This is war!!

In the army there are different types of soldier.

Some are on foot. Some are on horseback.

Some are weak. Some are powerful.

Some will live. Some will die.

That's what happens in wars.

(Don't worry. This is only a pretend war. Pretend wars are good. Real wars are bad.)
This is you.

The smartest, toughest, bravest kid in the universe.

You are going to train to fight in this war.

In this lesson you're going to find out all about the battlefield where you'll be fighting.

Before we go any further, tell me what you'd like me to call you. Type in your name and click the ENTER button.
This is the battlefield.

It's a square made up of a lot of small squares.

If you count them you'll see that there are eight squares going from top to bottom.

There are also eight squares going from left to right.

If you're good at maths you'll be able to work out that there are 64 small squares.

You see the red on the battlefield, Kiddo? That's blood. It could be your blood.
Only joking...!!

You will see that only half the squares are stained with blood.

These squares we call BLACK SQUARES or DARK SQUARES.

The other squares are called WHITE SQUARES or LIGHT SQUARES.

It doesn't matter what colour they are on your screen - or even on your chessboard. That's what we call them.
You will also see that the bottom right hand square is a LIGHT SQUARE.

It's VERY IMPORTANT that you get this right.

If you see someone set up the board with a DARK SQUARE in the right hand corner do something EXTREMELY HORRIBLE to them!

It's easy to remember - WHITE ON THE RIGHT. It rhymes, you see.

If the square on your right is WHITE you've got it RIGHT. If the square on your right is BLACK you LACK brains!!

If the square on your right is LIGHT you're still RIGHT. If the square on your right is DARK you get a BLACK MARK.
You see the lines going across the board from left to right?

These are called RANKS. Remember that word.

And the lines going from top to bottom are called FILES. Don't you ever forget it!

There are also lines of squares going diagonally from corner to corner. Guess what they're called. DIAGONALS! What do you notice about the squares on each DIAGONAL? Yes, they're all the same colour.

Now look round the side of the battlefield.

What do you see? That's right: letters and numbers.

Can you count up to 8? Do you know your alphabet as far as h?

In that case you should be OK.

Now comes the hard bit. Each square has a name, made up of the letter of its file followed by the number of its rank. So the squares in the corners are a1, a8, h1 and h8.

Tell me this, kiddo. How many small squares are there on the battlefield?


60 64 80
When you set up the battlefield, which colour square should be on your right?

White Black Orange & purple spots
Anyone who puts a black square in their right hand corner should be...

Praised Rewarded Shot

The lines running from left to right on the battlefield are called...

Banks Ranks Tanks

The lines running from top to bottom on the battlefield are called...

Smiles Stiles Files

And the next question...

Sorry, that's my mobile ringing.

Oh no! The battlefield's been invaded by aliens!

We're going to need someone to kill them.

It's just about time for my coffee break. Is it OK if I leave you in charge of my super alien-blasting ray gun?

No - my mum won't let me play with guns
No - my teacher says you should be nice to aliens
I don't understand the lesson - can I start again?
You bet! I love killing aliens! Bring 'em on!!
If you look below you'll see a keypad which you can use to launch my super alien-blasting ray gun. Using the keypad, select the alien's location (remember letter first, then number) and press the ENTER button to fire the gun. If you make a mistake you can press the CLEAR button and start again.

Be careful not to touch anything until you see an alien - which will be on the next screen.





Hello again, Kiddo.

I've been watching your progress in this assignment and can now give you your report.
The next thing you have to learn is...

Sorry, my mobile's just gone off again.

"They've done WHAT?!?!?! Oh no!!! I'll have to find someone to do something about it!!"

Bad news. You were too slow killing the aliens. They've left bombs all over the battlefield. I'm too scared to go and clear them up. I think you'll have to do it for me.

No problem - I understand the names of the squares
I'd like to repeat the lesson first please
I'll do it later if you don't mind - I have to go now
No way!! It sounds much too dangerous for me.