Welcome back. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you'd like me to call you this lesson.


Do you understand all about the QUEEN, kiddo?

Yes, I understand all about the QUEEN

I don't remember how the QUEEN moves

You've already seen just how powerful the QUEEN is.

In a battle the QUEEN can do a lot of damage.

When you play some games with it you'll see just how good it is at CAPTURING enemy pieces.

But, because it's so powerful it usually has to RUN AWAY when an enemy piece THREATENS it.

But you also have to be CAREFUL.

Because your QUEEN is so powerful you can't afford to lose it for anything less than the enemy QUEEN.

Before you move your QUEEN (and before you make ANY move) you have to STOP.

Then you have to LOOK.

Then you have to THINK.

It's very easy not to look where you're going because you're thinking about something else.

It's very easy to get excited because you think you've seen a good move and to play it without looking to see if it's safe.

Use your EYES to look at the board.

Then use your BRAIN to work out whether your move is good.

Then use your HANDS to play the move.

If you're in a boxing match you have to think very fast: if you don't hit him he'll hit you.

But in a chess battle you take it in turns so you have plenty of time to think.

In boxing you have to be IMPULSIVE.

In chess you have to CONTROL YOUR IMPULSES.

You're White in this position. Are you going to CAPTURE the black PAWN?

It looks tempting, doesn't it?

But stop and count to 10 before you do anything.

If you kill the black PAWN the BISHOP will kill your QUEEN.

It's very easy to miss backward diagonal moves!

If you want to win battles over the chessboard you have to learn to PLAY SAFE and CONTROL YOUR IMPULSES!

That's the end of the lesson, kiddo.


Are you able to play safe and look very carefully before you make your move?

Only a REALLY HARD EXAM will help you find out.



Great! This sounds really important so I need to know how good I am.

Can I repeat the lesson first?

I'll do it later - I have to go now

It's not safe to do a REALLY HARD EXAM.