Special Moves: Promotion - Lesson for Preschool, Chapter - Pieces - How They Move and Capture
In the "Special Moves: Promotion" lesson, preschool students embark on an exciting journey through the fundamentals of chess, specifically focusing on the unique ability of a pawn to transform into a more powerful piece. This lesson is a part of the "Pieces - How They Move and Capture" chapter within the "GAME BASICS" unit, designed to introduce young learners to the intricate world of chess in an engaging and accessible manner.
Through activities such as the "Chess: Special Move-promotion," "Promoting a Pawn Worksheet," "Promotion Practice Worksheet," and "Writing it Down Worksheet," students will learn about the conditions under which a pawn can be promoted, the choices available for promotion, and the strategic advantages this special move can offer. This concept not only enhances their understanding of chess rules but also encourages critical thinking, decision-making, and planning ahead—skills that are invaluable both on the chessboard and in daily life.
Understanding pawn promotion is essential because it introduces students to the concept of transformation and improvement, teaching them that small and seemingly insignificant pieces have the potential for great power and impact.
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Activity 1 / Chess: Special Move-promotion
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Activity 2 / Promoting a Pawn Worksheet
Although pawns are fairly simple and restricted chess pieces when it comes to movements, skilled players can maneuver the pawns to reach the other end of the chessboard. If a pawn reaches the last rank, the player gets to replace it with any of the more powerful pieces- a queen, knight etc. also, if a pawn captures an enemy chess piece on the last rank, the pawn gets promoted. Teach your kids all these and more with this fun worksheet.
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Activity 3 / Promotion Practice Worksheet
When a pawn makes it all the way to the last rank, the pawn can be promoted to more powerful chess pieces such as a queen, bishop, knight or rook. Also, when a pawn captures an enemy chess piece at the last rank, the pawn piece can be promoted to a higher piece. Now that your kids know these rules of chess, use this worksheet to practice some of their pawn promotion skills. Ask them to check all the pictures where the pawns are correctly promoted.
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Activity 4 / Writing it Down Worksheet
In order to properly document the promotion of a pawn, we add the «=» sign and the name of the piece to which the pawn was promoted to the move notation. For example, a pawn moving from the e7 to the e8 position will be noted as e7-e8=Q, and others done just like that. Now, ask your child to look at the chessboard and take note of the pawns movements. Check the correct notation of the move shown.
