Lesson Plan 5: Piece Values & Trading

Deciding When a Swap Is a Good Idea

Duration

45 Minutes

Week

Week 5 of 16

Prerequisites

Lessons 1-4

Learning Objectives

Students will state the standard value of each piece
Students will count the material on both sides of a position
Students will judge whether a given trade gains or loses material
Students will explain why the king has no number

Materials Needed

Chess sets (1 per 2 students)
Demonstration board
Value cards or a poster showing 1/3/3/5/9
Counters for keeping score

The Values to Teach

Pawn = 1
Knight = 3
Bishop = 3
Rook = 5
Queen = 9
King = the game: he has no value because you can never trade him

Lesson Timeline

5 min

Review & Hook

Hold up a knight and a rook. "If I give you my knight and you give me your rook, who is happier?" Collect answers, then say the class will be able to answer that for any swap by the end of the lesson.

10 min

The Values

Introduce the numbers one piece at a time, pawn upward
Explain where the numbers come from: roughly how many squares a piece controls and how often it is useful
Stress that the king has no number because he is never exchanged
Say the honest caveat out loud: these are a guide, not a law — a knight on a great square can be worth more than a rook in a corner

10 min

Counting Material

Set up three positions on the demo board and count both sides together
Teach the shortcut: cancel equal pieces first, then add what is left
Ask "who is ahead, and by how much?" rather than "who is winning?"

10 min

Good Trade, Bad Trade

Show a trade of bishop for knight: even
Show rook for bishop: a gain of two for one side, called winning the exchange
Show queen for rook: a loss of four — ask what would have to be true for it to be worth it
Introduce the one that overrules the numbers: a trade that leads to checkmate is always good

8 min

Trading Game

Partners play the counting game below.

2 min

Wrap-Up

One question: "Name a trade you would refuse even though the numbers are equal." Any sensible answer earns the point.

Trading Game Rules

Set up a normal game but remove both queens
Players play ten moves each, then stop and count material aloud
The player who is ahead on material scores a point; equal scores half each
Restart and play again, this time trying to win material by attacking undefended pieces
Finish by asking each pair which trade decided their game

Teacher Tip: Insist on the phrase "is it defended?" before every capture. Most lost material at this age is not a bad trade; it is a capture of something that was protected, which turns a free piece into a losing swap.

Assessment

Observation: during the trading game, listen for correct counting
Quick check: show a position and ask who is ahead and by how much
Exit question: "Is rook for knight and pawn a good trade? Explain your answer in one sentence."

Common Mistakes to Address

Counting pieces instead of values — three pawns is not the same as a knight
Capturing anything that can be captured, defended or not
Treating the values as absolute and refusing a strong sacrifice
Forgetting to recount after a trade and assuming the lead is still there

Differentiation

Support: Give each child a value card to hold beside the board, and let them stack captured pieces in two piles so the difference is visible.
Challenge: Ask when two rooks are better than a queen, and when three pawns are better than a knight. Accept any answer with a reason attached.