Learn chess
Everything there is to learn, sorted by the question you arrive with: the concept, the method, the mistake that keeps coming back, the answer to one precise question.
Your path
An ordered learning path, adapted to the diagnosis of your games: your level, measured from your analyzed games, orders the steps, and the most fragile pillar of your play marks where to start — the same priority as your training plan. Start at the beginning, move at your own pace.
Goal: Master the fundamentals, give nothing away, mate cleanly.
1
Opening
Occupy and control the centre from the first moves
Lessons
Train
Related weaknesses
Strategy· Unlocked at Intermediate level
2
Endgame
Deliver clean K+Q and K+R mates, and avoid stalemate.
Lessons
Related weaknesses
3
Defense
Check the opponent’s threats before every move (checks, captures, threats).
Lessons
Related weaknesses
4
Attack
Stop leaving pieces en prise and spot one-move forks and mates.
Related weaknesses
Reference
Browse all the content freely, in no set order.
Browse by theme
OpeningStart the game well, without indigestible theory.6 articlesStrategyUnderstand middlegame plans.8 articlesDefensive vigilanceSee your opponent’s ideas before they hit you.5 articlesMissed chancesSpot the winning moves you let slip.10 articlesEndgamesThe techniques that turn an edge into a point.8 articlesThinking processWhat to think about, every move, methodically.4 articles
Four ways to look
Each shelf answers a different question. Start with yours.
Concepts“What is this?” — 200 chess terms explained, with board examples.Weaknesses“Why do I keep losing this?” — 40 recurring mistakes, each tied back to your own games.Questions“What about me, exactly?” — answers to one precise question, from picking a time control to breaking through a plateau.Openings“What is played here?” — fiches, traps and model games, with the repertoire trainer.Comparisons and reviewsHow the other services measure up across 56 criteria — and a detailed review of each one.
What we measure
Our studies: questions worked through in depth, sources included.
All articles
Opening
Start the game well, without indigestible theory.
- OpeningThe 6 Opening FundamentalsControl the centre, develop quickly, castle early, keep the queen in reserve, move each piece only once, finish development before attacking: the 6 fundamentals that carry every opening you play.
- OpeningWhen and Why to CastleCastling is arguably the most profitable move of the entire opening: it tucks your king into safety while waking up a sleeping rook. The art lies in choosing between kingside and queenside, timing the move correctly, and recognising the rare positions where castling means walking straight into danger.
- OpeningThe Universal Principles of the First Five MovesControl the center, develop your pieces, get your king to safety: discover the four principles that guide your first five moves, and how White’s first-move advantage changes everything.
Strategy
Understand middlegame plans.
- StrategyThe Principle of Two WeaknessesA single weakness can be held; two weaknesses overload the defender. Learn to open a second front and turn an advantage into a win.
- StrategyImproving Your Worst PieceChess games are often won by accumulation: a piece doing nothing is a piece you don’t have. Learn to spot your weakest link and turn it into an asset.
- StrategyWhen to Trade and When to Keep Your PiecesA trade is never neutral: every swap shifts the balance of the game. Learn the four criteria that turn an ordinary exchange into a winning decision.
Defensive vigilance
See your opponent’s ideas before they hit you.
- Defensive vigilanceThe CCT Routine: Checks, Captures, ThreatsA three-word mental checklist — checks, captures, threats — run in both directions before every move. The simplest method to stop hanging pieces and missing tactics.
- Defensive vigilanceLPDO: Loose Pieces Drop OffAn undefended piece is an invitation. Learn why insufficiently defended pieces fuel nearly every tactic, and how to scan for them on every move so you stop dropping material for free.
- Defensive vigilanceForks: Spot Them Before You Suffer ThemThe fork is the most profitable tactical weapon in amateur chess, and the most painful to walk into. Learn to spot it half a second before your opponent does: the knight’s mechanics (which ignore alignment), the long-range pieces' geometry, and the decisive reflex on undefended pieces.
Missed chances
Spot the winning moves you let slip.
- Missed chancesExploiting Pins: Freeze the Piece, Then CollectA pin freezes an enemy piece on its line. The real skill is cashing it in: recognising the geometry, provoking the alignment, piling attackers onto the pinned piece and defusing the defences. The complete method, verified position included.
- Missed chancesExploiting Skewers: The Front Piece Betrays the BackThe skewer is the most lucrative of the line tactics: the valuable piece, attacked first, must flee and surrender the one it was masking. Learn to spot profitable alignments, deliver a skewer by check and force the alignment when it is missing.
- Missed chancesMastering Discovered Attacks: Two Threats in One MoveIn a discovered attack, your front piece steps aside and unmasks a hidden attack: two threats arise from a single move, and the opponent can only parry one. Mechanics, discovered check, double check, building the battery and defending — the complete lesson.
Endgames
The techniques that turn an edge into a point.
- EndgamesThe Active King: The Number One Rule of EndgamesIn the middlegame, the king hides. In the endgame, it attacks. Learn to centralize it, place it in front of its pawn, and wield the opposition to turn this timid piece into a decisive weapon.
- EndgamesThe Rule of the Square and Pawn RacesCan the king catch that passed pawn? The rule of the square answers at a glance, with no square-by-square counting. Discover the two-square jump exception, the power of the outside passed pawn, and the magic of Réti’s study.
- EndgamesMastering the Opposition: The Key to Pawn EndingsOpposition, direct or distant, decides most king-and-pawn endings. Exact definition, key squares, the square rule, outflanking and the rook-pawn traps: the complete method for converting — or saving — these endings to the tempo.
Thinking process
What to think about, every move, methodically.
- Thinking processWhat to Think on Every Move: The Complete ProtocolMost mistakes between 800 and 1400 don’t come from a lack of talent, but from a move played without a method. Here is a reusable protocol, move after move, to evaluate the position, spot threats, find candidate moves, compare them, and verify before playing.
- Thinking processManaging Your Time in ChessThink long at the critical moments, play theory and obvious moves quickly, and never collapse in time trouble: learn to spend your clock like a precious budget.
- Thinking processAfter the LossLosing is the most discussed and least studied subject in chess. Here is what has actually been measured: your strength barely drops after a defeat, but the way you play changes a great deal. Plus what helps, and what makes things worse.