Trainings
95 trainings graded 1–10. Log in to track what you complete.
Checkmate patterns 1
Tactics 2
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 2
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.
Openings 3
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.
Strategy 4
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 2
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.