Special Moves: En Passant - Lesson for Preschool, Chapter - Pieces - How They Move and Capture
In the "Special Moves: En Passant" lesson, preschool students will embark on a fascinating journey into the world of chess, focusing on one of the game's unique moves. This lesson is a part of the "Pieces - How They Move and Capture" chapter within the "GAME BASICS" unit, designed to lay a solid foundation for young learners in understanding chess.
Students will learn about the en passant move, a special pawn capture that often surprises new players. Through engaging activities like the "En Passant: Tricky Pawn Capture Worksheet," children will visualize and solve puzzles related to this move, enhancing their problem-solving skills. The "En Passant Bingo Worksheet" introduces a fun, interactive way to reinforce learning, helping students recognize en passant opportunities in various positions. Additionally, the "En Passant: Writing it Down Worksheet" encourages learners to articulate their understanding, improving their chess notation and literacy skills.
Understanding en passant is important because it builds students' strategic thinking and attention to detail. It fosters an early appreciation for the depth and complexity of chess, promoting critical thinking and decision-making skills.
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Activity 1 / Chess: Special Move-en passant
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Activity 2 / En Passant: Tricky Pawn Capture Worksheet
In the game of chess, when a pawn moves two squares from its initial position and goes into the squares controlled by enemy chess pieces, the enemy pawn can easily capture it. The pawn is captured like it has only moved one single square. In chess, this move is called «en passant», which translates into «in passing». The worksheet shows a chessboard with white and black pawns. Ask your child which square the black pawn will land on after capturing the white pawn en passant.
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Activity 3 / En Passant Bingo Worksheet
An En Passant move in chess is a move where an enemy chess piece captures a pawn «in passing». This move can be perfected very easily and in few short steps. To teach your kids more about perfecting the en passant move, use this illustrative worksheet. In the exercise, your kids are expected to look through the pictures and check the ones where the pawn that made a move is in danger of being captured en passant.
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Activity 4 / En Passant: Writing it Down Worksheet
Correctly writing down the moves in a game of chess is a duty that might be well overlooked in your child’s quest to becoming a grand chess master. Proper notation of an en passant capture requires that your child write down the start and end squares of the capturing pawn and put an X between them. For example, d5xe6. Ask your children to look through the worksheet and check the correct notation of the capture pictured.
