Rules first of course. Then the purpose of the moves (space, etc...). The ideas don't make sense without examples, and by providing examples, you can also give a student some reasonable opening moves. Of course the first thing that jumps to mind in the giuoco piano. GM's still play it, it's been around for centuries...and best of all it's highly logical. In exploring that opening a little, you can show how logical moves are made, and then even how moves that seem "okay" can be punished due to miscalculation. This also prevents your new student from playing scattered chess like many beginners tend to do. I find that most people like a challenge, but not to be frustrated. After this, you will want to look at elementary (like back rank) mates. After that, maybe some tactics like "the fork" or "the pin". When that is understood, you might even be able to play through some classic games and she will be able to appreciate them. Best of luck!
Teaching chess
I would point out mistakes, but try not to overdo it. I would explain many of my moves, especially in the opening--controlling the center, developing pieces. I would explain forks and pins. If she can play on-line she can play on this site with other players below 1200. I think this would be better for her than for you to intentionally make bad moves.
You and her will learn a lot about each other though Chess playing. All I can say is allways be a polite. I wish you both the best.
The problem I see is this, after I teach her the rules she'll surely want to play and am not sure overloading her with information from the start is such a good idea since the complexity of the game might discourage her. I'd like to make her want to learn more not just dump information on her, for me it was easy I was driven to beat a friend (a begginer himself) at first so I went searching for information on my own, but I don't see this happening especially since the skill gap will be huge.
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Take it easy with her. Theory may be good for someone who knows a bit about chess. She is not interested that much in theory now as in playing with you. So, give her the chance to play and as you play together, give some hints of why you do a certain move . Of course you will be on the winning side for a long time but the point is to HAVE FUN , TO MAKE HER HAVE FUN PLAYING CHESS . Then she will be ready to grab some more theory about the game. Good luck to you too.
After you teach her the basic rules I suggest playing immediately. I'm teaching my friend how to play chess at the same time, but he's not doing so well...
I think his rating is 650 >_>, if he doesn't improve he might get really discouraged, does anybody have some chess puzzles of simply... taking pieces that are hanging?
Consider using a formal handicapping scheme in games against a weaker player - as discussed here http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/chess-handicap-system and here http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/handicapping-systems---levelling-the-playing-field
That way, you still have to play your best chess, but you get a reminder what it feels like to be the underdog.
When I started playing the game, at the age of 8, my friends and I toyed with the game by "playing only half of the board" - with K, Q, 4 pawns each, and our own choice of R, K, or B for our other two pieces. It was fun, and going to the full board seemed easier after that. (",)
You might want to go to a website that is great for learning and refreshing. It has 64 lessons( one for every square on chess board) It is called kids chess academy. com. hopes this helps.
Nimzowitsch suggested a good way of learning I think, which is showing them the major principles of strategy first. They'll pick up the move as you go on, start with the power of pawns, and how they get better the further up the board they go, then move onto things like bishop pins and forks, then knights, then rooks etc until they have the basic principles. Then if you tell them they've made a mistake, it doesn't seem like just another unrelated thing, but they understand exactly why it's a mistake. I guess this would be better for people wanting to really be good at the game but I think it's a good way of learning.
My girlfriend wants me to teach her chess, she dosen't know the rules so I'll have teach her how the pieces move and the object of the game first but after that I'm not exactly sure how I should proceed. She'll probably want to play against me after she knows the rules but what should I do? If I play normally she probably won't enjoy the games,pointing out mistakes after her moves might be anohter way to go but I tried this with other begginers and they didn't seem to like it probably because I was overdoing it. Or should I just go easy on her and make bad moves so she dosen't get discouraged? I'd like to make her interested in chess not just teach her the rules.