Lessons
Learn chess one quick lesson at a time.
- Tactic●●●●●Warm-up
Pin the Queen to Her King
Trade your queen for two rooks, then use a bishop to pin Black's queen against the king.
4 moves to find
- Tactic●●●●●Your level
Give Up Your Queen to Fork Theirs
A queen sacrifice lures the king onto the one square where your knight forks king and queen.
4 moves to find
- Tactic●●●●●NewYour level
Smothered Mate: The Knight's Best Trick
Queen and knight chase the king into the corner. Then the queen gives herself up so the knight can mate alone.
4 moves to find
- Opening●●●●●Your level
Italian Game: Build the Perfect Pawn Centre
The classic c3 and d4 plan: aim a bishop at f7, then take over the centre while Black's bishop keeps getting kicked.
7 moves to find
- Opening●●●●●A stretch
Noah's Ark Trap: Bury the Spanish Bishop
White's queen grabs a pawn on d4 in the Ruy Lopez. Chase it with your pawns and the bishop on b3 has nowhere to run.
7 moves to find
- Endgame●●●●●Your level
Face the King: Winning With the Opposition
Pushing the pawn only draws. Put your king face to face with Black's, make him step aside, and escort the pawn home.
5 moves to find
- Tactic●●●●●Warm-up
Skewer: Check the King, Take What's Behind
Force a queen trade in the corner so your rook checks the king and wins the rook hiding behind it.
4 moves to find
- Endgame●●●●●NewWarm-up
Queen Mate Without the Stalemate
Fence the king in on the back rank, walk your own king up, then finish. One careless queen move and it is only a draw.
5 moves to find
- Tactic●●●●●A stretch
Blow Open the King's Shelter
A rook sacrifice on h2 tears away the pawn cover. Then your queen and the rook on the g-file finish the job.
4 moves to find
- Tactic●●●●●Warm-up
Give Up the Queen, Win the King
Black's king is boxed in by its own pawns. Break through on the back rank, starting with a queen sacrifice.
4 moves to find