Chest

So yesterday, Matthew (the five year old) wanted me to play Chest with him.  I asked are you saying Chess?  And he said, Chest!  And I said, Chess?  Then I said to no one in particular, I'd spell it out, but you're five.  He pointed to a chess set and said emphatically: Chest!

No, I said, you are too young to play that game, and then I remembered that his Grandmother could beat Karl at Chess when she was five(or maybe younger).  Sure, I'll teach you how to play.

So we got out the board and lined up all the players.  I told Matthew (and now Madilyn who wandered over to see the new game) that the tallest piece was the King.  The king goes on his own color.  (Later Dad said it is the Queen on her own color and one of us was going to look that up, but I digress).  The next tallest was the Queen and she's the most powerful.  She goes next to the King.  On the sides, the players who look like castles are the guards on the edges called Rooks.  Next to them are the horses called Knights.  Next to the King and Queen are the advisors--the Bishops.  In front of everyone in the court are the rest of the people, the pawns, the soldiers.

So we had the board set up and I tried to explain the movement.  No one except the horses can jump over anyone else.  The rooks go in straight lines, but as many spaces as they want if there's no one blocking them.  The bishops go diagonally, again as far as they want if no one is blocking them.  The queen can go in a straight line or diagonally, she's the most powerful.

Madilyn is playing with the pieces and I keep returning them to their spots, but Matthew is hanging on my every word.

Everyone's job is to protect the king, I tell them.  The king can only move one space at a time, and without missing a beat, Matthew says, he's pretty old, isn't he.

Oh yeah, that's Adrienne's grandson alright.

I let the kids chose a player and then went thru that players choice of moves, but Madilyn lost interest quickly and Matthew really hated having any of his players sacrificed--even if it was for the greater good.  I directed a lot of carnage to bring the game to a quick conclusion, because we were late, but golly the King must be pretty old--awesome observation.