If you were taught how to play chess by your parents, you may recall that magical day when you beat your mum or dad for the first time. For me, I will always remember being a seven year old and defeating my grandfather with a back-rank checkmate. He went on to beat me many times after that, but he never dared to underestimate me again.
Since you are reading this article, the situation has changed. You are not a kid anymore, now you have children and want to teach them to play chess, and you want to navigate this learning journey in as productive way as possible. If this resonates with you, then you have found the right article.
Our several chess coaches have prepared several tips and recommendations on how you can do this on your own. Here is what we will cover:
How to prepare for teaching your kid to play chess
How to teach kids to play chess starting from 5 years
Don’t just let them win in chess
The best order to teach chess concepts to kids
How to prepare for teaching your kid to play chess
Always remember that teaching chess doesn’t require you to be a Grandmaster and your child doesn’t need any prior experience. Your main goal is to make learning chess simple and enjoyable. Here’s what you need to get started.
1. A chess set
A physical chessboard is the best way to teach chess, especially for young beginners. Choose a standard sized board with clear piece designs. While decorative and themed sets might look very interesting and eye catching, beginners might be confused.
2. Simple teaching strategy
Young children learn best through play. Instead of explaining all the rules at once, introduce chess step by step. Start with just a few pieces and gradually add more as they understand the basics.
3. A fun and positive approach
Chess should be an enjoyable activity, not a serious lesson. Focus on making it fun by using mini-games, challenges, or even storytelling. Encourage your child to experiment with moves rather than memorising rules.
4. Use ChessKid
Chess apps and websites can be helpful, but they should not replace hands-on play. ChessKid is one of the most effective learning tools for children. It allows them to learn at home and to play with other children through a safe and controlled app.
ChessKid's strength lies in its comprehensive learning environment, which includes interactive lessons, puzzles, and supervised online matches. The platform breaks down complex chess concepts into digestible segments, allowing children to progress at their own pace while maintaining engagement through colorful graphics and age-appropriate challenges.
If you are not a chess player yourself or do not have the time to play with your child at home, you can still encourage them to practice through the use of the ChessKid app.
If you have everything in place, you can start learning the steps you need to take to teach your kid to play chess.
How to teach kids to play chess starting from 5 years
Teaching chess to young beginners is simple if you break it down into small steps. This keeps your child engaged and prevents them from feeling overwhelmed. Follow these steps to teach chess effectively.
Introduce the pieces through play
Start by showing your child the chessboard and the pieces. You don’t need to explain all the rules immediately. Instead, let them explore the pieces by touching and moving them.
Begin with pawns since they are the easiest to understand. Show how they move forward but capture diagonally.
Introduce rooks, bishops, and queens next, explaining their straight-line or diagonal movements.
Save the knight and king for last, as their movements are slightly more complex.
Allow your child to experiment by moving the pieces freely before teaching specific rules.
If your child struggles to remember how pieces move, don’t rush. Repeat these steps over multiple sessions if necessary.
Teach movement and captures with mini-games
Before playing full games, introduce small challenges to help your child understand movement and capturing.
Capture challenge. Set up a few pieces and ask your child to capture them using the correct movement rules.
Knight’s jump puzzle. Place a knight on the board and challenge your child to move it to a target square in a set number of moves.
These mini-games help your child practise movement patterns without feeling pressured to play a full game.
Introduce check and checkmate early
Many parents avoid discussing checkmate too soon, but understanding the goal of the game makes learning more meaningful. Explain checkmate in the simplest way:
A king is in check when it is under attack.
A king is in checkmate when it has no legal moves to escape.
Use a basic example like a king and queen vs. king checkmate to demonstrate. Instead of long explanations, let your child practise delivering checkmate by guiding them through it.
Slowly introduce strategy and tactics
Once your child understands the basics, introduce simple strategy concepts.
Control the centre. Explain why the central squares (d4, d5, e4, e5) are important.
Piece safety. Teach them not to leave valuable pieces unprotected.
Simple tactics. Show basic tactics like forks, pins, and skewers using easy examples.
At this stage, avoid complex openings or advanced strategies. Focus on making moves with a purpose rather than memorising patterns.
Don’t just let them win in chess
This is an interesting topic for discussion. Should we always play to our best ability or should we let children win from time to time to keep them interested? We all learn from our mistakes but at the same time, crushing our children in gameplay over and over is likely going to do nothing but damage to their self-esteem.
We don’t know the right answer to this question, but our advice would be to avoid “going easy” on your child as this does not help them learn. The prospect of beating you is also an incentive for them to keep learning and testing out different tactics.
If you are an experienced player, our suggestion would be to try playing with a handicap. For example, play a game without your queen and see if this evens up the odds. This will likely make the game more fun for both of you.
You can also allow your children to take back blunders and explain what moves they could have done differently. This means that by playing with you, they are learning at the same time. This seems to be more beneficial than “going easy” on them just so they can falsely believe they beat you.
The best order to teach chess concepts to kids
Teaching chess in the right order makes learning easier. If you introduce everything at once, it can feel overwhelming. Instead, start with the basics and build up gradually. As we mentioned previously, start with explaining all the chess pieces move and how they capture. Besides that also explain the value of each chess piece.
After these concepts, you can start explaining the checkmate patterns. They are important before playing full games. Teach simple checkmate techniques first.
King and Queen vs. King Checkmate – a beginner-friendly way to learn checkmate patterns.
King and Rook vs. King Checkmate – similar to the queen method but requires more precision.
Two Rooks Checkmate – shows how to use two pieces together to control the board.
Avoid complex checkmates like two bishops or knight-bishop checkmate at this stage.
Basic opening principles
Your child doesn’t need to memorise openings, but they should understand how to start a game properly. Teach these simple principles:
Control the centre with pawns (e4, d4, e5, d5).
Develop knights and bishops early.
Castle for king safety.
Don’t move the same piece multiple times in the opening.
The goal is to develop good habits without forcing memorisation.
Recognising Checkmate vs. Stalemate
Many beginners struggle with stalemate (when the opponent has no legal moves but is not in check).
Show examples of checkmate and stalemate side by side.
Explain that stalemating an opponent means the game is a draw.
Encourage your child to always check if their opponent has legal moves before making their move.
Introduction to Simple Tactics
After your child understands checkmate, introduce basic tactics that make chess more exciting.
Forks – one piece attacks two at once.
Pins – a piece is stuck because moving it would expose a more valuable piece.
Skewers – a valuable piece is attacked, forcing it to move and exposing another piece behind it.
Use small puzzles in Chesskid to demonstrate these tactics in action.
Final word
Chess should always be fun and stress-free. If learning becomes too serious or feels like a chore, kids may lose interest. So let your child enjoy the game at their own pace.
Not every child needs to become a competitive player. Some may just enjoy casual games, while others may want to improve further. If you notice that your child is eager to learn more, solving puzzles on their own, or asking about advanced strategies, it may be time to take the next step.
If you want to help your child develop their chess skills further, our coaches can provide structured chess lessons for kids tailored to their level. A coach can introduce more advanced strategies, sharpen their tactical thinking, and help them gain confidence in their play.
Whether your child is just getting started or ready for the next level, the right guidance can make a big difference. Get in touch with us to learn how our coaches can support your child's chess journey.
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