Dr. Alexey Root taught the beginners how to checkmate with a king and two rooks against a king. The students volunteered the legal moves for the black king while Dr. Root maneuvered the white rooks on the demonstration board. Then students practiced the checkmate pattern with partners. The intermediate students learned the king and queen checkmate from one of their colleagues, who taught it the same way Dr. Root had in the fall.

The advanced students learned the king and rook checkmate. Both the intermediate and advanced groups practiced the checkmates with partners. Dr. Root was able to test a couple of students from each group. With the students volunteering answers from their extracurricular experiences, Dr. Root also compared these basic endgame checkmates to the drills that students must practice in music (such as scales) and sports (such as dribbling in basketball).