Learn chess, from the rules to real understanding.
Not a wall of theory — the handful of ideas that actually decide games, explained plainly. Read a section, then play it: every module links straight into a drill on the board.
The board and the pieces
Chess is played on an 8×8 board; a light square sits in each player's bottom-right corner ("white on the right"). Learn how each piece moves and the three special rules, and you already know enough to play a full game.
Play your first gamePawns step forward one square (two from their start) and capture diagonally. Rooks move in straight lines, bishops on diagonals, and the queen does both. Knights jump in an L — the only piece that leaps over others. The king moves one square in any direction.
Once per game, if neither the king nor the chosen rook has moved and the squares between are empty and safe, the king slides two squares toward the rook and the rook hops to its other side. It tucks your king away and activates a rook in one move.
If an enemy pawn uses its two-square jump to land beside your pawn, you may capture it as if it had only moved one — but only on the very next move.
A pawn that reaches the far side becomes any piece you choose (almost always a queen). This is why a single extra pawn can decide a game.
Tactics — how games are actually won
Most games below master level are decided by tactics: short forcing sequences that win material or deliver mate. Learn to spot these patterns and you will win games you used to lose.
Train tactics on the boardOne piece attacks two targets at once. A knight on the right square can hit the king and queen together — the king must move, and the queen falls.
A piece can't move because a more valuable piece sits behind it. Pin a knight to its king and that knight is frozen — pile up on it and win it.
The pin's mirror image: the valuable piece is in front. Check the king along a line and the rook behind it is lost when the king steps aside.
Move one piece to unveil an attack from the piece behind it. When the moving piece gives check too, it's a discovered check — often unstoppable.
Checkmates to know by heart
Knowing the common mating patterns means you spot them instantly — both to deliver them and to avoid walking into them.
Practise finishing the gameA king trapped behind its own unmoved pawns is mated by a rook or queen on the back rank. The defence is simple: give your king an escape square ("luft") in good time.
A knight checkmates a king hemmed in by its own pieces. The classic setup uses a queen sacrifice to force the king into the corner first.
Two rooks walk the enemy king to the edge, one cutting off each rank in turn. The cleanest mate to learn with heavy pieces.
The queen boxes the lone king toward the edge while your king marches up to support the final blow — just don't stalemate by taking away every square without giving check.
Opening principles
You don't need to memorise long lines to get a good opening. Three ideas carry you through almost any position — and the trainer lets you drill real repertoires once you're ready.
Build a repertoirePawns on e4/d4 (or e5/d5) and pieces aimed at the middle give your army the most room and the fastest routes to either side.
Bring knights and bishops out toward the centre before you move the same piece twice or launch the queen early — then castle to get your king safe.
Early pawn-grabbing at the cost of development usually rebounds. Finish developing, connect your rooks, and let the middlegame begin on your terms.
Endgames and getting better
Fewer pieces, clearer rules. The endgame is where small edges become wins — and where studying pays off fastest because the ideas repeat forever.
Get your training planOnce the queens are off, the king is a fighting piece. Centralise it and march it toward the action — a passive king loses endgames.
In king-and-pawn endings, the player who forces the enemy king to give way often wins. Standing your king two squares in front, facing theirs, is the key tool.
A passed pawn (no enemy pawn can stop it) is a future queen. Escort it forward — "passed pawns must be pushed."
The fastest way to improve is to review the games you lose, find the moment it turned, and drill the pattern you missed. That's what the Coach and Analysis do for you.
Now put it on the board.
Reading is the start; playing is where it sticks. Take on the coach-guided engine at your level and get the reason behind every move.
Play a game