Exercises
Train the tactical and checkmate patterns — drawn from your own games and a verified puzzle library, picked at your level.
Attack
Offensive Rush60 seconds on the clock: find as many winning tactical moves from your games as you can. Score out of 100.ForksOne piece attacks two targets at once: the opponent can only save one. Learn to spot the fork, sorted by the piece that delivers it.PinA line piece freezes an enemy piece: moving it would expose a more valuable piece (or the king) behind. Learn to spot and exploit the pin.SkewerThe reverse of a pin: you attack the more valuable piece first (often the king), which must step aside and drops the piece behind it.Discovered attackA piece steps aside and uncovers the attack of a line piece behind it: two threats in one move (and a discovered check is brutal).BatteryTwo long-range pieces lined up on the same file or diagonal multiply the pressure: the battery. Learn to build it at the right moment, against the right target.Remove the defenderA piece is only defended while its defender holds: capture, chase or deflect the guard, and the target falls.CCT scanChecks, Captures, Threats: before every move, list all the forcing moves. Train that reflex on your own positions.
Defense
Defensive Rush60 seconds on the clock: spot the threats you conceded in your own games. Score out of 100.Defensive vigilanceSpot the opponent’s threat before it lands: replay the positions where you allowed a fork or pin, or hung a piece, and find a move that holds.Loose pieces"Loose Pieces Drop Off": train your eye to spot every undefended piece — targets on the opponent’s side, liabilities on yours.
Endgames
Endgame Rush60 seconds on the clock: forced mates and stalemate-free conversions. Score out of 100.MateCheckmate patterns — your wins, your missed mates, and the ones worth knowing.Stalemate when winningYou were winning easily… and the game ends in a draw by stalemate. Learn to recognize the stalemate patterns and to convert without falling into the trap.Pawn endgamesPawn races, promotion, opposition: review your misplayed pawn endings and train on verified positions.Essential endgamesLucena, Philidor, opposition, the rule of the square: the canonical endgames every player must know how to win — or hold.