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ORANGE BELT - DEVELOPING
An Orange Belt is earned by developing all your pieces rapid fire. In The Knight School, the way we teach development is by teaching all our kids on Week Five to follow our "Golden Rule." This Golden Rule is another element at the heart of our 51-0 record. Periodically our coaches stop class and we all recite the Golden Rule together: "Never move any major piece twice until you've moved every major piece once, unless there is a reason to break this rule." This hard and fast rule means that when the battle begins, we have all our tools available to apply direct pressure to our opponents' king. Here is specifically how to get an Orange Belt:
So note that the pawn always moves first to free the queen and bishop, then the queen and then bishop moves, then the two knights advance, then you castle. Castling means the specialized secret move that allows the king to move two squares and the rook to flip around to the king's other side. After castling, only one piece remains to be developed: the other rook. Once it moves, students raise their hands and call "Referee!" and then ask the coach if they have effectively completed the Golden Rule!
So in the diagram below, to earn an Orange Belt, what piece needs to move? Red, Orange, Yellow, or Green?
The answer is green! While it is true that moving the rook to the red square finishes developing all white's pieces, the best move in this situation is to take the free knight on the green square, THEN move the rook next move. So this is a case where the free knight is a compelling enough reason to temporarily halt development. Our The Knight School students fall off to sleep each night softly mumbling the Golden Rule: "Never move any major piece twice until you've moved every major piece once, unless there is a reason to break this rule."