Trainings
95 trainings graded 1–10. Log in to track what you complete.
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.