Games in Education Magazine
March 2002
David Millans
USA

Subjects: Problem Solving, Social Skills, Strategy
Age Range: 8 and up
Time: 40 Minutes

Bosworth is a clever, visual variation on chess. Two to four players compete for control of an eight by eight board and can pursue victory into each others' camps. The game pieces depict knights, bishops, and so forth. The pieces move as do their comparable chess pieces. This game is quickly taught and learned but has rich variations and complexities of play.

This game has proven accessible to children as young as eight, and many then play eagerly on their own. I have used this game in math classes as a problem-solving and strategy activity. The game's name is taken from the famous battle in which Richard III was to have bellowed, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" and its medieval imagery could be used as a basic, colorful introduction to the warriors and issues of the period.

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