Trainings
95 trainings graded 1–10. Log in to track what you complete.
Fundamentals 8
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.
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 1
Tactics 2
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.
Discovered attacks explained
Move one piece to unleash another. Discovered attacks, discovered checks and the devastating double check.
Endgames 4
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.
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.
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.
Openings 4
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.
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.
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.
Strategy 10
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.
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.
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
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.
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.