Bishop level
Low intermediate · ages 5–7 · 20 topics
Ready for this when
Plays a whole game with a plan rather than one move at a time.
Working towards
Judge a pawn structure and convert an extra pawn.
The age bands overlap because children do. A quick five-year-old and a careful seven-year-old can both belong here; what matters is what they can already do, not the number.
At this level a child stops playing move by move and starts playing for something. The word for it is a plan, and the first real plans come from the pawns: which files are open, which pawn is weak, which square nobody can defend.
It is also the age where their own games become the best material they have. One game reviewed properly teaches more than an hour of puzzles, which is why writing the moves down starts to matter here.
What practice looks like
- Twenty to thirty minutes, four or five days a week.
- Half tactics, half a slow game or an endgame position played out against you.
- Review one of their own games a week, from the scoresheet, looking for the move where it changed.
Ready for the next level when
- Writes the moves down for a whole game.
- Can say why they made a move, in a sentence, without prompting.
- Wins a king and pawn endgame a pawn up.
- Notices an open file and puts a rook on it.
For the grown-up
- Review after the disappointment has passed, not in the car. The scoresheet keeps until tomorrow.
- Ask them to find the losing move themselves before you say anything.
- This is a good age for a first tournament, at a rapid time control.
Tactics
- Double CheckDouble check ignores material. Give away anything you like on that move, as long as both checks land.
- X-Ray AttackBefore deciding a square is defended, look along the line past the defender — your own piece may be supporting it from behind.
- DeflectionAsk what each enemy piece is guarding. The one holding your mating square is the one to deflect.
- DecoyFind the square where your knight would fork king and queen. Then ask what you could sacrifice to put the king there.
- Boden's MateTwo bishops working on different colours can cover every square around a king. When the king's own pieces block the rest, that is mate.
- Arabian MateA knight near the corner and a rook next to the king is mate. Remember the shape: knight on f6, rook to h7, king on h8.
- Anastasia's MateA knight on e7 and a rook coming down the h-file can trap a king on h7. Its own pawn on g7 does half the work for you.
Position and strategy
- Space AdvantageWhen your pawns are further forward, do not trade pieces. The player with less room wants trades, so do not help.
- Backward PawnsA pawn with both neighbours in front of it is stuck. It cannot be defended by another pawn, so pieces have to babysit it.
- Good vs. Bad BishopYour bishop only uses one colour of square. Try not to put your pawns on that colour, or the bishop has nowhere to go.
- Doubling RooksTwo rooks on the same open line are far stronger than one. Put the second one behind the first.
- SimplificationWhen you are winning, swap pieces. Fewer pieces means fewer ways to go wrong, and your extra piece counts for more.
Endgames
- Queen vs. Pawn on 7thA queen usually beats a pawn on the seventh rank. Check the king until it has to stand in front of its own pawn, then bring your king one square closer.
- Philidor PositionA pawn down in a rook endgame, put your king in front of the pawn and your rook on the third rank. It is a draw if you keep both.
- Minor Piece EndgamesBefore trading into a bishop endgame, check which colour the promotion square is. If your bishop cannot touch it, an extra rook's pawn is only a draw.
- Knight vs. PawnA knight can catch a passed pawn if it gets to a square in front of it. Count the moves before you decide it is too far.
Openings and planning
- Pawn Structure MemoryLook at the pawns after the opening and remember the shape. The shape tells you the plan much better than the move order does.
- Gambit PlayA gambit trades a pawn for speed. If you take a gambit pawn, give it back later to finish developing rather than clinging to it.
- Evaluating PositionsWhen you finish developing, stop and check: material, both kings, the pawns, and which of your pieces is doing the least.
- Transitioning to MiddlegameWhen everything is out and your king is castled, stop developing and make a plan. Ask which of your pieces is worst and where the pawn break is.
Questions parents ask
- When should a child play their first tournament?
- Once they can play a whole game without help and cope with losing one. Rapid events are the right first step: long enough to think, short enough not to exhaust them.
- Is a coach worth it at this level?
- It is the first level where a coach clearly pays for itself, because the work is now about judgement rather than rules, and judgement is hard to learn from an app.
All levels
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