PJCC Chess Academy
The path
Open Auston's Bootcamp to see the lessons. The rest of the halls open as they're built.
♟ Free-play boarda quiet board to think on — no rules, no score
🏫 For teachers & parentsworksheets · certificates · class codes · progress export
The student's name below flows onto every printout.
Generate a code, hand it out. (Local — no accounts.)
Save progress to a file, or load it back.
Paste a certificate's CTA-… code to confirm it.
1 · Coordinate Quest
The board has 8 files (a–h, left to right) and 8 ranks (1–8, bottom to top). Each square has a name like e4.
- Write the name of the square where the white king starts: ____________
- Name three squares on the e-file: ________ ________ ________
- Name three squares on the 4th rank: ________ ________ ________
- On an empty board, a knight on g1 can jump to f3, h3, or ________ — three squares in all
- Colour the square d5. Is it light or dark? ____________
- Bonus: which two squares are in the corners on White's side? ________ and ________
Then play Notation Blitz in the Academy to check your answers at speed!
2 · How the Pieces Move
Draw arrows from each piece to every square it could move to from the centre of an empty board.
- The rook (♖) moves in straight lines. How many squares can it reach from d4? ______
- The bishop (♗) moves on diagonals. What colour squares does a bishop on c1 always stay on? ____________
- The queen (♕) moves like a rook and a bishop. From d4, can she reach h8? ______
- The knight (♘) jumps in an L. List all squares a knight on d4 can reach: ______________________
- The pawn (♙) moves forward but captures diagonally. From e2, where can it move on its first turn? ____________
- Bonus: why can a bishop never visit every square on the board? ____________
Practice the knight's jump in Sand Mine Depths and Knight's Tour.
3 · First Tactics
A fork attacks two pieces at once. A pin traps a piece in front of a more valuable one. A skewer is a pin in reverse.
- What do we call one piece attacking two enemy pieces at the same time? ____________
- Which piece is famous for forking the king and queen with its L-jump? ____________
- If a knight forks the king and a rook, which must move — and what do you win? ____________
- A pin against the king is special because the pinned piece legally cannot move off the line of the ____________.
- Draw a fork: place a white knight so it attacks the black king and a black rook at the same time. (Use the back of the page.)
- Bonus: name the three tactics above in order of how often you think they appear: ____________
Then prove it in Fork in the Road — solve 3 to finish the lesson.
Teacher Progress Sheet
Date: ______________ · Instructor signature: ____________________
A 6-Week Curriculum — Teacher Plan
A ready-to-run unit. Each week pairs a short lesson with an in-Academy game and a worksheet page.
| Week | Focus | Faculty · Game | Homework |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The board & coordinates | Auston · Notation Blitz | Worksheet 1 |
| 2 | How the pieces move | Auston · Sand Mine / Knight's Tour | Worksheet 2 |
| 3 | Openings — the first moves | Argus · The Pirc Protocol | Play one line |
| 4 | Tactics — forks & pins | The Rival · Fork in the Road | Worksheet 3 · solve 3 |
| 5 | Strategy — the long game | Maxwell · Siege on Chess City | Play one siege |
| 6 | Board vision | Princess · Blindfold Puzzles | Solve 5 blind |
Belts: a new belt every ~3–4 lessons (see the live ladder on the Academy page). Print each student's certificate at the end — the code on it verifies right on the site.