No Stress Chess

P loves puzzles. Loves them. He's done one-hundred-piece ones by himself since he was three, and lately he's wanted to tackle a one-hundred-fifty-piece irregular puzzle (with a little help). Awhile back someone made the comment to me that kids who like puzzles tend to like chess. Well, Papa and I don't know how to play, so I wondered how we could gift him a chess board and not be able to explain the rules.

Enter No Stress Chess. I found the game on Amazon, with all the requisite instructions and all-important reviews. We gambled on it and gave it to P for Christmas. And we found that this really is a no stress chess game!

Hmmmm...

Basically, the first level of the game involves drawing cards that explain what the pieces are and where they can move. The chess game largely becomes, in effect, a game of luck--you move a specific piece based on the card you draw for each move. And over time, you learn what each piece can do. Bishops can move diagonally as far as you want to take them. Kings can move one space in any direction. Knights can jump two any direction and one space down (or up). I have actually learned this from playing with P this month.

Well, P quickly caught on, and now he loves chess. Loves it. He asks us at least three times a day, "Can you play chess with me?" He enjoys playing so much that S started sitting on our laps and learning, too, because that's P's game of choice any given day, and that's the way S could be involved. Yesterday, S started identifying the pieces before I could touch them: "Here's the Queen." Today, I caught P playing by himself. He was only playing the black pieces, but still.

We--especially Papa--have really enjoyed bonding with P over this game. P's learning good sportsmanship, strategy, and the thrills of learning something unfamiliar. And it's really relaxing to play: slow, thoughtful, methodical. (Papa and I like to do it as a break, so P usually doesn't have to beg too hard.) And educational! What's not to love? So kiss your stress goodbye--play some chess!

Hmmmm...

"How about this one, Daddy?"

"I think I'll move here."

Daddy explaining chess board consequences.

P: "Mom! Why don't you play?" Papa: I think I can checkmate...