How it works
One phone. A 5×5 board. Every screen asks for exactly one move. Here is the whole loop.
The child’s part
Save the king
A purple rook threatens the yellow king. The child drags a yellow piece to block the line. If the move doesn’t work, the board shows the threat again and the child tries another — calmly, no buzzer.
Get the secret
The child is shown one secret move and uses it to capture a guard. From now on the child has seen something most grown-ups haven’t. (We keep the move itself off this page on purpose.)
Build the trap
The child places the purple rook on one of three squares. Each square makes a different puzzle for the grown-up.
The hand-over
A curtain screen hides the board: “Give the phone to your grown-up.” The grown-up taps “I’m ready” and sees only the puzzle — no hints, no dots, no arrows. The child watches.
The grown-up’s part
One move
Save the yellow king. If it fails, the board shows why — and the grown-up can try again or ask the child to show the secret.
The child reveals
The phone goes back to the child, who plays the winning secret move. The grown-up sees it for the first time — from the child.
One move back
The grown-up gets a revenge move: close the child’s winning path. Then the child must find a new answer. Both of them have now played real chess — one move at a time.
Then what?
“Next secret.” After each episode the finish screen shows the three secret pieces (found or still hidden) and names the next one. Every episode brings a different secret, a different thing the child places, and a different way a grown-up gets it wrong: the Amazon ignores an obstacle, the Cannon uses it as a screen, the Grasshopper uses it as a springboard. Plus a daily trap that changes every day — no streaks, no penalty for missing a day.