I got a copy of Story Time Chess for my kid for Christmas. I took a bit of a gamble on it since I wasn’t how receptive she would be since she was on the lower end of the age range. She had played some games, but tended to lose interest quickly. Even classics like Candy Land and similar didn’t work. Story Time Chess has changed that paradigm. So far, we’ve played at least a game (or mini game) almost every night since it arrived.
Story Time Chess is an amazing set for teaching your child how to play chess. It includes a chess board, a somewhat standard set (see below for more), little figure cards to make each piece a character, and a book which gives back story to the characters. Every piece has a reason it moves the way it does and little short phrases to help kids remember how pieces move.
I found the system to be extremely efficient for teaching my child by just following the book. She was obsessed with “Queen Bella” and “King Chomper” but also curious about how each piece moved differently. It took a couple weeks for her to get to where she could play a game, but she understands the movements and the general goal of the game.
Let’s go over the system, why it works, and a review on the quality of the set.
The System
This set works because it personifies each piece and gives them an identity. Your child won’t just memorize how pieces move, they get a story behind how and why a character moves. King Chomper’s pockets are so full of food he can only move a step at a time. Queen Bella has to rush everywhere to help run the kingdom. The knights (Clip and Clop) “gallop, gallop, step to the side” and can jump over pieces because of a squirrel. It’s goofy and it’s fun which makes it memorable.
Each piece is introduced and then there are mini games to reinforce what you learn. King Chomper loves food, so he has pizza which falls in his garden he has to pick up. King Shaky loves gemstones so he does the same. The bishops rush around in diagonals because they are trapeze artists and similar.
Each mini game is tailored to help a child internalize what a piece does and give it a reason (outside of “because that’s how the game is played”). The mini games build in complexity and eventually work in other pieces and similar to get a taste of a real game. By the end of the book, a kid can play a basic game minus things like promotion and castling (for the first set).
There are add on sets which add promotion and similar (the second level), and a third set which adds strategy and piece values. I bought all three together as it was a little cheaper than ordering separately (not available as of writing, but the individual sets are a little cheaper).
Why It Works
The story aspect really helps draw your child into learning about chess. It creates a world and gives explanations to what they’re doing. On top of it, there are times my kid just wanted to hear the stories again and again which caused her to learn the rules.
The whole goal of it is to make every bit of chess fun or provide smaller games so that a child can slowly acquire the rules. Most kids chess sets have a little mini game or two then just throw everything out all at once. This set has a staged approach which really helped my daughter internalize how to play.
The mini games build in depth starting with very simple games to more complex tasks which build off of things in the story. The bishops Bea and Bop each like green or white (the colors on this board) and were in the circus as trapeze artists which explains why they move the way they do.
It includes a double sided board with one side tied into the story, plus a guide to how to put the pieces, and another more traditional board for playing standard chess. While reading the stories, my kid only wanted the story side, but once we finished she preferred the aesthetic of the plain board.
The flexibility of the system and the raw volume of learning material makes it extremely effective. I read every story to her dozens of times because she loved hearing them. They are a little absurd like most children’s stories, but they reinforce chess efficiently. All of this together makes it almost impossible for a child not to learn chess with this set.
Quality
The set is good quality overall. From the box to the board to the pieces, everything feels solid. The board is thick cardboard of some kind and feels extremely dense and hefty. Each piece is dense ABS which can take some abuse. The little inserts for the pieces are resilient and high quality.
I expected that most things in the set would be okay at best, but I was genuinely surprised at how solid everything was. From the print quality to the bags for pieces, everything is well made and just feels solid. Most games I’ve bought just feel cheap anymore, but not this set.
The book is bright and glossy with a lot of color and extremely crisp text. Its binding is great too. All told, this is a great set and I still can’t get over the fact nothing feels cheap.
The other thing I love about the quality is the fact that after you play through the story, it can function as a standard chess set. It is standard sized and the pieces are standard (with a card holder thing on them). If your kid outgrows the stories, you still have a nice set to play with.
Conclusion
This is an amazing set to begin teaching your child chess. If you don’t know how to play, this set can work for you as well. It covers every piece and every basic movement in an extremely efficient manner. To top it off, everything is extremely high quality and aesthetically attractive. My kid wants to play it literally every day she has free time.
There are multiple levels which add new skills and tactics. The first set is probably good enough if you already know chess, but I ended up with all three. The stories and the general structuring was super attractive since it entranced my daughter. I don’t need to fight her to learn the rules, she basically demands I read and let her play.
I don’t know of any other set quite like this one which teaches chess so efficiently while being effective for little children as well as older kids. It seems like it would be effective for roughly 3 to 10 or so for the aesthetic. Older kids might find it a little goofy with the stories and characters, but that said, it would still be efficient due to the structuring.
When your child is done with this set, you may want to consider getting them a copy of Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess or one of these other works as they get older.