Free Story and Mini-Game: Capture the Flag Chess

One sunny summer day, King Chomper and King Shaky were relaxing in lounge chairs on the patio of Chomper Castle. They’d just played a long game of chess while their children were at camp for the afternoon. The two kings were so comfy lounging that they began to doze off.

“I’m just gonna close my eyes for a minute,” King Shaky said.

“I think I’ll do the same,” King Chomper mumbled. With that, the two kings drifted off into luxurious naps as the sweltering summer sun shone down on them…

A few hours later, King Chomper awoke with a start. “AHH!” he yelped. “My face feels like it’s on fire!”

King Shaky jumped up too. “Everything burns! My nose, my ears—even my mustache hurts!”

“King Shaky,” King Chomper croaked. “I think we got sunburned! Let’s run inside before it gets worse.”

The kings hurried inside and shrieked again when they saw their beet-red faces in the hallway mirror. Chef Squishyfeet quickly dumped ice into two of the castle’s bathtubs so the kings could cool down. 

The next day, the kings’ families met on the checkered lawn for their daily game of chess, but King Chomper and King Shaky didn’t join them.

“Sorry, everyone!” King Shaky shouted from his pillow castle. “We can’t play today. We got sunburned and we need to rest indoors!”

“Have fun, and don’t forget to wear sunscreen!” King Chomper added from his castle.

“But, how are we going to play chess without our kings?” Heather the Pawn cried.

“Hey,” said Arnie the Pawn. “Remember that game we played at camp yesterday?”

“Oh yeah! Capture the Flag!” Heather replied. “Let’s play Capture the Flag on our checkered lawn!”

“Clip and I have never played that game,” said Clop the Knight. “Can you teach us?”

“Of course!” Heather said. “First, we need two flags.”

The chess teams got together and made two flags: a flag made of pancakes for Team Chomper and a pillowcase flag for Team Shaky. 

“Now what?” asked Clop.

“Now, we take our usual places on the checkered lawn,” Heather continued, “but instead of trying to capture the king, we’re going to try to capture our opponent’s flag and carry it back across the middle of the field. We’ll all have to work together to win. Ready? Let’s play!”

The game started and the pawns marched forward while everyone else got ready to capture. But with the pawns clogging up the middle of the board, it was hard for the bigger pieces to get through! So the pawns from the two teams started capturing each other, which freed up some space for the other players.

Eventually, Queen Bella saw an opening. She raced across the field and captured Team Shaky’s flag! But Queen Bella herself got captured on the way back. Fortunately, one move later, a Team Chomper rook zoomed over, grabbed the flag, and brought it home for the win!

All the players cheered and set up for another game. As King Chomper and King Shaky rubbed aloe on their faces at home, their families had a blast playing their new favorite game: Capture the Flag Chess!

 

 

Setup

1. Make two flags out of any arts and crafts materials you have handy, one for each chess player. Have fun designing your flags and decorating them however you like!
2. Circle up a bit of tape and stick it to the back of each flag.
3. Choose colors and set up the board for a standard game of chess, minus the kings. Place each team’s flag on the empty square where the king normally starts the game.

 

Objective

Capture your opponent’s flag by moving a piece onto the flag’s square, then move the piece “carrying” the flag back across the middle line of the board toward your team’s home territory.

 

Play

1. Begin playing chess as you normally would. Try to clear space for a piece to cross the board and capture your opponent’s flag.
2. When a flag is captured, use the tape on the back to stick the flag to the piece who’s carrying it.
3. Captures can be made anywhere on the board as in normal chess. When a piece carrying the flag is captured, the flag can be:
1. Dropped on the square where the capture occurred (easier).
2. Returned to the flag’s starting square (harder).
4. The game is over when a flag carrier crosses over the middle line of the board and back onto its home territory.

 

Variations

A successful flag capture on a crowded board can be tricky for the youngest players. If you need to simplify the game, feel free to remove some pieces from each team, such as the rooks or the bishops. We recommend playing with at least a set of pawns and one other attacking piece, such as the queen, for each team.