Blog
The blog.Chess for everyone who wants to improve.
Openings move by move, the tactical patterns that decide games, and how to train. Every line is checked with an engine, and every example comes from real games.
Openings
- The London System: one setup, three plansThe London System for club players: why the bishop goes to f4 before e3, where each piece goes, the three plans, and what Black plays against it.
- Three London traps, seen from both sides of the boardThree London System traps from real games, each with its bait, the move that refutes it, why it works and how not to fall for it yourself.
- Playing the Scotch Game: open the centre on move threeHow to play the Scotch Game with White: why 3.d4 opens the centre, how Black replies at club level, the five tactical motifs and how to start.
- Three traps in the Scotch: the bait and the punishmentThree classic Scotch Game traps: Légal’s mate, the bishop that falls on c5 and a mate by double check. The bait, the refutation and how to avoid each one.
- Choosing your openings: what club players play, and what to learnWhat club players rated 1000 to 1800 really play on Lichess, what the results say, and how to choose your openings: one system, or open games with plans.
- The four-move Scholar’s Mate, and how to defend against itScholar’s Mate is a checkmate in four moves, aimed at f7. How it works, three simple ways to stop it, and why the early queen attack costs White time.
Tactics
- Ten tactical patterns, and the signals that give them awayForks, pins, skewers, back-rank mates and six more: ten tactical patterns to know, the signals that give each one away, and how often they appear.
- The fork: one move, two threatsA fork attacks two things at once. The three signals that announce one, the knight, pawn and queen forks, and two puzzles from real games to solve.
- Pins and skewers: two tactics along one lineA pin freezes a piece in front of a bigger one; a skewer attacks the bigger one first. Absolute and relative pins, the signals, and two puzzles to solve.
- The discovered attack: one piece moves, another strikesA discovered attack makes two threats with one move. The signals that announce one, discovered check and double check, and two puzzles from real games to solve.
- The back-rank mate: a king shut in by its own pawnsA back-rank mate traps the king behind its own pawns. The three signals, two puzzles from real games, and when to give your own king an escape square.
- Mate in two: checks, captures, then threatsA mate in two forces mate on your second move, whatever the reply. A three-step method, three positions from real games, and the mistakes that cost the mate.
- Seven mating patterns, and how to spot them on the boardSeven checkmate patterns to recognise: the back-rank, Légal’s, smothered, Arabian, hook, Anastasia’s and Boden’s mates, with three puzzles to solve.
- Calculation: from candidate moves to the final positionHow to calculate variations in chess: list your candidate moves, find the best reply, judge the final position, check for blunders. Two puzzles worked through.
Endgames
Training
- Chess puzzles every day: how many, and how to solve themHow many chess puzzles should you solve a day? A simple routine for club players: how long, how many at your level, and what to do with the ones you miss.
- Chess puzzles with a pencil: calculate first, check afterWhy chess puzzles on paper make you calculate the whole line, how to solve printed puzzles with a pencil, and what a screen still does better.
- Your child’s first chess puzzles: getting started at homeWhen a child is ready for chess puzzles, which themes to start with, how to keep sessions short, and a mate in one to solve together on paper.
- Chess ratings explained, from 600 to 1800What a chess rating measures, why Lichess, Chess.com and FIDE numbers differ, puzzle and game ratings, and what players tend to know from 600 to 1800.
- Stuck at the same rating: why it happens and what to changeStuck at the same chess rating for months? Why club players stop improving, and what to change: slower games, honest review, daily puzzles, plans and endgames.