Okemos Chess Clubs
Skills Testing Procedures for Testers
Revised September, 2007

List of Tests:
A. How the pieces move
B. Value of the pieces
C. Define check and checkmate
D. Castling rules and en passant
E. Standard Opening
F. 2-Rook Checkmate
G. King and Queen checkmate
H. 4-move checkmate and how to defend against it
I. Rules of Draws

Specific testing guidelines

A. How the pieces move
Put each piece on the board 1 at a time, and in the order listed below. Ask the student how they move.
Acceptable answers:

1. Rook— horizontal and vertical, but if they don’t know those words, back and forth and up and down is ok too.

2. Bishop—diagonal. Ask: can a bishop that starts out on white go to a green square.
3. Queen-- horizontal and vertical and diagonal, or the alternate answer in #1 for a rook. Do NOT let them say the queen can go anywhere. If they say that, move the queen to a random square, eg e1 to c6, and say, can the queen do that? Hopefully this will get them to state the answer correctly.
4. King—any direction, but just one square. If they answer horizontal and vertical and diagonal, say, is the King just like the Queen then?
5. Knight—capital letter “L” is acceptable. Put the knight on a center square. They need to show you 2 places the knight can go. A common mistake is to move up 3 and over 1, or up 2 and over 2, so watch for this mistake.

6. Pawn—straight ahead only (or some answer that means the same thing, like “up the board”). Ask them what the pawn can do special on its first move (move 2 squares). Ask them how the pawn captures (diagonally). Ask them if a pawn can move backwards. Ask them what happens when a pawn gets to the end of the board (several answers are acceptable—if they say something like “you can get a queen if you have lost your queen” I am not taking off points for not knowing that you can have more than 1 queen). We do NOT discuss en passant here.

Passing grade—they need to how ALL of the pieces move to pass this test. It is ok to help them, like with the knight. But if you think they really do NOT know how at least one piece moves, even after helping them with the answer, they cannot pass the test.

B. Value of the pieces
They need all the answers correct to pass this test. If they make a mistake, like say the bishop is 4 points, you can say, “are you sure” to get them to re-think their answer and give them a second chance.
Q=9, R=5, B=3, N=3, P=1, not necessary to discuss the King

C. Define check and checkmate
1. Ask them to define check. For many kids, you will have to draw the answer out of them. They will say something like “your king is in danger” and you will say “what do you mean, your king is in danger”. The goal is to get them to say something like “your king can be taken on the next move” or “a piece is attacking your king” or anything close that demonstrates they know what check is.
2. Ask them the 3 ways to get out of check (move your king, block, capture attacking piece). If they do not know the word “block” that is ok, ie if they say something like “put a piece in the way” or anything that shows they know the answer. You can help them with a visual example. For example, if they forget capturing, put a bishop on a4, king on d1, and rook on a1, and ask them “what could the rook do to stop check”.
3. Ask them to define checkmate. The best definition is “your king is in check and cannot get out of check by any of the 3 ways that you can get out of check.” This is why we do steps 1 and 2 of this test first. I will accept any answer that demonstrates they know what checkmate is. I will NOT accept the following:
a. Your king is surrounded. If they say that, surround the king with pieces of his own color, and ask them if that is checkmate, and ask them to try again.
b. You can’t move anywhere. This does not count blocking and capturing the checking piece. Put a queen next to a king and show them the king cannot move anywhere and ask if this is checkmate. They should be able to realize that the king can just capture the queen.
c. Other incomplete or absurd answers. The goal is to draw out the answer, not to just mark the student wrong. But if the student really does not know what checkmate is, they cannot pass this test.
4. Put a White King on h1, a Black King on g3, and Black Queen on f2 (classic stalemate position). Ask the student if this is checkmate. I have already shown them this position and told them it is stalemate, and a tie game. The goal of this item is for the student to realize you cannot be in checkmate if you are not in check. If they say it is checkmate, ask them again to define checkmate, and see if you can get them to realize why the position is not checkmate.

To pass this test, they need to know 1,2, and 3. If you have to help them with #2, that is ok, because they need to understand #2 before they can understand and give a definition of checkmate. It is ok if they do not completely understand stalemate. I want you to allow a range of answers on this test. As long as the student can demonstrate to you they know what check and checkmate are, I will not be picky with the words they use.

D. Castling rules and en passant
1. Set up a King on e1 and a Rook on h1 and ask the student to castle
2. Set up a King on e1 and a Rook on a1 and ask the student to castle
3. Ask the student to state the rule of how to castle “move the king 2 squares toward the rook and move the rook around the king” (or “move the rook to the other side of the king”, anything that shows they know the rule)
4. Tell the student there are 5 rules about when you cannot castle. 3 involve check and 2 involve moving pieces. Ask them to name the 5 rules (castling out of check, castling thru check, castling into check, moving the rook, moving the king). Since these rules are not likely to be encountered very much by beginning students, it is ok to help them. For example, put the King on e1 and the Bishop on b4 and ask if white can castle. Same with putting the bishop on c4 for castling thru check and d4 for castling into check.
5. En passant. I do not really expect the students to remember en passant, but it is a good opportunity for us to teach it again. You need to teach it in exactly this way:
   a. set up a white pawn on b2 and a black pawn on c4
   b. move the white pawn to b3. Ask the student if the black pawn can capture the white pawn.
   c. now move the pawn back to b2, then move it to b4 in 1 move, and show the student that the black pawn can move to b3 and remove the white pawn AS IF the white pawn has moved to b3
   d. tell the student that black has to do en passant on his first chance or not at all.
   e. set up a white pawn on d5 and a black pawn on e7, and show en passant again.
   f. show the student an example of what is NOT en passant. Put pawns on e2 and d7, then move e2-e4, d7-d5, e4-e5, then pawn on d5 goes to e4 for en passant, and tell them that you CANNOT do en passant that way.
   g. this is probably enough to absorb on en passant.

To pass this test, you need to be able to do 1-3. The rest is just instruction, if they do not know it.

E. Standard Opening
We know the standard opening as:

1. e4 e5

2. Nf3 Nc6

3. Bc4 Bc5

4. castles Nf6

5. Nc3 castles

Start by playing white against the student. This is easier, because black just follows along. If they stumble, you can tell them which piece to move (but not where to move it, unless they are completely stuck).

Second, switch sides and have the student play white.

To pass this test, I will allow you to help them the first time thru when they are black. If you have to help them with more than 1 move on the second time when they are playing white, they do not pass.

F. 2 Rook Checkmate

Set up the board with black rooks on h8 and g7, and a white king on e5 as below:

As you know, there are 2 strategies of the 2-rook checkmate:

1. Leap Frog

2. Run Away (cheetah power)

Tell the student that they have the first move. Make sure they understand that one of the rooks needs to move to row 6 to protect that row from invasion by the King. If they move a rook to row 5 and put you in check, remind them that they need to put a rook on row 6 as a guard. Then move the king to d5. Make sure they bring their other rook to row 5 to check the king. If they move the rook on row 6 to row 5, remind them that this rook is the guard, and the other rook is the attacker.

Then move the king to e4. Make sure their rook on row 6 moves to row 4 for check. Then move to f3. Depending on which rook they moved first, you might be attacking their rook. If so, they need to move that rook to a4. Or possibly move the other rook to a5, depending on the position.

Then keep going until they checkmate you. In certain positions they could check you with one rook on the a file and one on the h file, but if they do not understand that, and have to do their cheetah power twice to achieve checkmate, that is ok.

To pass this test, they must understand the 2 principles of this checkmate. If they are shaky the first time, and you have to help them do the checkmate, have them do it a second time, to make sure they understand it.

G. King and Queen Checkmate

Set up the board with black king on g8, black queen on h8, and a white king on d5.

As you know, there are 2 strategies of the king & queen checkmate:

1. In Your Face

2. One Diagonal Square.

The goal is to get the white king to the first row. The queen will always remain

1 row away from the king, and the king will always remain 2 rows away

Tell the student that they have the first move. Make sure they understand that the queen needs to move to h6 to protect that row from invasion by the King. Then move the King to e5.

Make sure they move their king to row 7 (they should move to f7, but if they move to g7 or h7, that is ok). Then move the king to d5. They should move their king along row 7 toward the white king. If they make some other move, remind them that the queen needs to be one row away from the king, and the king needs to chase down the other king until they can get “in your face”.

When their king has almost reached your king, put your king in opposition, (eg if their king is on e7 and your king is on d5, move your king to e5 to see if they know “in your face”. If they move anywhere other than Qe6, correct them, and show them “in your face”. Then move the king to d4, and make sure they move Qf5. If they move anywhere else, remind them of the principle of “1 diagonal square”. Then move the king to c4, and make sure their king moves to d6. You can either move Kd4 or Kb4, as you choose. Please try to avoid the “king on the edge” scenario, I am not trying to trick them with stalemate positions in this test. Make sure that if they get the opposition, and you move away, that they do not go for the opposition again, that they understand that as soon as they achieve the opposition, even if you move away, they can achieve “in your face”.

When the queen gets “in your face” on row 3, make sure to move the king to a potential stalemate position, eg king is on d4, queen is on e3, king is on e2, then move Kd1, to make sure they do NOT move Kd3, creating stalemate.

H. 4-move checkmate and how to defend against it

Set up the board in the starting position, and have the student be white.

1. Make sure they play e4, and respond e5.
2. Make sure they play Bc4, and respond Bc5.
3. Make sure they play either Qf3 or Qh5. Then ask them the defense for the move they made.
4. Then make the queen move they did NOT make, and ask them the defense for the move they made.

The acceptable defenses are Nf6 to Qf3 and Qe7 to Qh5. I will also accept Qf6 to Qh5, but show them if they move Qe7, they can play Nf6 next move, forcing the queen away.

To pass this test, they must know the defense to both Qf3 and Qh5. You are allowed to help them by saying “it is a knight move” or “it is a queen move”, but that is as far as you can go. Also, they must know the first 3 moves for white to pass this test.

I. Rules of Draws

I want the students to know the 3 kinds of draws:
1. insufficient material
2. stalemate
3. 3-time repetition of the position

1. start by asking the student what a draw is. The answer I am looking for is “ a tie game” or “nobody wins”

2. insufficient material—set up 2 kings on the board and ask them “if it is white’s turn, who wins”. Make sure they say nobody. Also set up a white King and bishop against a black king (in random places on the board) and ask them who wins. If they say white, tell them that if white can win, white must be able to checkmate black. Ask them to show you the checkmate. If they try checkmate, show them that white can stalemate black, but not checkmate black. Do the same with a king and knight against a king.
3. stalemate—set up a white king on h1, black king on g3, black queen on f2. Ask the student if this is checkmate. If they say yes, ask them if the king is in check, and explain stalemate is a position where the king is not in check, but cannot move anywhere without being in check, and white cannot move any other pieces either, and that stalemate is a draw.

4. 3-time repetition of a position. Set up a black queen on d3, white king on d1, black king on e3. Move the white king to c1, then black queen to c3, then white king to d1, then black queen to d3, then white king to c1, then black queen to c3. Ask the student if they know how many times the position has to be repeated before it is a draw. Make sure they know that (1) EVERY piece has to be in the same position, it is not enough that the black queen and white king are in the same position and (2) the position does NOT need to repeat 3 times in a row, just 3 times in the game.
5. 50-move rule. Ask the student is they know how many moves they have to checkmate someone before it is a draw. Make sure they answer 50 (give them 2 chances to get it right). Then tell them there are 2 special rules when you get to start over counting at one: (1) if a pawn moves and (2) if a capture takes place.

To pass this test, they must have an understanding of all items 1-5. It is ok to assist them with some of the material, (eg help them if they think a king and bishop can checkmate a king). If they do not know the exact number in #4 and 5 (ie 3 and 50) that is ok, just tell them the answer. Passing this test is kind of subjective, I do not expect students will get everything correct, so you will have to evaluate if the student really knows what a draw is, and all of the rules about draws. Although I do NOT want you to pass the student if they are clueless about draws, you CAN pass them if you think they know that a draw is a tie game and have at least a basic understanding of all of the types of draws.