Learn
Learn chess
Guides to every stage of the game, from reading notation to winning rook endgames. Each one ends with something to try on the board.
Basics
How to Read Chess Notation
Algebraic notation explained: squares, piece letters, captures, checks, castling and promotion, so you can follow any game or book.
Chess Piece Values: What Each Piece Is Worth
The point values of the chess pieces, why they work, when to break them, and how to use them to decide whether a trade is good.
10 Common Chess Mistakes Beginners Make
The ten mistakes that cost beginners the most games, from hanging pieces and early queen moves to ignoring threats and playing too fast, and how to fix each one.
Openings
Chess Opening Principles for Beginners
Control the centre, develop your pieces, castle early and avoid common opening traps: the principles that matter more than memorising moves.
The Italian Game: A Beginner-Friendly Opening for White
How to play the Italian Game with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4: the main ideas, the Giuoco Piano, the Two Knights Defence and the traps to avoid.
The Sicilian Defence: Fighting Back Against 1.e4
Why 1...c5 is the most popular reply to 1.e4, the main ideas behind the Open Sicilian, the Najdorf and the Dragon, and how to meet the Alapin.
The Queen's Gambit: Accepted, Declined and the Slav
How the Queen's Gambit works after 1.d4 d5 2.c4, why it isn't a real gambit, and the main ideas of the Accepted, Declined and Slav defences.
Tactics
Chess Tactics: Forks, Pins and Skewers
The three most common chess tactics explained with examples: how to spot forks, pins and skewers in your games and how to avoid falling for them.
Discovered Attacks and Double Check
How discovered attacks, discovered checks and double checks work, why they are so powerful, and how to set them up and defend against them.
Checkmate Patterns Every Player Should Know
Back-rank mate, smothered mate, Anastasia’s mate, the Arabian mate and more: the classic checkmate patterns, how they arise and how to avoid them.
Endgames
Basic Checkmates: King and Queen, King and Rook
Step-by-step methods to checkmate a lone king with a queen, with a rook, and with two rooks, plus how to avoid stalemate when you are winning.
Pawn Endgames: Opposition, Key Squares and the Square Rule
The core ideas of king and pawn endgames: the rule of the square, opposition, key squares and outside passed pawns, explained for club players.
Rook Endgames: The Lucena and Philidor Positions
The two positions every chess player should know in rook endgames: how to win the Lucena by building a bridge, and how to draw the Philidor.
Strategy
How to Make a Plan in the Middlegame
What to do after the opening: reading pawn structures, finding weak squares, using open files, improving your worst piece and choosing where to attack.
Managing Your Clock in Blitz and Rapid Chess
How to use your time in online chess: how increments work, where to spend your minutes, when to move fast, and how to handle time trouble in bullet, blitz and rapid.
How to Get Better at Chess: A Practical Training Plan
A realistic plan to improve at chess: how much time to spend on tactics, endgames, openings and playing, and how to learn from every game you lose.