Trainings
95 trainings graded 1–10. Log in to track what you complete.
Fundamentals 2
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 4
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.
Tactics 7
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.
Endgames 5
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.
Openings 5
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.
Strategy 2
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.
Calculation 2
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.