHECKMATE in the movie theater.

Our next weapon is the GUILLOTINE. In the French Revolution the GUILLOTINE was used for killing Kings and noblemen. You press a button and the blade comes down, chopping the King's head off. Nasty! In chess, the GUILLOTINE can be operated by the Rook or the Queen.

Here's how it works. Black has castled and has three Pawns in front of his King. As you do. He's just moved his Rook off the BACK RANK to capture a Pawn. But now the White Rook can move all the way down the board and deliver CHECKMATE. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide!

The GUILLOTINE can also look like this. Black's moved a Pawn up, but he still can't escape because of the White Bishop. You can often stop the GUILLOTINE (it's really called a BACK RANK MATE) by moving up a pawn, but not here.

Here's another example. Again the Black King cannot escape. So, how can you make sure YOUR King doesn't lose his head to the GUILLOTINE? First of all, KEEP A ROOK NEXT TO YOUR KING early in the game. Later on in the game, when you want to use your Rook to attack, it's usually a good idea to move a Pawn up and give your King an escape square, but you have to be careful which one you choose.

Well, you've just leared two really nasty, violent ways of killing the King. But there's another one even nastier, even more violent than the FIRING SQUAD and the GUILLOTINE. Can you imagine what it is? Be afraid! Be very afraid! Close your eyes and hide behind the chair as I introduce you to...

THE KISS OF DEATH! YUK!!

See how it works. The Black King's on the side of the board. The White Queen is one square in towards the center and is DEFENDED by the White King. It's CHECKMATE. If you have King and Queen against King you can head for this position, but be careful to avoid STALEMATE. Visit the movie theater for an example of how to do it.

You can use the same idea in the middle game against a castled King. Here the Queen, helped by the Bishop, delivers the KISS OF DEATH. If your opponent's castled, look out for a chance to bring off this CHECKMATE. If you've castled WATCH OUT! It's a good idea to use a Knight to defend the key square, as White has done here.

Finally, here's how you can use the KISS OF DEATH in the opening. After just four moves Black has been CHECKMATED. See how the White Bishop defends the White Queen so that the Black King cannot capture her. This is called SCHOLAR'S MATE. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO STOP THIS CHECKMATE. Go to the movie theater to see some examples.

You've now reached the end of the lesson. To return to the main menu press "finish" To repeat the lesson press "start" Click here for a quiz on LOOKING FOR CHECKMATES.