Lesson Introduction
Put down that fancy video game controller for one minute and let's use English to learn about the world's greatest strategy game: Chess! Join Catherine and Marco as they match wits in this elementary English podcast and teach us about the different pieces of the game. Checkmate!

Daddy:   Bobby! Come here, look what I got you!
Bobby:   What is that?
Daddy:   A chess board! Daddy is going to teach you how to play!
Bobby:   Cool!
Daddy:   Ok, each player gets one pieces. You can be the white ones and play with the black pieces Now. in the front you, set up the pawns Those. are the least valuable pieces and can only move one space forward When. you are about to capture another piece it, can move one space diagonally .
Bobby:   What about all these other pieces?
Daddy:   See this one that looks like a tower? called the rook The. one with the tall hat is called the bishop See. this little horsey This? is called the knight a, very important piece so best to not let your opponent capture it .
Bobby:   And these two? They are husband and wife?
Daddy:   he's! he's the queen and the king If. the other player captures your king he, will say Check Mate "and" the game is over this! sound fun ?
Bobby:   Nah! This is boring! gonna go play Killer Zombies on my PlayStation !

diagonally  on a diagonal, forward and to the left or right
set up  make ready for use
valuable  very useful or helpful
capture  to take
pawn  the weakest piece in chess; a person or group without much power
boring  not interesting
Check Mate  describes situation in which king cannot move
chess  a game in which each player moves 16 pieces across a board and tries to capture        the opponent's king  king  the final and most important piece in chess
king  the final and most important piece in chess
knight  a useful piece in chess
bishop  a piece in chess that can only move diagonally
rook  a piece in chess that can only move along straight lines

diagonally

►Susan lives diagonally across the street from us.
► Diane sits diagonally from me at work.
► The bishop is a piece that can move diagonally as many spaces as it wants.

set up

► Help me set up my new home theater system.
►We work today because the workers are setting up the network .
► We are setting everything up for the party tonight. gonna be fun !

valuable

► His house was furnished with valuable antique furniture.
► The witness provided valuable information which led to the apprehension of the murderer.
► All my valuables were stolen from my home last night.

capture

► I have captured almost all your pieces! You will lose!
► Oh no! You captured my queen!
► I believe the police finally captured that murderer !

pawn

► He used Sherry as a pawn in his evil game
► Germania was an underdeveloped nation that was a pawn in international politics.
► The pawn is the least valuable piece on the chess board, but it is a very important piece