Chess Activities Over the Holidays

If you’re looking for some fun ways to liven up the chess board  over holidays here are some fun chess variations you can play:

Scottish Chess

This is where players get progressively more moves per turn, we teach this as it helps children think ahead more effectively. In order to win you must catch all other pieces first and then the king last, white goes first and has one move, black then gets two moves, white get three moves, etc. This game works well for discouraging students to bring their queen up to quickly, advanced students will wait until the latter stages of the game to move their queen.

Fischer Chess

This is a different variation to the chess game, players aren’t allowed to castle, and your opposition gets to choose the order they would like to put your back rank pieces in. This is a great game to play in order to teach students who rely on scholars mate too often in the game. It also forces students to rely on remembering the theory behind the strategies taught so far rather than just memorising the exact moves to make in order to get to a strategic position.

Transfer Chess

To play transfer chess you need four people and two chess boards. The four people are split into two teams; one member of the team plays with black and the other with white. When the member of the white team catches an opponent’s piece they give that piece to their team member who is playing with black. The team member playing with black can then use that piece in their own different game, however they can only place that piece on the board once the square it starts in is open. They can place the piece on the board at any time, even when it is not their turn, providing that its starting square is empty. This game promotes teamwork and strategy; children have to communicate with their team mates about what pieces they need based on what starting squares they have vacant that need filling. Children can also play strategically and hold onto pieces given to them by their team mate, for example, holding a pawn until the king is in danger and then placing it to block an attack and outwit the other player.