# Chess From Zero > Learn chess from zero: how every piece moves, the special rules (castling, en passant, promotion), checkmate and draws, reading notation, the basic mates, tactics, opening principles, middlegame plans, endgame essentials, and how to learn from an engine without letting it think for you. --- # Chess From Zero You know chess is supposed to be deep, and the first few games feel like the opposite: the pieces move, something gets captured for reasons you did not see, and you lose without knowing why. That is not a talent gap. Nobody hands you the small set of ideas that strong players use without thinking about them. This guide builds those ideas in order. First the rules, complete and exact, including the parts most beginners get wrong (castling, en passant, stalemate, draws). Then the notation that lets you read any chess book. Then the thinking: how to finish a won game, how to spot tactics, how to open a game without memorizing anything, how to make a plan, and how to play the endgame. Every position and every line in this guide was checked move by move with a chess program, and the rules were checked against the FIDE Laws of Chess. You can play as you read. The site has a game against Stockfish at [play chess](/games/chess), with adjustable strength. It starts from the normal starting position, so use it for practice games, not for loading the examples here. ## How to read this - **Never played?** Start at phase 1 and read in order. Play a game after phase 2. - **Know the moves but lose to simple traps?** Jump to [phase 4](04-tactics.md), then phase 5. - **Want to know what engines are good for?** [Phase 7](07-learning-from-an-engine.md), then [How Computers Play Games](/guides/how-computers-play-games). ## The phases 1. **[The Board and the Pieces](01-the-board-and-the-pieces.md)** - the 64 squares, the six piece types, and exactly how each one moves and captures. 2. **[Special Moves, Check, and How Games End](02-special-moves-and-how-games-end.md)** - castling, en passant, promotion, check, checkmate, stalemate, and every way to draw. 3. **[Notation and the Basic Checkmates](03-notation-and-basic-checkmates.md)** - reading and writing moves, then mating with king and queen or king and rook. 4. **[Tactics: Seeing What the Board Is Hiding](04-tactics.md)** - forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, double check, removing the defender. 5. **[Openings and Middlegame Plans](05-openings-and-middlegame-plans.md)** - opening principles without memorizing lines, then open files, pawn structure, and weak squares. 6. **[Endgame Essentials](06-endgame-essentials.md)** - king activity, opposition, the square of the pawn, and which pawn endings are draws. 7. **[Learning From an Engine](07-learning-from-an-engine.md)** - how to use Stockfish as a coach instead of a crutch. > Left for later guides: opening theory beyond principles, and the famous rook endings (Lucena and Philidor), which need a deeper treatment than fits here. For how a program like Stockfish actually chooses a move, read [How Computers Play Games](/guides/how-computers-play-games). --- # The Board and the Pieces Chess has six kinds of pieces and one board, and every rule in the game grows from how those pieces move. Get this phase exact and the rest is built on rock. Get it fuzzy and you will keep losing pieces to moves you did not know existed. ## The board and how to set it up The board is an 8 by 8 grid of 64 squares, alternating light and dark. Two checks keep you from setting it up backwards: - **A light square sits at each player's right-hand corner.** Rotate the board until that is true for you. - **Each queen starts on her own color.** The white queen starts on a light square (d1), the black queen on a dark one (d8). Columns are called **files** and are lettered a to h from White's left. Rows are called **ranks** and are numbered 1 to 8 from White's side. Every square has a name made of its file and rank: the bottom-left corner is a1, the top-right corner is h8. This is how you will read moves in [phase 3](03-notation-and-basic-checkmates.md). ```text a b c d e f g h 8 r n b q k b n r 8 7 p p p p p p p p 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 P P P P P P P P 2 1 R N B Q K B N R 1 a b c d e f g h ``` Capital letters are White's pieces, lowercase are Black's, and a dot is an empty square. K is king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight (K was taken), P pawn. We use this style for every diagram in the guide. White always moves first, and the players alternate one move at a time. The goal is to **checkmate** the opponent's king: attack it so that it cannot escape. You never capture the king; the game ends one move earlier. Phase 2 makes that exact. ## How each piece moves Pieces move onto an empty square or capture an enemy piece by landing on its square. You can never land on a square holding your own piece. All pieces except the knight are blocked by anything in their path. In each diagram below, the piece is alone on d4 of an empty board, and `*` marks every square it can reach. **The rook** moves any number of squares along a rank or file. 14 squares from anywhere on an empty board. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . * . . . . 8 7 . . . * . . . . 7 6 . . . * . . . . 6 5 . . . * . . . . 5 4 * * * R * * * * 4 3 . . . * . . . . 3 2 . . . * . . . . 2 1 . . . * . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` **The bishop** moves any number of squares along a diagonal. Because it moves diagonally, **a bishop stays on its starting square color for the whole game**. You have a light-squared bishop and a dark-squared one, and each can only ever touch half the board. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . . * 8 7 * . . . . . * . 7 6 . * . . . * . . 6 5 . . * . * . . . 5 4 . . . B . . . . 4 3 . . * . * . . . 3 2 . * . . . * . . 2 1 * . . . . . * . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` **The queen** moves like a rook and a bishop combined. She is the strongest piece, with 27 reachable squares from d4 on an empty board. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . * . . . * 8 7 * . . * . . * . 7 6 . * . * . * . . 6 5 . . * * * . . . 5 4 * * * Q * * * * 4 3 . . * * * . . . 3 2 . * . * . * . . 2 1 * . . * . . * . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` **The knight** moves in an "L": two squares in one direction and one square at right angles. It is the only piece that **jumps over other pieces**, so it is never blocked. It always lands on a square of the opposite color from where it started. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . * . * . . . 6 5 . * . . . * . . 5 4 . . . N . . . . 4 3 . * . . . * . . 3 2 . . * . * . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` At the start of the game, the knight on g1 can go to f3 or h3. It cannot go to e2, because its own pawn is there. (It jumps over pieces, but it still cannot land on a friendly one.) **The king** moves one square in any direction. A king may never move onto a square attacked by an enemy piece, and two kings may never stand next to each other. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . * * * . . . 5 4 . . * K * . . . 4 3 . . * * * . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` ## The pawn is the odd one Pawns are the only pieces whose capture is different from their move, and the only ones that never move backward. - A pawn moves **one square straight forward**, onto an empty square. - From its starting square it may instead move **two squares forward**, if both squares are empty. - A pawn **captures one square diagonally forward**, and only if an enemy piece is there. It can never capture straight ahead, so two pawns facing each other on a file block each other. A pawn that reaches the far rank is **promoted**, and a pawn can also capture in one more special way. Both are covered in phase 2. At the starting position, White has 16 pieces and a total of exactly **20 legal first moves**: 16 pawn moves (each of eight pawns moves one or two squares) and 4 knight moves (each knight to one of two squares). ## What the pieces are worth Players use point values to judge trades. These are a convention, a rough guide and not a law: | Piece | Points | |---|---| | Pawn | 1 | | Knight | 3 | | Bishop | 3 | | Rook | 5 | | Queen | 9 | The king has no value because it can never be traded. Use the numbers to answer "am I winning this trade?" Giving up a rook (5) to capture a bishop and a knight (6) is a good deal. A bishop (3) for a pawn (1) is not, unless something else is happening. Later phases will show you when position beats points, but start by counting. Check yourself before moving on: ```quiz [ {"q": "Which statement about the bishop is true?", "choices": ["It can switch between light and dark squares by moving to the edge", "It stays on the same color of square for the whole game", "It can jump over pieces like the knight", "It captures straight ahead like a pawn"], "answer": 1, "explain": "A bishop moves only diagonally, and a diagonal step always lands on the same square color. Each player's two bishops cover opposite colors."}, {"q": "A white pawn on e4 has an enemy pawn directly in front of it on e5 and an enemy knight on d5. What can the e4 pawn do?", "choices": ["Capture the e5 pawn", "Capture the d5 knight", "Move to e6", "Nothing at all"], "answer": 1, "explain": "Pawns capture diagonally forward, so the pawn on e4 can capture on d5 (or f5). It cannot capture or move through the pawn straight ahead."}, {"q": "How many legal moves does White have from the starting position?", "choices": ["16", "18", "20", "24"], "answer": 2, "explain": "Eight pawns each have two moves (one square or two) for 16, plus two knights with two moves each for 4. Total 20."} ] ``` ## Recap 1. The board is 8 by 8; a light square is at each player's right-hand corner, and each queen starts on her own color. 2. Squares are named by file (a to h) and rank (1 to 8); capitals are White and lowercase is Black in our diagrams. 3. Rooks move on ranks and files, bishops on diagonals (staying on one color), queens do both, kings take one step, and knights jump in an L. 4. Pawns move forward one square (two from the start) and capture one square diagonally forward. 5. Point values (1, 3, 3, 5, 9) are a handy guide for trades, not a law. Next up, [Special Moves, Check, and How Games End](02-special-moves-and-how-games-end.md): castling, en passant, promotion, and the many ways a game stops. --- # Special Moves, Check, and How Games End Almost every beginner argument over a chessboard is about one of three moves (castling, en passant, promotion) or one of the endings (stalemate, draws). They look like odd exceptions, and they are, but each has a precise rule. Learn the rules once and no one can bluff you. ## Check and checkmate A king is **in check** when an enemy piece attacks its square. You are never allowed to leave your own king in check, so when you are checked you must respond. There are exactly three ways: 1. **Move the king** to a square that is not attacked. 2. **Capture** the piece giving check. 3. **Block** the line between the checking piece and your king. (You cannot block a knight, which jumps, and you cannot block a pawn's or king's check since they are adjacent.) ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . r . k . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . B . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . K . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White is in check from the rook on e8. White has six legal moves, one of each kind of answer: the capture `Bxe8`, the block `Be2`, and the king moves `Kd1`, `Kd2`, `Kf1`, and `Kf2`. (We read these in phase 3.) **Checkmate** is check with none of those three answers. The game ends and the side that delivered the mate wins. The simplest example is the back-rank mate, where a king trapped behind its own pawns is checked along the first rank: ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . k . 8 7 . . . . . p p p 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 R . . . K . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White plays Ra8. The rook checks along the 8th rank. The black king cannot step to f7, g7, or h7 because its own pawns are there, nothing can block between a8 and g8, and nothing can capture the rook. That is checkmate. ## Castling Castling is the only move where you move two pieces at once, and the only way to get the king to safety and a rook into the game in one move. The king moves **two squares toward a rook**, and that rook jumps over the king to the square next to it. Castling toward the h-file rook is "kingside" and toward the a-file rook is "queenside". All of these must be true (FIDE Laws, Article 3.8): - **The king and that rook have not moved** at any point earlier in the game. If either has moved, even if it came back, that side of castling is gone for good. - **Every square between them is empty.** - **The king is not in check**, does not pass over an attacked square, and does not land on an attacked square. Two surprises: the rook is allowed to be attacked, and on the queenside the square next to the rook (b1 for White) may be attacked, because the king never touches it. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . b . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 R . . . K . . R 1 a b c d e f g h ``` Here White cannot castle kingside: the bishop on c4 attacks f1, a square the king would cross. White can castle queenside. The king goes to c1, the rook to d1, and neither square is attacked. ## En passant "En passant" is French for "in passing". It fixes one loophole: the two-square pawn move would let a pawn dodge past an enemy pawn that could have captured it on the one-square step. The rule: if a pawn moves two squares from its starting rank and lands **directly beside an enemy pawn** (on the same rank, adjacent file), that enemy pawn may capture it as if it had moved only one square. **You must do it immediately, on the very next move, or the right is gone.** ```text a b c d e f g h 8 r n b q k b n r 8 7 . p p . p p p p 7 6 p . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . p P . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 P P P P . P P P 2 1 R N B Q K B N R 1 a b c d e f g h ``` This arose from 1.e4 a6 2.e5 d5. Black's d-pawn jumped two squares and landed beside White's pawn on e5. White can capture it with `exd6`: the e5 pawn moves to d6, the black pawn on d5 is removed even though the capturing pawn did not land on it. If White plays any other move first, `exd6` is no longer allowed. ## Promotion When a pawn reaches the far rank, it must be exchanged for a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of its own color. You choose, whatever is already on the board, so you can have two or more queens. Almost always you choose a queen. Sometimes a knight is better. In this position, White to move can promote with `e8=N+`: ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . . . 8 7 . . q . P . k . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 K . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` The new knight on e8 attacks both the king on g7 and the queen on c7. Black must answer the check with a king move, and then the knight takes the queen. (Each of Black's seven legal replies was checked: the knight takes on c7 every time.) This is called **underpromotion**. ## Stalemate and the draws A game does not have to end in a win. **Stalemate**: the player to move is not in check but has no legal move at all. The game is a draw, and the player with the extra material did not win. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 k . . . . . . . 8 7 . . Q . . . . . 7 6 . K . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` Black to move. The king on a8 is not attacked, but a7, b7, and b8 are all covered, and Black has no other piece. No legal move, no check: stalemate, a draw. White was a whole queen ahead and still did not win. You will see in [phase 3](03-notation-and-basic-checkmates.md) how to avoid this. The FIDE Laws list these ways to draw: - **Stalemate** (Article 5.2.1). - **Agreement:** the players agree to a draw during the game (5.2.3). - **Dead position:** a position arises where neither side can ever checkmate by any legal sequence of moves (5.2.2). Examples: king against king, king and bishop against king, king and knight against king, and king and bishop against king and bishop with both bishops on the same color. (King and two knights against a bare king is not a dead position, because mate is possible if the defender helps, though it can never be forced.) - **Threefold repetition:** the same position arises at least three times (not necessarily in a row), with the same side to move and the same rights to castle and to capture en passant. A player who has the move can **claim** the draw (9.2). - **Fifty-move rule:** if the last 50 moves by each player were made with no pawn move and no capture, the player to move can claim the draw (9.3). - **Fivefold repetition and the 75-move rule:** at five repetitions, or if 75 moves by each side pass with no pawn move and no capture, the game is drawn automatically, no claim needed (9.6). The exception: if the last move delivers checkmate, the checkmate stands. The difference between "claim" and "automatic" matters in real games: three times and 50 moves are options a player must ask for. Five times and 75 moves are enforced by the arbiter. Check yourself before moving on: ```quiz [ {"q": "White's king and kingside rook have never moved, f1 and g1 are empty, but a black bishop attacks f1. Can White castle kingside?", "choices": ["Yes, because the king itself is not in check", "Yes, but only if the rook then captures the bishop", "No, because the king would pass over an attacked square", "No, because the rook has to be unattacked"], "answer": 2, "explain": "The king may not cross a square an enemy piece attacks. Being attacked on the way is enough to forbid castling, even if the king is not in check now."}, {"q": "Black has moved a pawn two squares and landed beside White's pawn. White plays a different move first, then wants to capture en passant. Allowed?", "choices": ["Yes, at any time while the pawn stays there", "Yes, within the next two moves", "No, it is only allowed immediately on the next move", "No, en passant exists only for the d and e files"], "answer": 2, "explain": "En passant is available for exactly one move: the one right after the two-square advance."}, {"q": "A player has a queen and a rook against a bare king. It is the bare king's turn, the king is not in check, and it has no legal move. What is the result?", "choices": ["The player with the queen wins", "It is a draw by stalemate", "The bare king loses on time", "The game continues with the same player to move"], "answer": 1, "explain": "No check plus no legal move is stalemate, which is always a draw regardless of how much material is on the board."} ] ``` ## Recap 1. In check you have exactly three answers: move the king, capture the checker, or block. If none exists, it is checkmate. 2. Castling needs an unmoved king and rook, an empty path, and a king that is not in check and does not cross or land on an attacked square. 3. En passant must be played immediately or not at all. 4. A pawn reaching the far rank becomes a queen, rook, bishop, or knight of your choice, and a knight sometimes wins when a queen would not. 5. Stalemate (no check, no legal move) is a draw. Draws also come by agreement, dead position, threefold or fivefold repetition, and the 50- and 75-move rules. Next up, [Notation and the Basic Checkmates](03-notation-and-basic-checkmates.md): the language of chess moves, and how to finish a won game without stalemating. --- # Notation and the Basic Checkmates Nearly every chess book, video, and engine uses one standard written language for moves, called algebraic notation. It looks like code the first time you see it, and it takes about ten minutes to learn. Then you spend the rest of the phase on the second thing that decides games between beginners: knowing how to turn a big advantage into an actual checkmate. ## Algebraic notation A move is written as the piece letter plus the square it lands on. Pawns have no letter. | Written | Meaning | |---|---| | `Nf3` | A knight moves to f3 | | `e4` | A pawn moves to e4 | | `Bxc6` | A bishop captures on c6 (`x` means capture) | | `exd5` | The pawn from the e-file captures on d5 | | `Qh5+` | The queen moves to h5, giving check | | `Qxf7#` | The queen captures on f7, and it is checkmate | | `O-O` | Castling kingside | | `O-O-O` | Castling queenside | | `e8=Q` | A pawn reaches e8 and becomes a queen | Letters: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight. A pawn capture is written with the **file the pawn came from**, then `x`, then the target square, which is why it is `exd5` and not `ed5`. If two pieces of the same kind could move to the same square, add the **file** of the one that moves, or the **rank** if the files match. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5, both White knights can reach d2, so the move is written `Nbd2` (the b1 knight) or `Nfd2` (the f3 knight). If two rooks on a1 and a5 could both go to a3, the moves are `R1a3` and `R5a3`. A game is written as numbered pairs, White's move then Black's. Here is the best-known beginner trap, Scholar's mate: ```text 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Qxf7# ``` White's queen and bishop both aim at f7, the square only the black king protects. On move 3, Black played `Nf6??` (two question marks mean "a terrible move"), which ignored the threat. After `Qxf7#`, the queen is protected by the bishop, so the king cannot take it, and every escape square is covered. ## The first habit: before you move, ask what it allows Scholar's mate works on players who do not check what the opponent is threatening. Before every move, ask two questions: what does my opponent threaten right now, and what does my move leave undefended? [Phase 4](04-tactics.md) turns this into a routine. ## Checkmating with king and queen If you are ahead by a queen, the game is not over until you mate, and many won games are thrown away here. The technique has one rule: **use the queen to shrink the space the king can use, bring your own king to help, and avoid aimless checks, which let the king run.** Take this position: ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . K . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 Q . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White plays `Qa7`. The queen controls the whole 7th rank, so the black king cannot leave the 8th rank. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 Q . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . K . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` Black has two moves: Kd8 or Kf8. The main line against each (Black's other replies lose at the same speed): - **1...Kf8 2.Kf6 Kg8 3.Qg7#.** The white king on f6 covers e7, f7, and g7 and takes away the king's squares. - **1...Kd8 2.Kd6 Ke8 3.Qe7#.** The same idea on the other side. Either way, it is mate in three moves, checked by program against every possible reply (counting Qa7 as move 1). The recipe: cut the king off along a rank with the queen, walk your king over, and deliver mate on the edge with the queen protected by the king. ## Checkmating with king and rook The rook is slower because it cannot cut off as much. The idea is the same, with one key tool: **the opposition**, where the two kings face each other with one square between them. Whoever must move a king in that position has to give ground, and the rook gives White a spare move, so it is Black who runs out of safe squares. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 R . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . K . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White to move. The rook on a7 keeps the black king on the 8th rank. The best line is 1.Kd6 Kf8 2.Ke6 Kg8 3.Kf6 Kh8 4.Kg6 Kg8 5.Ra8#, which is the fastest mate against best defense (checked by program). The white king marches forward and the black king is pushed sideways along the edge until the kings face each other and the rook can check on the back rank. The final pattern to recognize is this: ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . K . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 R . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` `Ra8#`. The white king on e6 covers d7, e7, and f7, so the rook only needs to check on the 8th rank. The black king has no square. The same pattern appears at the end of the line above, shifted to the g-file. The opposition is what gets you here: with the kings facing each other, the black king cannot step up, and the rook check on the back rank cannot be answered. ## The stalemate trap The most common mistake is a mate attempt that leaves the opponent with no legal move and no check. Start here, with White to move: ```text a b c d e f g h 8 k . . . . . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . K . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . Q . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` `Qc8#` is checkmate. `Qc7` looks equally forceful, but it is stalemate: the black king on a8 has no square and is not in check, so the game is drawn. The difference is a single square. **Before any move that takes away the opponent's last square, check: is the king in check afterward?** If not, and nothing else can move, you have thrown the win away. Make it a habit: with a lone king, the last move should be a check. Check yourself before moving on: ```quiz [ {"q": "Two white knights, on b1 and f3, can both go to d2. How is the move by the b1 knight written?", "choices": ["Nd2", "N1d2", "Nbd2", "Nxd2"], "answer": 2, "explain": "When two same pieces can reach the square, you add the file of the moving piece (here b). The rank is used only if the files are the same."}, {"q": "What does Qxf7# mean?", "choices": ["The queen moves to f7 and the game is drawn", "The queen captures on f7, giving check", "The queen captures on f7, and it is checkmate", "The queen moves to f7 without capturing"], "answer": 2, "explain": "x means capture and # means checkmate. A single + would mean check only."}, {"q": "You have king and queen against a lone king in the corner on a8, with your king on b6 and your queen on c1. Which move is a mistake?", "choices": ["Qc8", "Qa1", "Qc7", "Qc5"], "answer": 2, "explain": "Qc7 takes away the last square without giving check, so it is stalemate and a draw. Qc8 is checkmate. Qa1 gives check and the king escapes to b8. Qc5 gives no check but leaves the king the square b8."} ] ``` ## Recap 1. Moves are written as a piece letter plus the destination square; `x` is capture, `+` check, `#` mate, `O-O` and `O-O-O` are castling. 2. Add the file (or the rank) of the moving piece when two same pieces could reach the square. 3. King and queen against king: restrict the king with the queen, bring your king over, and mate with the queen protected. 4. King and rook against king: cut off a rank, then use the opposition to force the king back for a rook check on the edge. 5. Before taking away the last square, make sure your move is a check. Otherwise it is stalemate. Next up, [Tactics: Seeing What the Board Is Hiding](04-tactics.md): the short tricks that win material in nearly every game. --- # Tactics: Seeing What the Board Is Hiding A tactic is a short forcing sequence that wins something: a piece, a pawn, or the game. Most beginner and club games are decided by tactics more than by deep strategy, because one player misses a pattern that the other one has seen a hundred times. The patterns are few. Learn the six below and you will start to see them on the board, and also stop walking into them. Each position here was checked by program: every move is legal, and the claimed result holds against every reply. ## The habit: checks, captures, threats Before every move, scan in this order: 1. **Checks.** Every check you can give, and every check your opponent can give after your move. Checks are forcing: the opponent must answer them. 2. **Captures.** Every capture available to either side. Is anything undefended, or defended fewer times than attacked? 3. **Threats.** Any move that attacks something, or sets up a capture or a mate next move. Do this for your options and then for your opponent's. It takes ten seconds, and it is the single most reliable way to stop hanging pieces and start finding wins. The patterns below tell you what you are looking for. ## The fork A **fork** is one piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at once, so the opponent can save only one. Knights are the classic forkers, because their move is hard to see, but any piece can fork. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 r . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . N . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . K . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White plays `Nc7+`. The knight attacks the king on e8 and the rook on a8 at the same time. Black must answer the check, and then White plays `Nxa8`. The knight (3 points) wins a rook (5 points) for free. ## The pin A **pin** is an attack on a piece that cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece behind it. - In an **absolute pin**, the piece behind is the king, so the pinned piece cannot legally move at all. - In a **relative pin**, the piece behind is something valuable like a queen. The pinned piece can move, but doing so loses the piece behind it. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . n . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . B . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . R K . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` The black knight on d7 is pinned to its king by the bishop on b5, so it cannot move. White plays `Rxd7`. Black cannot recapture with the king, because the bishop guards d7. White has won a knight. A very common relative pin arises in the Queen's Gambit: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 r n b q k b . r 8 7 p p p . . p p p 7 6 . . . . p n . . 6 5 . . . p . . B . 5 4 . . P P . . . . 4 3 . . N . . . . . 3 2 P P . . P P P P 2 1 R . . Q K B N R 1 a b c d e f g h ``` The bishop on g5 attacks the knight on f6, with the black queen behind it on d8. If the knight moves, `Bxd8` wins the queen (unless the move makes a bigger threat of its own). That is why you rarely see the knight leave. ## The skewer A **skewer** is a pin in reverse: you attack a valuable piece, it must move, and you capture the piece behind it. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . b . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . k . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 R . . . . K . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White plays `Re1+`. The rook checks the king on e5 and also lines up the bishop on e8 behind it. The king must leave the e-file (it has six squares to choose from), and after each of them `Rxe8` wins the bishop. ## The discovered attack A **discovered attack** is when you move one piece and uncover an attack by another piece behind it. The moving piece can do something else at the same time, so you often make two threats with one move. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . q . 6 5 . . . . N . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . R . K . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` The white knight on e5 stands in front of the rook on e1. `Nxg6+` captures the queen and also uncovers the rook's check on the black king on e8. Black has to answer the check, and cannot recapture the knight on g6, so White keeps the queen. ## Double check A **double check** is a check from two pieces at once, usually from a discovered check where the piece that moves also gives check. You cannot block or capture two attackers with one move, so **the king must move**. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . . N . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . R . K . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White plays `Nd6++`. The knight moving from e4 uncovers the rook on e1 and also checks the king on e8 itself. Black's only legal replies are `Kd7`, `Kd8`, and `Kf8`. (The double plus is a common way to write double check; the standard notation from phase 3 would write a single `+`.) Here the king can run, so it is not mate, but in many positions the escape squares are all covered and a double check is mate. Look for it whenever the enemy king is exposed. ## Removing the defender If an enemy piece is protected by one defender, take away or deflect the defender. The protected piece then falls. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . p . . . . 7 6 . . n . . . . . 6 5 . B . . p . . . 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . N . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . K . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` Black's pawn on e5 is defended only by the knight on c6, and White's knight on f3 attacks it. White plays `Bxc6`. If `dxc6`, then `Nxe5` wins a pawn. If Black declines to recapture, White is a knight up. A search confirmed that Bxc6 is White's best move here. Be careful, because this does not always work. The same idea fails in a real opening: after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5, Black plays 5...Qd4 and regains the pawn with 6.Nf3 Qxe4+, because the queen attacks both the knight and the e4 pawn. Counting defenders and attackers on the actual board is the only way to be sure. ## Your turn: sorting the patterns Which pattern is at work depends on one question: what is attacked, and what is behind or beside it? | What you see | Pattern | |---|---| | One piece attacks two things at once | Fork | | A piece cannot move because something behind it is worth more | Pin | | The valuable piece in front must move, exposing the one behind | Skewer | | Moving one piece uncovers an attack by another | Discovered attack | | Two pieces give check at once | Double check | | A defender is captured or driven away | Removing the defender | Check yourself before moving on: ```quiz [ {"q": "A white knight lands on a square from which it attacks the black king and the black rook. Black must answer the check. What is this pattern called?", "choices": ["A pin", "A fork", "A skewer", "A discovered attack"], "answer": 1, "explain": "One piece attacking two targets at once is a fork. The check forces Black to deal with the king, so the rook is lost."}, {"q": "You give a double check. Which reply can never save the enemy king?", "choices": ["Moving the king to a safe square", "Capturing an unprotected checking piece with the king", "Blocking one of the checks with another piece", "All three can work"], "answer": 2, "explain": "A double check is two attacks at once, so blocking or capturing one attacker still leaves the other. Only a king move (including a king capture of an unprotected checker) can answer both."}, {"q": "In the checks-captures-threats habit, in what order do you scan a position?", "choices": ["Threats, then captures, then checks", "Captures, then threats, then checks", "Checks, then captures, then threats", "Whichever piece is closest to the opponent's king"], "answer": 2, "explain": "Checks are the most forcing, so look at them first. Then captures, then quieter threats."} ] ``` ## Recap 1. Before each move, scan checks, then captures, then threats, for both sides. 2. A fork attacks two things at once; a pin freezes a piece against something behind it; a skewer is a pin in reverse. 3. A discovered attack uncovers a second piece's attack, and a double check forces the king to move. 4. Removing the defender wins a protected piece, but always count attackers and defenders on the real board. Next up, [Openings and Middlegame Plans](05-openings-and-middlegame-plans.md): how to start a game that gives you tactics, not troubles. --- # Openings and Middlegame Plans Beginners are told to memorize openings, and then their opponent plays move 4 and the memory is useless. You do not need lines. You need three ideas that explain why good opening moves are good, plus a way to find a plan once the pieces are out. This phase gives you both. ## The three opening principles 1. **Fight for the center.** The four central squares (d4, e4, d5, e5) are where pieces reach the most squares. Occupy or control them, usually with a pawn like `e4` or `d4` first. 2. **Develop your pieces.** "Develop" means moving pieces from their starting squares to squares where they do something. Knights and bishops first, and usually knights before bishops (a common guideline: it is clearer where a knight belongs early on). 3. **Get your king safe.** Castle early. The king in the center is the main target of every tactic in [phase 4](04-tactics.md), and castling also brings a rook into play. Here is an opening that follows all three. It is the Italian Game, and each move has a job: ```text 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. Nc3 d6 ``` `e4` claims the center. `Nf3` develops a knight and attacks e5. `Bc4` develops a bishop toward f7, the weakest point in Black's position. `O-O` gets the king out of the center. Black mirrors it, and by move 6 both sides have castled and most pieces have a job. Nothing here required memory. You can reach the same position by asking the three questions. ## Tempo: why a wasted move matters A **tempo** is one move's worth of time. In the opening, every move you spend not developing is a tempo you gave your opponent. Two habits waste the most: - **Moving the queen out early.** The queen is valuable, so she is a target. Every time you attack her, the attacker develops with a threat and you lose time moving her. - **Moving the same piece twice** before the rest are out, unless there is a concrete reason (a capture, a threat, a response to a threat). See what the early queen costs in a real line: ```text 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 g6 4. Qf3 Nf6 ``` Black's `g6` attacked the queen, so White spent a second move on her. After four moves, the white queen has moved twice and sits on f3, while Black has developed both knights. Black is not winning by force, and the queen on f3 still eyes f7, but White has spent two moves on one piece while Black built a position. And if Black had played `3...Nf6??` instead, `4.Qxf7#` is mate, as you saw in [phase 3](03-notation-and-basic-checkmates.md). The early queen does carry threats, so watch for them when your opponent plays it. ## When the center opens and the king is behind The most useful opening lesson is a game in which a side that falls behind in development is punished. This is the Opera Game, played by Paul Morphy in Paris in 1858 against two amateurs consulting together (the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard), in a box at the opera house. Read it for the shape, not the moves: ```text 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Nc3 c6 9. Bg5 b5 10. Nxb5 cxb5 11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. O-O-O Rd8 13. Rxd7 Rxd7 14. Rd1 Qe6 15. Bxd7+ Nxd7 16. Qb8+ Nxb8 17. Rd8# ``` White developed a piece with almost every move, so when the center opened (move 4) every white piece was ready. Black never castled, so when the d-file opened, White's rooks aimed straight at the king. The finish, a queen sacrificed on b8 to pull a knight away and a rook mating on d8, is a tactic from phase 4 made possible by principles. Notice that the game is not about a clever line. It is about having more pieces working near the king when the position opened. ## The middlegame: from principles to a plan Once the pieces are developed there is no script. Strong players think about four things. ### Open and half-open files A **file** with no pawns on it is **open**, and a rook on an open file attacks everything along it. A file with only the opponent's pawns is **half-open** for you: your rook looks straight at their pawn. Put rooks on open files, and double them (both rooks on one file) to press an attack. ### Pawn structure Pawns are the only pieces that cannot go back, so their structure shapes the whole game. Four terms to know, with the example below. - A **doubled** pawn shares a file with another friendly pawn. - An **isolated** pawn has no friendly pawns on the files next to it, so no pawn can ever protect it. - A **passed** pawn has no enemy pawn in front of it on its file or the two files beside it. Nothing can capture it on its way to promotion, so it is a long-term asset. A **backward** pawn is a pawn behind its neighbors that cannot safely advance and cannot be defended by other pawns. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . r . . . . k . 8 7 . p . . . p p p 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . . P . . . . 4 3 P . . . . . . . 3 2 P . . . . P P P 2 1 . . R . R . K . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White's a2 and a3 pawns are doubled, and also isolated, because White has no pawn on the b-file. White's pawn on d4 is isolated, but it is also **passed**: Black has no pawns on the c, d, or e files, so no black pawn can stop it. Black's pawn on b7 is isolated too, and the b-file is half-open for White: White has no b-pawn, so a rook there would aim at b7. Files c and e are completely open, which is why White's rooks stand on them. You can read a position's story from its pawns. ### Outposts and weak squares When a pawn advances it can never go back, and it stops guarding the squares behind it. A square that none of a side's pawns can guard any more is a **weak square** (or hole) in that side's position. An enemy piece placed on it, protected by one of its own pawns, is on an **outpost**. Knights are the best outpost pieces, because their moves do not depend on open lines. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . b . . . k . 8 7 p p . . . p p p 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . N . . . . 5 4 . . . . P . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . P P P 2 1 R . . . . . K . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` The white knight on d5 is an outpost. It is protected by the pawn on e4, and Black has no pawns on the c or e files, so no black pawn can attack d5 unless it first captures onto one of those files. From d5 the knight eyes squares such as b6, c7, e7, and f6. In practice, Black's way to remove it is to trade a piece for it. ### A plan in four questions Beyond principles, a plan is a direction, and this is judgment, not law. These four questions work for most players: 1. **What did my opponent's last move change?** Does it threaten anything, or leave something undefended? 2. **What are the weaknesses?** Isolated or backward pawns, weak squares, an unsafe king, undefended pieces. 3. **Which of my pieces is doing the least?** Improve it: reroute the knight, put the rook on the open file. 4. **Is there a trade that helps me?** When ahead, trade pieces. When behind, avoid trades of your active pieces. Check yourself before moving on: ```quiz [ {"q": "Which of these is a good reason to spend a second move with the same piece in the opening?", "choices": ["It is your favorite piece", "It captures something or answers a threat", "The piece looks lonely", "To save time later by not developing the others"], "answer": 1, "explain": "A second move with the same piece costs a tempo, so it needs a concrete reason such as a capture, a threat, or a response to one."}, {"q": "White has a knight on d5, protected by a pawn on e4. Black has no pawns on the c-file or the e-file. How would you describe the knight?", "choices": ["It is pinned", "It is on an outpost", "It is skewered", "It is a passed pawn"], "answer": 1, "explain": "No black pawn is in position to attack d5, and a white pawn protects it, so the knight is on an outpost."}, {"q": "A pawn has no friendly pawns on the files beside it. What is it called?", "choices": ["Doubled", "Passed", "Isolated", "Backward"], "answer": 2, "explain": "An isolated pawn cannot be defended by another pawn. Doubled means two pawns on one file, and passed is about enemy pawns in front of it."} ] ``` ## Recap 1. Open by fighting for the center, developing pieces, and castling. 2. Tempo is time: do not waste moves on the early queen or on moving a piece twice without a reason. 3. A game like the Opera Game shows the payoff: developed pieces and an uncastled enemy king make tactics work. 4. In the middlegame, put rooks on open files and read the pawn structure: doubled, isolated, and passed pawns tell you where the weaknesses are. 5. Look for outposts for your knights, and weak squares for the opponent's. Next up, [Endgame Essentials](06-endgame-essentials.md): when few pieces are left, the king becomes a fighter. --- # Endgame Essentials When most pieces come off the board, the game becomes a race, and the winner is often decided by a single tempo. A pawn that would win in one position draws in another that looks identical, with the difference being whose turn it is. Players who have not studied the endgame lose half points here that were theirs to keep. The ideas below are small, and they apply to every ending. All positions in this phase were solved by program: for each king and pawn position the result (win or draw) is exact, for either side to move. ## Activate the king In the opening and middlegame the king hides, because checkmate threats are everywhere. With few pieces left there is almost nothing to checkmate it with, and the king becomes strong: it attacks pawns, guards squares, and escorts a passed pawn. **In most endgames, bring your king to the center and toward the action.** A king that stays at home gets beaten by one that does not. ## Opposition The **opposition** is a position where the two kings face each other on the same file (or rank) with one square between them. The player who has to move must step aside and lets the other king advance. Having the opposition means it is your opponent's turn when the kings face each other. Why does this matter? A king in front of a pawn needs to reach certain squares to promote it. If the defending king can hold the opposition, it stops the attacker getting there. ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . k . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . . 6 5 . . . . K . . . 5 4 . . . . P . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White's king is on e5 and the pawn on e4, with Black's king on e8. Whose move it is decides the result: - **White to move wins.** Any of `Kd6`, `Ke6`, or `Kf6` takes the key squares and wins. (Every other king move only draws.) - **Black to move draws.** Black plays `Ke7`, the only drawing move: it takes the opposition, with the kings on e5 and e7 facing each other and White to move. White cannot make progress. Two identical positions, opposite result, and the only difference is a single move. That is what "gaining a tempo" means in the endgame. ## Key squares Every pawn has **key squares**: if the attacking king reaches one of them, ahead of the pawn, the pawn promotes whoever moves, unless the defending king can capture the pawn first (rook pawns are an exception, see below). For a white pawn on e4, the key squares are d6, e6, and f6. A program confirmed it: with the white king on any of those three and the pawn on e4, White wins from every position of the black king except those where the black king is next to the pawn and can take it on its move. This is why `Kd6`, `Ke6`, and `Kf6` win in the example above. A related pattern is the king on the sixth rank in front of a pawn on the fifth. With White's king on e6, pawn on e5, and Black's king on e8, White wins whoever is to move. ## The square of the pawn Suppose a passed pawn runs for the promotion square and the enemy king is far away. Can the king catch it? There is a simple test. Draw a square with the pawn's path as one side, as many steps long as the pawn needs moves to promote. **If the defending king can step into the square on its own move, it catches the pawn.** ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . k . 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . P . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 K . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` White's pawn on c4 needs 4 moves to promote on c8, so the square is 5 by 5 squares, from c4 to g8 (files c to g, ranks 4 to 8). Black's king is on g6, inside the square, and Black to move. Black draws: the king runs back in time and captures or blocks the pawn. Now move the king one square out: ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . . . 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . . . k 6 5 . . . . . . . . 5 4 . . P . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 K . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` With the king on h6, outside the square, the same position is lost: the pawn promotes before the king arrives. (In both positions the white king is far away on a1.) Two cautions. First, the square counts the pawn's moves when it is the defender's turn. If it is the pawn's side to move, the square is smaller. Second, the rule assumes the attacking king is far away. A nearby king can escort the pawn and change the result. ## The rook pawn exception A pawn on the a- or h-file is special, because the attacking king can approach it from only one side. A defender that reaches the corner in front of the pawn can hold a draw by blocking or stalemate there. For example, White king on f6, pawn on h5, and Black king on h8: ```text a b c d e f g h 8 . . . . . . . k 8 7 . . . . . . . . 7 6 . . . . . K . . 6 5 . . . . . . . P 5 4 . . . . . . . . 4 3 . . . . . . . . 3 2 . . . . . . . . 2 1 . . . . . . . . 1 a b c d e f g h ``` This is a draw whoever moves, even though White is ahead a pawn. The black king shuttles between h8 and g8 and cannot be driven out of the corner. As the defender, head for that corner. ## What is left for later Rook endings are the most common endings in real games, and two famous positions, the **Lucena** (a winning method with a rook and pawn against a rook) and the **Philidor** (a drawing defense), belong to the next level of study. We do not include them here, because they need to be taught exactly, with every move, and that is a guide of its own. Check yourself before moving on: ```quiz [ {"q": "In the endgame, where should you generally bring your king?", "choices": ["Keep it in the corner, because it can still be checkmated", "Toward the center and the pawns, because few pieces remain to attack it", "Behind your own passed pawn at all times", "Next to the enemy queen"], "answer": 1, "explain": "With few pieces on the board, a king is hard to attack and very strong, so it should join the fight."}, {"q": "White: king e5, pawn e4. Black: king e8. Black is to move. What result is correct play?", "choices": ["White wins whatever Black does", "Black plays Ke7 and draws", "Black loses because the pawn cannot be stopped", "It is a draw, but only because of a stalemate trick"], "answer": 1, "explain": "Ke7 takes the opposition with White to move, and the pawn cannot make progress. With White to move in the same position, White wins."}, {"q": "A white pawn on c4 runs to c8 and Black to move has a king on h6 and White's king is far away. Is the black king in the square?", "choices": ["Yes, because it is on the sixth rank", "No, because the square only runs from c to g", "Yes, because the king is on a rank between 4 and 8", "It depends on whether White moves first"], "answer": 1, "explain": "The pawn needs 4 moves to promote, so the square is 5 by 5 squares and covers files c to g. The h-file is outside it."} ] ``` ## Recap 1. In the endgame the king is a fighter: bring it to the center. 2. The opposition (kings facing with one square between) is decided by whose turn it is, and one move can flip a win into a draw. 3. A king that reaches a key square in front of its pawn wins. 4. The square of the pawn tells you if the defending king can catch a running pawn: the king must be inside the square when it is its move. 5. A rook pawn often draws, because the defender can shelter in the corner. Next up, [Learning From an Engine](07-learning-from-an-engine.md): how to use Stockfish as a coach. --- # Learning From an Engine A chess engine will beat every human who has ever lived, and it will tell you exactly which move is best in any position. That sounds like the perfect teacher, and it is a trap. If the engine always supplies the answer, you never practice finding it, and you get better at asking, not at chess. This phase is about getting the lessons from an engine without losing the part that makes you improve. ## What an engine actually does Stockfish, the engine behind the opponent on this site, looks at a position, tries moves, tries the replies, and so on as deep as it can, then scores the positions at the end of each line and picks the best. It does not "understand" a plan the way you do, and it does not know why a move is good. It knows that after that move, the lines it searched come out better for you. The deeper story of how this works is in [How Computers Play Games](/guides/how-computers-play-games). The score it gives is an **evaluation**. It is usually written like `+0.8` or `-2.3`, in units of roughly one pawn, from White's point of view: positive favors White, negative favors Black. A few rules of thumb: - Near `0.0` means roughly equal. - Around `+1` is a clear but not decisive edge, such as one pawn's worth. - Large numbers mean a winning position, and a mate is shown separately, as "mate in N". The scale is not literal, so `+1.0` does not mean you are exactly a pawn ahead, and the same number can feel very different for a human and a computer. Use the number as a direction, not a verdict. ## What goes wrong when you lean on it Three habits stop beginners improving, and each one comes from handing the thinking to the engine. 1. **Playing with the hint open.** If you look at the suggested move before thinking, you have trained yourself to click. You also never see the position's real problem, because you never form your own plan. 2. **Reading only the best move.** Knowing that `Nf5` was best teaches you nothing unless you understand why. What did it attack? What did the alternative allow? 3. **Memorizing the engine's moves.** Engine lines often rely on precise sequences that a human cannot find over the board. Understand ideas, not strings of moves. ## A better routine This is a judgment-based routine, not the only way, but it keeps the thinking on your side. 1. **Play, with the assist off.** On the site, use **Focus** mode (the board by itself) when you want to play without help. **Coach** mode adds a panel with facts about the position (whether you are in check, how many captures are available, and how many pieces are threatened) and the recent moves. Those facts line up with the checks-captures-threats scan from [phase 4](04-tactics.md), so use Coach as a check on your scan, not a replacement for it. 2. **Review your own game first.** Find the moment you think it turned. Write down what you were thinking. 3. **Then ask the engine.** Find the move where the evaluation changed a lot. Look at what you missed: a hanging piece, a fork, a better square for a rook? 4. **Ask "why" before "what".** Before you look at the engine's move, guess it, then compare. If you were wrong, find the reason in the position: a tactic from phase 4, a weak square from [phase 5](05-openings-and-middlegame-plans.md). 5. **Find the pattern.** One missed fork is a mistake. Missing forks in three games is a habit, and you now know what to practice. ## Pick your opponent's strength on purpose The game at [play chess](/games/chess) has a difficulty selector with three levels that changes how strong Stockfish plays. Playing only against the strongest setting teaches you little, because you lose in ways you cannot learn from. Pick a setting where you win some and lose some, and every loss will have a cause you can find. As you improve, raise it. The Hint button, available in both modes, asks the engine for a suggested move. Use it after you think, not before. ## Checking that it works Set one small target at a time. For a few games, play only the scan from phase 4 before every move. Then check if you hang fewer pieces. Then target the opening principles. Then endgames. Improving at chess is less about knowing more and more about having fewer lapses. Check yourself before moving on: ```quiz [ {"q": "An engine shows an evaluation of +0.1 for the current position. What does that most likely mean?", "choices": ["White is losing", "The position is about equal", "Black is winning by a pawn", "White has a forced mate"], "answer": 1, "explain": "Values near zero mean a roughly balanced position. Positive favors White, but 0.1 is far too small to matter."}, {"q": "Which is the best way to use an engine's suggested move?", "choices": ["Play it without thinking, because it is always right", "Open the hint before every move", "Guess the move first, then compare and find out why it works", "Memorize it for the next game"], "answer": 2, "explain": "The learning is in the gap between your guess and the engine's move. If you never guess, there is no gap and nothing to learn."}, {"q": "In Coach mode on the site, which of these does the panel show you?", "choices": ["A full evaluation bar for every move", "Whether you are in check, the captures available, and the pieces under threat", "The opponent's next move", "A guaranteed winning line"], "answer": 1, "explain": "The coach panel shows facts about the position (check status, capture count, threatened pieces) and the recent moves. It does not show an evaluation bar, the opponent's next move, or a forced win."} ] ``` ## Recap 1. An engine searches ahead and scores positions; it picks the best move without knowing why you would play it. 2. An evaluation near 0 is equal, about +1 is a clear edge, and larger numbers mean winning. The scale is a direction, not a verdict. 3. Do not play with hints open, do not memorize engine lines, and do not read only the best move. 4. Review your game first, then check the engine, then guess before you look. 5. Choose an opponent strength where you win some and lose some. You now have the full ladder: rules, notation, mates, tactics, openings, plans, and endings. The best next step is to play, then review. Open [play chess](/games/chess) and start a game.