Learn chess
Clear, practical guides to actually learn chess: rules, openings, tactics, endgames and strategy, with diagrams and examples.
Rules
6 articlesRulesYour First Chess Game: from empty board to your first checkmateA complete first game guide: setting up the board, who moves first, what the pieces are worth, an opening plan in three sentences, and your first checkmate.RulesHow the chess pieces moveThe definitive guide to how every chess piece moves (king, queen, rook, bishop, knight and pawn) with clear diagrams and examples so you can start playing today.RulesCheck, Checkmate and Stalemate: the difference that decides the gameCheck is your king under attack, checkmate is check with no legal answer, stalemate is a draw with no legal move at all. See the difference in clear diagrams.RulesCastling, En Passant and Promotion: the three special movesEvery condition for castling, exactly when en passant is legal and when it expires, and why promoting to a knight sometimes wins more than a queen.RulesDraws in Chess: the five ways a game ends levelStalemate, repetition, the fifty-move rule, insufficient material and agreement: the five ways a chess game ends in a draw, with diagrams and real examples.RulesAlgebraic Notation: how to read and write chess movesHow to read and write chess moves: files and ranks, the piece letters, captures, check, mate, castling, promotion, disambiguation and the annotation symbols.
Openings
6 articlesOpeningsOpening Principles: how to play the first ten moves wellCenter, development, castling and keeping the queen home: the rules that replace memorization in the first ten moves, with diagrams and a punished queen.OpeningsThe Italian Game: a beginner’s guideLearn the Italian Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4): the ideas, the modern Giuoco Pianissimo, the Two Knights Defense and Black’s counterplay, with diagrams.OpeningsThe Ruy Lopez: ideas, plans and main variationsThe Ruy Lopez explained properly: what 3.Bb5 actually does, the Morphy Defence, the Exchange Variation, the Berlin, and the white plan c3, d4, Nbd2, Nf1, Ng3.OpeningsThe Sicilian Defense: the most combative answer to 1.e4The Sicilian Defense (1.e4 c5) explained: trading a wing pawn for a center pawn, the half-open c-file, the Najdorf, the Dragon and opposite-side castling.OpeningsFrench Defense and Caro-Kann: the solid answers to 1.e4French (1.e4 e6) and Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6): the two solid answers to 1.e4. The Advance, Exchange, Tarrasch, Winawer, Classical, and which one fits you.OpeningsThe Queen’s Gambit: the gambit that is not really a gambitIn the Queen’s Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4) nothing is sacrificed: the pawn always comes back. Learn the center fight, the Declined, the Slav and the minority attack.
Tactics
5 articlesTacticsFork and Double Attack: how to win material in one moveA fork hits two targets at once. Learn the geometry of the knight fork, the signals that give a double attack away, and the habit that finds them all.TacticsPin and Skewer: the tactics that punish two pieces on one lineA pin nails a piece to the square it stands on. A skewer forces the valuable piece to step aside. How each one works, how to exploit it, how to escape.TacticsDiscovered Attacks and Discovered Check: the piece that leaves strikesDiscovered attack, discovered check and double check: how to build the line, why the king is forced to move, and three verified positions to train the pattern.TacticsCheckmate Patterns: the five shapes every player should knowBack-rank, smothered, Anastasia, Arabian and the two-rook ladder: five mating pictures that decide games, with diagrams and the habit that stops each one.TacticsSacrifice, Deflection and Decoy: giving up material to win the gameReal and sham sacrifices, deflection, decoy, clearance and the Greek gift Bxh7+: when giving up material wins the game, with verified positions and a checklist.
Endgames
4 articlesEndgamesKing and Queen vs King: how to mate without stalematingHow to checkmate a lone king with king and queen: the knight move rule that shrinks the box, the stalemate trap to avoid, and the mating pattern at the end.EndgamesKing and Rook vs King: the staircase techniqueHow to checkmate with king and rook against a lone king: cut the enemy king off, take the opposition and climb the staircase one rank at a time.EndgamesPawn Endgames: opposition, key squares and the rule of the squareThe rule of the square, the opposition, key squares and the rook pawn draw: the four ideas that decide every king and pawn endgame, explained with diagrams.EndgamesRook Endgames: the Lucena position and the Philidor defenseThe two positions that decide most rook endgames: the Lucena, where you build a bridge to promote, and the Philidor, which holds the draw a pawn down.
Strategy
4 articlesStrategyControlling the Center: why four squares decide the gameWhy e4, d4, e5 and d5 outrank the rest of the board: piece mobility, space, occupying versus controlling, and the classical center against the hypermodern.StrategyPawn Structure: doubled, isolated and passed pawnsPawns never move backwards. Learn doubled, isolated, backward and passed pawns, pawn islands, and the practical rule: fix the weakness, blockade it, attack it.StrategyThe Bishop Pair, Weak Squares and OutpostsWhy two bishops beat bishop and knight in open positions, when the knight is better, and what a weak square, a colour complex, a bad bishop and an outpost are.StrategyHow to Make a Plan: what to do when there is no tacticA repeatable method for planning in chess: evaluate material, king safety, structure, activity and space, find the imbalance, then play where you are stronger.
Glossary
3 articlesGlossaryChess Glossary: the terms you will hear in every gameCheck, zugzwang, fianchetto, increment, flag: a chess glossary of rules, tactical, positional and clock terms, each defined in a single clear sentence.GlossaryHow to Play Chess Online: time controls, etiquette and real improvementTime controls, increment, premoves and the flag, how online ratings move, etiquette and fair play, plus the study loop that actually makes you better.GlossaryVideo Chess: playing face to face over the internetWhat changes when you see and hear your opponent: board etiquette, reading tension, peer to peer WebRTC, latency, time controls, lighting and privacy.