Learn chess
21 free guides with boards you can step through - the rules, tactics, openings, endgames and the greatest games ever played.
New to chess? Start here
- How to Play Chess: The Rules for Beginners - Learn how to play chess step by step - the board, how every piece moves, check and checkmate, and how a game ends - with boards you can click through.
- Castling, En Passant and Promotion: Chess's Special Moves - The three special moves in chess explained with boards: when you can castle, how en passant works and why it exists, and how pawn promotion works.
- Chess Piece Values: How Much Is Each Piece Worth? - The point value of every chess piece - pawn 1, knight and bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9 - when to trade, the bishop pair, the exchange, and when the numbers lie.
- How to Read Chess Notation (Algebraic Notation Explained) - Learn to read and write chess moves in algebraic notation - squares, piece letters, captures, checks, castling, symbols like !! and ?! - plus FEN and PGN.
- Chess Opening Principles: 10 Rules for a Good Start - Ten simple chess opening principles - control the centre, develop, castle early, move each piece once - for a good position without memorising lines.
- Chess Tactics: Forks, Pins, Skewers and More, Explained - The chess tactics that decide most games - forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, double checks and deflection - each with a board to step through.
- 7 Checkmate Patterns Every Chess Player Should Know - The back-rank mate, smothered mate, Anastasia's, Arabian and Boden's mates and more - the checkmate patterns that keep coming up, with boards to step through.
- How to Checkmate with a Queen, a Rook or Two Rooks - The three basic checkmates every player must know - two rooks (the ladder), king and queen, and king and rook against a lone king - step by step, with boards.
Basics
- Castling, En Passant and Promotion: Chess's Special Moves - The three special moves in chess explained with boards: when you can castle, how en passant works and why it exists, and how pawn promotion works.
- Chess Piece Values: How Much Is Each Piece Worth? - The point value of every chess piece - pawn 1, knight and bishop 3, rook 5, queen 9 - when to trade, the bishop pair, the exchange, and when the numbers lie.
- Chess Terms Glossary: 74 Words Every Player Should Know - A plain-English glossary of chess terms - from algebraic notation and Armageddon to zugzwang and zwischenzug - with links to guides that go deeper.
- Chess Time Controls: Bullet, Blitz, Rapid and Classical - Chess time controls explained - bullet, blitz, rapid and classical, what 3+2 or 15+10 means, increments and delays, and how to use a chess clock.
- Draws in Chess: Stalemate, Repetition and the 50-Move Rule - Every way a chess game can end in a draw - stalemate, threefold repetition, the 50-move rule, insufficient material and agreement - explained with examples.
- How to Play Chess: The Rules for Beginners - Learn how to play chess step by step - the board, how every piece moves, check and checkmate, and how a game ends - with boards you can click through.
- How to Read Chess Notation (Algebraic Notation Explained) - Learn to read and write chess moves in algebraic notation - squares, piece letters, captures, checks, castling, symbols like !! and ?! - plus FEN and PGN.
Tactics
- 7 Checkmate Patterns Every Chess Player Should Know - The back-rank mate, smothered mate, Anastasia's, Arabian and Boden's mates and more - the checkmate patterns that keep coming up, with boards to step through.
- Chess Tactics: Forks, Pins, Skewers and More, Explained - The chess tactics that decide most games - forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, double checks and deflection - each with a board to step through.
Openings
- Chess Opening Principles: 10 Rules for a Good Start - Ten simple chess opening principles - control the centre, develop, castle early, move each piece once - for a good position without memorising lines.
- Scholar's Mate and Fool's Mate: How to Do Them and Stop Them - The fastest checkmates in chess - Fool's Mate in two moves and Scholar's Mate in four - how they work, how to defend, and how to punish the early queen attack.
- The Best Chess Openings for Beginners (White and Black) - The best chess openings to learn first - the Italian, Ruy Lopez, Queen's Gambit and London for White; the Caro-Kann, French, Sicilian and more for Black.
- The Italian Game: A Complete Guide for Beginners - Learn the Italian Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4) - the Giuoco Piano, the quiet d3 lines, the Two Knights, the Fried Liver and the Evans Gambit - with boards.
- The London System: A Simple, Solid Opening for White - How to play the London System - the setup, the plans against ...d5 and the King's Indian, Black's main tries like ...Qb6, and why it is so popular online.
Endgames
Improve
- How Chess Ratings Work: Elo, FIDE Ratings and Puzzle Ratings - How the Elo rating system works, with a worked example - plus FIDE K-factors, what a good rating is, title thresholds, and how puzzle ratings are calculated.
- How to Get Better at Chess: A Simple Training Plan - A practical plan to improve at chess at any level - daily tactics, playing slower games, reviewing your losses, endgames and openings in the right amounts.
- How to Solve Chess Puzzles: A Method That Works - A step-by-step method for solving chess puzzles - checks, captures and threats, looking for the opponent's best reply, and the clues hidden in every position.
History
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