Trainings
95 trainings graded 1–10. Log in to track what you complete.
Checkmate patterns 4
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.
Tactics 3
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.
Endgames 7
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.
Openings 6
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.
Strategy 6
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.
Calculation 3
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.