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Last piece standing — Order and working backwards

Ages 8 and up · about 7 minutes · 8by8verse Chess Lab

What it teaches

Sequencing, and solving a problem by thinking from the end backwards.

The story to tell first

In a normal game you choose whether to capture. Here you have no choice — every single move must take a piece — and the puzzle is the ORDER. Capture in the wrong order and two pieces are left staring at each other with nothing to take.

Three questions to ask

• Which piece do you think survives? How could you tell before moving?
• What did the last capture have to be?
• Why does the order matter when the same pieces are taken either way?

Without a screen

Set up four pieces on a corner of a real board so that the puzzle works. Swap boards with a partner and solve theirs.