Chess Puzzles for Kids: 100 Simple Exercises

The diagrams in the book have been arranged in order from the easiest to the most difficult. At the beginning the child is told which piece to capture, for example a bishop. Then a few chapters later we can slightly raise the level and in chapter 5 the child is asked to capture a piece but without a hint of which one specifically. Because children between the age of 5-6 often do not see check, a full chapter is devoted to defending the king from being placed in check. One chapter is devoted to finding the checkmate in one move. I have also prepared a chapter dedicated to finding a fork and the goal is to find a move other than capturing.

At the end of each chapter there is a friendly "chess critter" which is a reward for the child for correctly solving the tasks from the chapter. You can print a copy of the critter and let your child colour it the way they like. When your child gets a "chess critter" as a prize – it will make them happy and they will treat chess as fun instead of a very complicated and tiring task.

The Author, Maksim Aksanov, wrote this book with the help of his 6 year old daughter. Through working with her, he could see which elements of the game are the most difficult for a child. He prepared a series of diagrams that allow a child to develop smoothly and learn this very difficult game. The basic problem that most or even all children have to face is perceptiveness. There are many different chess pieces and when they all come into play it can be confusing and cause the child to lose their concentration. Most often, children make mistakes such as they don't see a check, they don’t see the possibility of capturing a piece or they don't notice a checkmate in one move.

One thing your child will appreciate most is that playing chess is also great fun and we all want our children to develop through play.