How does a bishop move in chess?
Diagonals only, as many squares as it likes, and it cannot jump.
What goes wrong when you teach it
The colour trap. A child will spend a minute trying to move a light-squared bishop onto a dark square and conclude the piece is broken. Do not pre-empt this — let the attempt happen and then name what they discovered. A rule a child has just proved to themselves does not need repeating.
How to explain it
The thing to point out is the one children never notice on their own: a bishop never changes colour. Put it on a light square and it will stand on light squares for the entire game. Ask the child to try to get it onto a dark square — the failed attempt teaches it better than the rule does.
What to expect at each age
| Age | What a child can do with the bishop |
|---|---|
| 4–6 | At four, one bishop and one target square is plenty; the colour rule can wait. |
| 7+ | At seven the two-bishop pair starts to make sense as a team covering both colours. |
The ten steps we teach it in
This is the actual sequence from the Chezzo app — the 10 lessons of Bishop World, in order, exactly as a child hears them. It works just as well with a real board and no app at all.
- This is the bishop. It slides on the slanted lines. Slide it to the star!
- One long slide across the board. Reach the star!
- Two slides this time. Zig, then zag!
- Collect both stars on the long road!
- A friend is in the way! Bishops cannot jump. Find another road.
- The bishop captures by sliding into a piece. Catch the pawn!
- Two pawns on the same road. Munch, munch!
- Two bishops, two pawns. Each bishop has its own colours!
- A little maze! Slide around your friend to the star.
- The big bishop feast! Catch every pawn.
That is why each side starts with two bishops: one for the light squares, one for the dark. Lose one and half the board becomes invisible to you.
Practise the bishop on a real board
- Each piece gets its own world, in the order on this page
- The child moves the piece themselves — an illegal move simply will not go
- Spoken aloud, so a pre-reader needs no help from you