Welcome back. Perhaps you'd like to tell me what you'd like me to call you this lesson.
If you want to win your battles the most important skill you need to learn is HOW TO LOOK AHEAD.

I hope you understand about CAPTURES AND EXCHANGES

Yes, they're easy to understand.

No, I didn't understand them.
Here's a question for you, kiddo.

You're walking along the road when an evil alien attacks you. Or the school bully. Or a cruel and violent chess teacher. What would you do?

I'm not scared. I'll kill him before he kills me.

No problem. I'll get a friend to help me.

I'm scared. I'll run away as fast as I can.


The right answer is that it depends.

In chess you have to make the same sort of decision all the time.

The only way you can make the right choice is to LOOK AHEAD.

Looking ahead isn't easy. You have to practise a lot and work hard to learn how to do it.
In this CAPTURE THE FLAG position you're the white pawn on e4.

You have a choice: kill the evil alien on d5 or run away to e5.

Which are you going to do? If you get it wrong you get whacked and your army loses the battle.

I'm a hero. I'm going to kill him.

I'm a coward. I'm going to run away.
In this position you're right to run away.

If you kill the evil alien on d5 his friend on e6 is going to kill you.

Then your army will have no moves, so will lose the battle.

But if you run away to e5 then it's Black's turn. They have no moves so you win the battle.

Sometimes it's best to run away from danger!

This time the position is slightly different. But you still have to make the same decision.

You have the same choice: kill the evil alien on d5 or run away to e5.

Which are you going to do? If you get it wrong you get whacked and your army loses the battle.

I'm a hero. I'm going to kill him.

I'm a coward. I'm going to run away.
This time it's the hero who wins the battle! If you kill the guy on d5 you'll get killed by the guy on e6. It's an EXCHANGE, remember. One soldier from each army gets killed.

But then the white pawn on h4 moves to h5, and, because Black has no moves, the White army wins the game.

But if you run away to e5 instead, the black pawn on h6 will move to h5 and White will have no moves.

Sometimes in life you have to be a hero! By giving up your life you helped your army win the battle.

I've changed the position again. Look at the h-file.

For the third time you have to decide: kill the evil alien on d5 or run away to e5.

Which are you going to do? If you get it wrong you get whacked and your army loses the battle.

I'm a hero. I'm going to kill him.

I'm a coward. I'm going to run away.
But here you win by running away! Let's go through it together and work it out.

Suppose first of all you capture the enemy pawn on d5. Then his pawn on e6 captures you. You have to move from h3 to h4. He has to move from h6 to h5. You have no moves, so you lose.

Now see what happens if you run away. You move to e5. He moves from h6 to h5. You move from h3 to h4. He has no moves, so you win.

This time if you try to be a hero you lose!
That's the end of the lesson, kiddo.


THINKING AHEAD is the most important thing you have to do in chess, and also one of the hardest things to learn. You now have to do a REALLY HARD EXAM to see how good you are at THINKING AHEAD.



Fantastic! I like a challenge!

Can I repeat the lesson first?

I'll do it later - I have to go now

No thanks - I'd feel bad if I failed