Best Chess Tactics for Kids
- Jake Fishman
- Jun 17
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 18
If your child already knows how all chess pieces move, then I recommend putting tactics next on their learning list. In chess, a tactic is a short run of forcing moves that wins material or leads to checkmate. Beginners need to learn the tactics, as at this level the outcome often depends on who recognises them first. I’ve seen countless games where younger students lose games despite having a significant material advantage because they didn’t spot a back-rank mate.
I’ve been coaching children at Mindful Chess for many years, and tactics are the first skill I focus on once a child knows the rules. So for today, I’ve prepared a guide that explains the basic chess tactics for kids, shows you how to find them during a game, and gives simple ways to practise them at home. For easier navigation, use this table of contents:
What are chess tactics?
As I mentioned in the beginning, chess tactics are short sequences of moves that force a result, usually winning a piece or delivering checkmate. Now, pay special attention to the word “force”, as this is the key idea of any tactic. The reason for this is that a forcing move is one your opponent has to answer, such as a check, a capture, or a direct threat to a valuable piece. Because the reply is forced, you can work out what will happen before you move.
Tactics are not the same as strategy. A tactic works in the next few moves and has a clear, immediate goal. While a strategy is a longer plan, such as controlling the centre or keeping your king safe, that plays out over many moves. A tactic can appear at any point in a game, whether in the opening, the middlegame, or the endgame.
Basic chess tactics every kid should know
Below, I’ve prepared a list of chess tactics I usually teach my young students. They run from easiest to hardest, and each one includes an example, the signs that help you spot it, and some defence options against them.
Fork
A fork is one piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at the same time. Your opponent can usually save only one of them, so you win the other.
Knights are one of the most common pieces used to fork an opponent's pieces. Let’s imagine a white knight landing on c7. From that square, it attacks the black king on a8 and the black rook on e8 together. The king has to move out of check, which creates an opportunity to safely capture the rook.
How to spot a fork in chess
Look for a square where one of your pieces would attack two valuable targets at once. The best forks are the ones that come with a check, as in most cases, it allows you to safely capture the other piece.
How to defend against a fork
If you get forked, then you have 3 main options:
Move a more valuable piece to safety.
Capture the forking piece.
Block the check if the fork includes one.
Pin
A piece is pinned when it cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. There are two kinds. In an absolute pin, the king is the piece behind, so moving the pinned piece is illegal. In a relative pin, the piece behind is valuable but not the king, so the move is legal but usually loses material.
On the chess diagram below, you can see a white bishop on b5, a black knight on c6, and the black king on e8. The bishop, knight, and king sit on the same diagonal. The knight cannot move, because that would put its own king in check.
How to spot a pin in chess
Look along ranks, files, and diagonals for an enemy piece sitting in front of a more valuable one.
How to defend against a pin
Capture or chase away the pinning piece, block the line with another piece, or move the rear piece off the line when you can.
Skewer
A skewer is the reverse of a pin. This time, the more valuable piece stands in front and has to move, which lets you take the piece behind it.
Below you can see a case where I’ve put a white rook on e1, giving check to a black king on e6, with the black queen on e8 right behind the king. The king must step off the e-file, and the rook then captures the queen.
How to spot a skewer
Look for an enemy king or queen on the same line as a piece behind it. Then look at how you can place one of your long range pieces in a position to attack that line.
How to defend against a skewer
The best possible thing you can do is to try avoiding placing your valuable pieces on the same rank, file, or diagonal, and block the attacking line when a skewer threatens.
Discovered attack
A discovered attack happens when you move one piece and uncover an attack from a piece behind it. One move creates two threats:
The threat from the piece you moved.
The threat from the piece you revealed.
On the next chess diagram, you can see a white rook on e1 and a white knight on e5, with the black queen on e8 further up the same file. When the knight moves away, the rook attacks the queen along the e-file. If the knight also lands on a square where it attacks something, your opponent has two problems and only one move to deal with them.
How to spot a discovered attack
Look for one of your own pieces standing in front of a rook, bishop, or queen that would attack a target if it stepped aside.
How to defend against a discovered attack
Take care when one of your pieces blocks an enemy long range piece that points at your king or queen.
Double check
A double check is a discovered attack where both pieces give check at the same time. The piece you move gives check, and the piece you uncover gives check as well.
A double check is strong because the king has to move. You cannot block two checks at once, and you cannot capture both checking pieces in a single move, so no other reply works.
How to spot a double check
Look for a discovered attack setup where the piece you move lands on a square that also checks the enemy king.
How to defend against a double check
The only way to defend is to escape. There is no reply once a double check lands. So the best you can do is to keep your king off squares where a double check becomes possible.
Back-rank checkmate
A back-rank checkmate is a rook or queen checkmating a king stuck on its own back row. The king is trapped because its own pawns block the squares in front of it.
A classic situation is when a black king is on g8 with black pawns still on f7, g7, and h7. A white Queen reaches e8 and gives check along the back rank. The king has no square to move to, and no black piece can block or capture the queen, so it is checkmate.
How to spot a bank-rank mate
Look for an enemy king on its back rank with no escape squares and no piece guarding that rank.
How to not get into a back-rank mate
It’s important to be careful in end games, especially if the king and surrounding pawns haven’t moved after the castling. Give your king a small escape square by moving one of the pawns in front of it, or keep a piece available to guard your back rank.
How to spot tactics in a real game
Knowing the patterns is one thing. Finding them while you play is another. The method I teach is called CCT, which stands for Checks, Captures, and Threats. On every move, before you decide what to play, ask three questions in this order.
What checks do I have?
What captures do I have?
What threats can I make?
Here is how it works in practice. Suppose you have a check that drives the enemy king to a square where your knight can then fork the king and queen. By looking at your checks first, you find the move that wins the queen. Run through CCT on each turn, and tactics become increasingly easier to see.
How kids can practise chess tactics at home
Tactics are about pattern recognition, so the best way to improve is short, regular practice. Fifteen to twenty minutes a day works better than one long session at the weekend, because is shows patterns more often and makes it easier to remember them.
There are several ways to practise chess tactics:
Solve puzzles. Tactic puzzles are the main training tool. Each puzzle shows a position with a tactic to find. I recommend working out the full sequence in the head before making any move, rather than guessing. There are plenty of them to solve on Chesskid.com.
Tactics book. The old fashioned, but still great way to practice is specialised books on tactics. There is a good one made specifically for kids by Murray Chandler, “Chess Tactics for Kids”. And it’s also a screen free activity.
Game reviews. After a game, it is helpful to look at the moves that were made and spot a used or missed tactic. A good orientation is to look at how the material advantage has changed. This links the patterns to real play and is one of the fastest ways to improve.
If there is a need to speed up the process of learning chess tactics, then chess coaching for kids is a great alternative. It works because a coach can give feedback and fix bad habits. But a motivated child can still make strong progress with puzzles, books, and game reviews on their own.
Quick reference: the six starter tactics
Tactic | What it does | What to look for |
Fork | One piece attacks two or more enemy pieces at once | A square where a piece hits two targets together |
Pin | Stops a piece from moving because a more valuable piece sits behind it | An enemy piece in front of a more valuable one on a line |
Skewer | Forces a valuable piece to move so you win the piece behind it | A king or queen in front of another piece on a line |
Discovered attack | Moves one piece to uncover an attack from another | Your own piece is blocking your rook, bishop, or queen |
Double check | Checks with two pieces at once and forces the king to move | A discovered attack where the moving piece also checks |
Back-rank checkmate | Mates a king trapped behind its own pawns | An enemy king on its back rank with no escape squares |
Frequently asked questions
At what age can a child start learning chess tactics?
Most children can start once they know how every piece moves and understand what check and checkmate mean. For many, that is around four to six years old, but readiness matters more than age. If your child can play a full game, they are absolutely ready to learn all of the tactics we have covered above.
What is a chess combination?
A combination is a sequence of forcing moves that links two or more tactics together to reach one goal, such as winning the queen or giving checkmate. A single fork is a tactic. A check that forces the king to a square, followed by a fork that wins the queen, is a combination. Combinations are what tactics turn into once your child can calculate a few moves ahead.
Final word
Tactics are the quickest way for your child to start winning more games, and the six in this guide cover most of what they will meet at the junior level. Learn the patterns, use CCT to find them at the board, and practise a little every day. At Mindful Chess we teach tactics step by step and set puzzles matched to each child's level, so if you would like guided help for yourself or your child, then get in touch and we'll pair you with an appropriate coach.
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