Chess Guides: Learn the Rules, Tactics and Openings
Free, clearly written chess guides: how to play, how the pieces move, checkmate, tactics, openings and a plan to improve, with interactive practice.
Chess rules and basics
Everything you need to start: how the pieces move, the special moves, and how to read written moves. Start here if you're new to chess.
- How to Play Chess: The Complete Beginner's Guide: Learn how to play chess step by step: the board, how each piece moves, check, checkmate, castling, en passant and the rules that decide a draw. Free, with interactive lessons.
- How Chess Pieces Move (and What Each One Is Worth): A clear guide to how every chess piece moves: king, queen, rook, bishop, knight and pawn, with their point values and tips on using each one well.
- Special Chess Moves: Castling, En Passant and Pawn Promotion Explained: The three special moves in chess, explained simply: when you can castle and when you can't, how en passant works, and how pawn promotion works, with free interactive lessons.
- How to Read Chess Notation: A Simple Guide to Algebraic Notation: Learn to read and write chess moves: board coordinates, piece letters, captures, checks, castling and promotion in algebraic notation, with a free coordinates trainer.
Tactics and checkmates
Forks, pins, mate in one or two, and quick traps. Tactics decide most games, and they're the fastest way to improve.
- 10 Chess Tactics Every Player Must Know: Master the chess tactics that win games: forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, double checks, deflection and more, each with free puzzles to practise.
- How to Checkmate in Chess: Basic Mates Every Player Must Know: Learn how to checkmate: the back-rank mate, the queen and rook ladder, king and queen against king, and king and rook against king, with free interactive drills.
- Scholar's Mate: How to Win Chess in 4 Moves (and How to Stop It): The 4-move checkmate explained: how Scholar's Mate works, why it catches beginners, and three simple ways to defend against it, plus the even faster Fool's Mate.
Chess openings
Opening principles and the best openings for beginners: the Italian, the Queen's Gambit, the London, the Sicilian and the Caro-Kann, with the ideas behind each.
- Best Chess Openings for Beginners (and the Principles Behind Them): The best chess openings for beginners, from the Italian Game to the London System, plus the five opening principles that matter more than memorising moves.
- The Best Chess Openings for Beginners (and Why They Work): The 5 best chess openings to learn first: the Italian Game, the Queen's Gambit, the London System, the Sicilian Defense and the Caro-Kann, with the ideas behind each one.
Strategy and endgames
Middlegame plans and endgames every player must know: the opposition, the Lucena position, the Philidor defense and passed pawns, with drills against Stockfish.
- Chess Endgames for Beginners: The 5 Endings You Must Know: The basic chess endgames every player must know: king and pawn endings, the opposition, the Lucena position, the Philidor defense and how to use your king, with free drills against Stockfish.
How to get better at chess
A daily training plan, the most common beginner mistakes, and how Elo ratings work. Practical advice to raise your level week after week.
- How to Get Better at Chess: A Proven Training Plan: A practical plan to improve at chess fast: daily puzzles, spaced review of your mistakes, slow games you analyse, endgame basics and the habits strong players use.
- 10 Chess Tips for Beginners: How to Win More Games: Ten simple chess tips that win games: check every threat, don't hang pieces, develop and castle, use all your pieces, and more. Practical advice for beginners who want to improve fast.
- Chess Ratings Explained: What Is a Good Chess Rating?: How chess ratings work (the Elo system), what the numbers mean for beginners, club players and grandmasters, and what a good rating is for your level.