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Heat map — Counting and comparing

Ages 7 to 12 · about 6 minutes · 8by8verse Chess Lab

What it teaches

Systematic counting, comparing results, and using data to justify a rule.

The story to tell first

Coaches say “bring your pieces to the centre”. This game lets you prove it with numbers. Around 1475 the queen was given her modern move, and one count shows why the whole game changed.

Three questions to ask

• Why does the knight lose squares near the edge?
• The rook reaches 14 squares from anywhere. What is special about how it moves?
• If you added up the whole knight map and shared it by 64, what would that number tell you?

Without a screen

On a paper board, pupils colour each square by how many squares a knight reaches from it. The picture that appears is the heat map.