How to teach kids chess coordinates

The easiest way to teach kids chess coordinates is to turn the board into a map they move around on, a few minutes at a time. Label the edges, teach one rule (letter first, then number) and then play games where they find, name and touch squares. Five minutes of a game a child asks to play again does more than twenty minutes of a lesson they sit through. This guide is for parents and coaches; if you are learning the board yourself, start with how to learn chess coordinates instead.

Set the board up the right way first

Before any names, check the board. Each player has a dark square in the left hand corner nearest them and a light square in the right hand corner. "Light on the right" is the phrase to teach, and a child can check it before every game. If the near right corner is dark, turn the board a quarter turn.

Then label the edges. Many boards already print letters and numbers around the frame. If yours does not, write a to h on small sticky notes along White's edge, left to right, and 1 to 8 up the left side, starting at White's end. Take the labels off once the child stops looking at them.

The two ideas to teach

Keep the explanation to two sentences. The letters are the files, the columns that run away from you: a to h, left to right from White's side. The numbers are the ranks, the rows across the board: 1 to 8, with 1 nearest White.

Then one rule: letter first, then number. The square is e4, never 4e. It is the same order as a grid reference on a map, if they have met one. Tie it to the board straight away. White's pawns all start on rank 2 and Black's on rank 7. The kings start on e1 and e8. The white queen starts on d1, a light square, and the black queen on d8, a dark square: the queen goes on her own colour.

Give them a few anchor squares and let the rest grow from those. The four corners (a1 dark, h1 light, a8 light, h8 dark) and the four centre squares (d4 and e5 dark, e4 and d5 light) are enough. Every other square is a short walk from one of them.

Games that teach the squares

Pick one game per session. Change it when it stops being fun, not when the timer says so.

• Go to. Give a piece a command: "pawn from e2 to e4", "knight from g1 to f3". The child moves it and says the square it lands on. Both are real opening moves.
• Hide the coin. The child looks away while you put a coin on a square. They turn round and name it. Then swap, and let them check your answer.
• Simon says squares. "Simon says touch c3." They touch it. "Touch f6." If Simon did not say it, they keep their hands still.
• Coordinate bingo. Each player gets a card with nine squares written on it. You call squares; a player who has one on their card finds it on the board and puts a counter on it. Three in a row on the card wins. Keep the calls to the left half of the board (files a to d) for beginners.
• Light or dark. Name a square and they say its colour, then check on the board. Once that is easy, they answer before looking. The square colours guide explains the patterns if you want to teach the why.

Say it out loud

Ask for answers spoken, not just pointed at. Saying "e four" makes the child put the letter first and keeps the two parts together. When they point without speaking, you cannot tell whether they knew the square or found it by counting from the corner.

Short timed rounds

Once the games are easy, add a clock. Thirty seconds, as many squares as they can name, and write the score down. Beating your own score is a better game than beating a sibling. Two or three rounds is a session. Stop while they still want one more.

A screen helps here because it keeps score for you. Name the Square lights up a square and asks for its name, and Find the Square shows a coordinate and asks for a tap. Both are free at every level and start with the a1 to d4 quarter of the board, which suits a beginner. They run in the browser as a guest, with no account. ChessTrainer.ai is for people aged 13 and over, so with a younger child the adult plays the drill and the child answers on a real board: you read out the square on screen, they put a piece on it, and you check. Every drill works by tapping, so the microphone can stay off.

Playing from Black's side

Leave this until White's side is easy. From Black's chair the h file is on the left and rank 8 is nearest. The square names do not move, only the view does: a1 is still a1, now in the far right corner. Expect the scores to drop for a few days. Play the same games with the child sitting on the other side, then mix it up between games, because in real chess they will play both colours.

How to know they have got it

• They name a square without touching the board or counting from a corner.
• They put the letter first every time, without being reminded.
• They can do it from Black's side, not only White's.
• They can follow a short game read aloud, such as "e4, e5, knight f3", by moving the pieces themselves.

Next steps are knight moves and diagonals. Knights jump to squares of the other colour, which makes a good puzzle once the names are solid. After that comes reading moves on paper, covered in chess notation explained.

For coaches with a group

• Teams. Split the class into two teams. Call a square; the first team to name a piece on it, or say it is empty, wins the point. Use a demonstration board everyone can see.
• Human board. Mark an 8 by 8 grid on the floor with tape and label the edges. Call squares and children walk to them. Calling "knight from g1 to f3" works well with a child as the knight.
• Pairs. One partner calls squares, the other finds them, and they swap every minute. Everyone answers at once instead of waiting a turn.

Keep the same rules in every group: light on the right, letter first, answer out loud.