Stage 1
First Moves
From an empty board to a confident first checkmate.
- Who it is for
- New learners who have never played, or who have only pushed pieces around at home.
- Approximate level
- Absolute beginner · typically ages 5–10 · unrated
- Typical stage duration
- Typically 8–12 weeks
- Recommended format
- 1:1 for very young beginners, small group for ages 8+
Learning outcomes
- • Set up the board correctly every time and name any square
- • Move and capture with every piece confidently
- • Recognise check, checkmate and stalemate without prompting
- • Use castling, promotion and en passant correctly
- • Spot straightforward mate-in-one patterns
Core syllabus
- • Board setup, files, ranks and coordinates
- • How each piece moves and captures
- • Captures and relative piece values
- • Check, checkmate and stalemate
- • Special rules: castling, promotion, en passant
- • Mate-in-one patterns and the back-rank idea
- • Simple rules of a good opening: develop, castle, don't lose pieces
Practice activities
- • Guided mini-games (pawn game, rook endings, piece races)
- • Coordinate naming drills
- • 10–15 mate-in-one puzzles a week
- • One supervised practice game per week
Milestone: Play a full legal game without help and deliver a basic checkmate.