Check in Chess and How to Get Out of It
In the ninth stage, your child learns to give check with any piece and to get out of check in three ways: move the king, block the check, or capture the attacking piece. The stage is made up of short videos, explanations and 102 exercises on an interactive board.
What’s in this stage
- What is check in chess — 28 exercises
- Giving check while capturing a piece — 12 exercises
- How to move out of check — 22 exercises
- How to block a check — 19 exercises
- Three ways to get out of check: everything together — 21 exercises
Total: 102 exercises
What is check in chess
Check is an attack on the king. You can never leave your own king in check: you have to deal with it right away. Check is given the same way as an attack on any piece: a rook along a line, a bishop along a diagonal, a knight with a jump, a pawn diagonally. Only the king can’t give check.
Giving check while capturing a piece
Sometimes a piece gives check by capturing an opponent’s piece on the way: one move, two gains.
How to move out of check
The first way to get out of check is to move the king to a neighboring square that isn’t attacked by the opponent’s pieces and isn’t occupied by your own. Sometimes there is only one such square, or none at all.
How to block a check
The second way is to block: put one of your pieces or pawns between the king and the attacking rook, bishop or queen. A check from a knight or a pawn can’t be blocked. And not every piece can block: if a piece is itself shielding the king from another enemy piece, it can’t move off that line. This is called a pin.
Three ways to get out of check: everything together
The third way is to capture the piece giving check, either with another piece or with the king itself, if the checking piece isn’t defended. This also works against a check from a knight or a pawn. In these exercises, your child decides which of the three ways fits. In the next stage: checkmate.