Trainings
95 trainings graded 1–10. Log in to track what you complete.
Fundamentals 10
Capture the free piece
An enemy piece is standing on a square nobody protects. Find it and take it for free.
Check, checkmate and stalemate
What check means, how a game is won by checkmate, and why stalemate is a draw and not a win.
How the pieces move and capture
The six pieces, how each one moves, and how capturing works. Start here if you are brand new.
Special moves: castling, en passant, promotion
Three rules that trip up every beginner: castling, the en passant capture and pawn promotion.
Mate in one for absolute beginners
Simple checkmates in one move with the queen, rook and knight. Learn to recognise when the king has nowhere left to go.
Piece values and fair trades
The point values of the pieces and how to use them to decide whether a capture or exchange is good for you.
Reading and writing chess notation
How to read moves like Nf3, Bxc6, O-O and e8=Q so you can study games, books and this site's puzzles.
The three phases of a game
Opening, middlegame and endgame: what each phase is for and the simple goals to pursue in each one.
How games are drawn
Repetition, the fifty-move rule, insufficient material and agreement: every way a game can end without a winner.
No plan? Checks, captures, threats
A simple routine for every move: look at all checks, all captures and all threats before anything else.
Checkmate patterns 12
Ladder and box mates
Finish the game with king and queen, king and rook, or two heavy pieces. The enemy king is already on the edge: find the final check.
Back-rank mates I
The king is trapped behind its own pawns. Find the rook or queen check that ends the game.
The 8 basic mating patterns
A guided tour of the classic mating pictures every player should recognise instantly: back rank, smothered, Anastasia, Arabian, Boden, Greco, Damiano and the queen-and-knight mate.
The Arabian mate
A knight on f6 (or f3) and a rook team up against a king in the corner. The knight protects the rook and guards the escape square.
Back-rank mates II
The back rank is defended. Deflect, overload or exchange the defender with a sacrifice, then mate.
Smothered mate
A knight checks a king that is boxed in by its own pieces. Learn the finish and Philidor's legacy, the queen sacrifice that sets it up.
Anastasia's mate
A knight on e7 covers g8 and g6; a rook or queen then mates on the h-file, usually after a sacrifice removes the h-pawn.
Boden's mate
Two bishops on crossing diagonals against a king that castled long. The trigger is almost always a queen sacrifice on c6 or c3.
Greco's and Damiano's mates
Attacks down the h-file: a bishop takes g8 away (Greco), or rooks are sacrificed on h8 to bring the queen in with mate (Damiano).
Queen and knight mates
Queen and knight are the deadliest attacking pair. Spot the mates on h7 and g7, and the knight checks that drive the king into the corner.
Mate in 2: mixed patterns
Each puzzle is a forced mate in two using a different pattern. Find the key move and the mate that follows.
Long mating combinations
Forced mates in three to five moves, all from Black's side. Every move is a check: calculate the whole sequence before you start.
Tactics 15
Knight forks
Find the knight check that also attacks a rook or queen. Answer the check, lose the piece.
Pawn forks
A humble pawn advance attacks two pieces at once. Only one of them can escape.
What is a fork, a pin and a skewer?
The three most common tactical weapons explained with diagrams: attacking two things at once, freezing a piece in place, and attacking through a piece.
Mixed tactics: novice
Forks, skewers and discovered attacks without a label. Work out which weapon the position calls for.
Pins: attack the frozen piece
A pinned piece cannot run. Attack it again, or create a pin that wins the piece outright.
Queen forks
The queen attacks in eight directions. Find the check that also picks up a loose piece.
Skewers
Check the king with a long-range piece and capture whatever stands behind it.
Discovered attacks
Move the front piece with a threat and let the piece behind it strike. Usually the moving piece gives check.
Discovered attacks explained
Move one piece to unleash another. Discovered attacks, discovered checks and the devastating double check.
Removing the defender
A piece is safe only because something protects it. Capture or chase away the protector and take what it was guarding.
Double checks
Two pieces give check at once; only a king move is legal. Use that to win material or mate.
Trapped pieces
A piece with no safe squares is as good as lost. Find the pawn move that closes the net.
Deflection and decoy
Force an enemy piece onto a bad square (decoy) or away from a good one (deflection), then cash in.
Perpetual check: saving lost positions
You are hopelessly behind on material, but the enemy king cannot escape your checks. Find the drawing mechanism.
Mixed tactics: advanced
No theme is given. Each position hides a different idea: decoys, discovered attacks and knight checks that end in mate.
Endgames 20
King and queen vs king
The first mate every player must know. Box the king in with the queen, bring up your king, and finish on the edge without stalemating.
King and rook vs king
Drive the king to the edge with rook and king working together, then mate with the rook when the kings stand in opposition.
The opposition
Why the king that does NOT have to move often wins the fight for a square, and how to use it in king and pawn endings.
The square of the pawn
Count whether a king can catch a running pawn in a single glance, without calculating move by move.
King vs king and pawn: hold the draw
You have a lone king against king and pawn. Stay in front of the pawn and keep the opposition to reach the stalemate draw.
Opposition: the only move
King and pawn endings where exactly one king move wins or holds the draw. Find it.
Wrong-coloured bishop: hold the draw
A rook pawn and a bishop that does not control the promotion square cannot beat a king in the corner. Prove it.
King and pawn vs king: win with the opposition
Take the opposition, outflank the defending king, and escort your pawn home. The engine defends perfectly.
Rook endgame skewers
Checks that line the enemy king up with its own rook or a new queen. Classic tactics of rook and promotion endings.
Pawn breakthroughs
Sacrifice pawns to force one of them through. Pure pawn endings in which a single push decides the game.
Philidor position: draw with rook vs rook and pawn
The most important drawing technique in rook endings: the third-rank defence, then checks from behind.
Rook endgame principles
Rooks belong behind passed pawns, kings get cut off, and a rook must stay active: the three habits that decide most rook endings.
Stalemate tricks for the defender
Down to your last resource? Find the move that leaves the opponent's win in ruins: a stalemate trap or a desperado piece.
Bishop vs knight: which is better?
The minor pieces are worth the same on paper. Learn the pawn structures that make one of them clearly stronger in the endgame.
Lucena position: build a bridge
Your king is in front of the pawn on the seventh and the enemy king is cut off. Win with the bridge-building manoeuvre.
Promotion tricks
Underpromotions, promotions with check and the right piece at the right moment. The pawn's last step is often the most tactical.
Queen vs pawn on the seventh
Stop a pawn about to promote using the queen's zigzag of checks, winning tempi to bring your king over.
Two bishops vs king
Force the lone king into a corner with two bishops standing side by side, and deliver mate without allowing stalemate.
Vancura position: draw against a rook pawn
A rook pawn on the sixth with the rook in front of it looks lost for the defender. The Vancura defence holds against perfect play.
Queen vs rook: the Philidor position
The classic queen versus rook win. Lose a tempo with the queen to reach the same position with Black to move, then the rook must leave its king.
Openings 18
Opening principles: centre, development, king safety
The three jobs every opening must do: claim the centre, bring out the pieces, and tuck the king away. Learn why, and what goes wrong when you skip one.
Common opening traps and how to avoid them
Scholar's mate, Légal's mate and the Elephant trap: recognise the three most common opening ambushes, learn the one defensive habit that neutralises all of them, and spring them yourself when your opponent slips.
Italian Game: Giuoco Piano
The quietest classical opening: both sides develop naturally toward the centre, castle early and prepare the d4 break. Ideal for learning principled development as White.
Choosing an opening repertoire
How to pick a small set of openings that fits your style and time budget, how to study them without memorising forests of variations, and when it is worth changing.
London System
A reliable setup White can play against almost anything: Bf4, e3, Nf3, c3 and Bd3. Learn the piece placement, the trap to avoid and the kingside plan.
Scandinavian Defence: 3...Qa5 main line
Meet 1.e4 with 1...d5 and recapture with the queen. A simple, solid setup with c6, Bf5 and e6 that leads to Caro-Kann-like positions and avoids most of White's prepared lines.
French Defence: Advance Variation
After 3.e5 White has a pawn chain; Black attacks its base on d4 with ...c5, ...Nc6, ...Qb6 and the knight route ...Nh6-f5. The clearest example of play against a pawn chain.
Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit
2.Nc3 followed by f4: a sharper cousin of the King's Gambit where White attacks e5 with the f-pawn and seizes the centre. Learn the main line after 3...d5.
Caro-Kann: Classical Variation
The solid 1...c6 defence in its most classical form: Black recaptures on e4, develops the bishop to f5 and then g6, and reaches a rock-solid structure with no weaknesses.
Queen's Gambit Declined: Exchange Variation
White trades on d5 to fix the Carlsbad pawn structure and then chooses between the minority attack and a central break with f3 and e4. The clearest way to play the Queen's Gambit for a plan.
Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defence
The classical way to meet 1.d4 and 2.c4: keep the d5 point, develop solidly with ...Be7, ...O-O and ...Nbd7, then free the game with ...dxc4 and ...Nd5 or ...c5.
English Opening: Four Knights with g3
1.c4 e5 leads to a Sicilian with colours reversed. White fianchettoes, lets Black trade on d5 and plays for the long diagonal and queenside expansion with an extra tempo.
Petroff Defence: Classical main line
Meet 2.Nf3 with the symmetrical 2...Nf6. After 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 Black's knight sits proudly on e4, and the active ...Nc6 and ...Nb4 line puts the question to White's d3-bishop.
Ruy Lopez: Closed main line
The Spanish torture: 3.Bb5 followed by the slow, famous build-up with c3, h3 and d4. Learn why White retreats the bishop twice and how the queen's knight reaches the kingside.
King's Indian Defence: Classical, Mar del Plata
Black gives up the centre to counterattack it with ...e5. After 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 the famous Mar del Plata structure appears: Black storms the kingside with ...f5 while White expands on the queenside.
Pawn structures from the opening
The isolated queen's pawn, the Carlsbad structure, the French chain and the open Sicilian: four structures that recur across dozens of openings, with the plans each side should follow in every one.
Catalan: Open main line
The Queen's Gambit with a kingside fianchetto. Black takes on c4 and tries to keep the pawn; White's bishop on the long diagonal and the a4 push provide lasting pressure.
Sicilian Najdorf: English Attack
The most analysed opening in chess. After 5...a6 Black prepares ...e5 and ...b5; against White's Be3 and f3 setup Black answers with ...e5, ...Be6 and queenside counterplay. For players ready for a theoretical fight.
Strategy 12
Open files and rook activity
Rooks need open lines. Learn to find the right file, double your rooks and invade the seventh rank.
Weak squares and outposts
A square the enemy can never defend with a pawn is a home for your pieces. Learn to spot holes and plant knights in them.
Good bishops and bad bishops
A bishop is only as good as the diagonals it can use. Learn to judge bishops by your own pawn structure.
Isolated, doubled and backward pawns
The three classic structural weaknesses: how to recognise them, how to attack them and how to live with them.
Simplify into a won endgame
You are ahead in material. Find the forcing exchange that converts the advantage into a technically won ending.
When to trade pieces
Every exchange changes the position. Learn the questions that tell you whether a trade helps you or your opponent.
Pawn majorities and the minority attack
Where you have more pawns than your opponent, you can make a passed pawn. Where you have fewer, you can create a weakness.
Space: using it and fighting against it
Advanced pawns give your pieces room and cramp the opponent. Learn what a space advantage buys and how the cramped side fights back.
Attacking the king: pawn storms and sacrifices
When and how to attack the castled king: the pawn storm with opposite-side castling and the idea behind piece sacrifices such as the Greek gift.
Positional tactics: traps, outposts and the seventh rank
Strategic ideas that win material by force: trapping a badly placed piece, occupying an outpost with a double attack, and invading the seventh rank.
Prophylaxis: stopping the opponent's plan
Before improving your own position, ask what your opponent wants and take it away. The quiet move that prevents an idea often beats the active move that ignores it.
Piece activity versus material and the exchange sacrifice
Points on the scale are only a guide. Learn when active pieces, a wrecked pawn structure or a dominant knight are worth more than a rook.
Calculation 8
Blunder check: three questions before every move
Most games below master level are decided by blunders. A fixed three-question routine before every move removes the majority of them.
Forcing sequences I: check, then take
Two-move combinations where a check or a threat forces the reply and the next move wins material.
Counting captures: who wins the exchange sequence?
Count attackers and defenders, capture with the least valuable piece first, and know when the recapture costs your opponent more than it is worth.
How to calculate: candidate moves and the tree
A method for calculating variations: list candidate moves, examine forcing lines first, and evaluate the final position before you move.
Find the only move
Defensive puzzles with exactly one saving resource: stalemate tricks, underpromotion and the opposition. Every other move loses.
Forcing sequences II: three-move combinations
Sacrifices and deflections where every move forces the reply: Boden's mate, Anastasia's mate, Legal's mate and a queen sacrifice into a knight fork.
Quiet moves and zugzwang
Not every winning move is a check or a capture. Pawn breakthroughs, the opposition and Reti's famous king walk show the power of a quiet move.
Long combinations
Forcing combinations three to five moves deep: smothered mate, Damiano's double rook sacrifice and queen sacrifices that open the h-file.