Welcome
The Chess Hall
Pick a room and pull up a chair. Hands-on lessons, guided puzzles, and friendly games — from a child's first move to confident, clever play.
Puzzle of the day
A fresh tactic, every morning
Recommended — start here
Start: Chess Fundamentals
Begin your chess journey
Stage 1 · Learn the Game
1 roomsThe rules, the goal, and how to stop losing pieces — everything you need to play a real game.
Stage 2 · Build Your Skills
2 roomsRecognize the mating patterns on sight and watch great ideas play out in full games.
Checkmating Patterns
The named mating nets every player must recognize on sight — back-rank, smothered, Boden's, Anastasia's, the Arabian, épaulette and Damiano's. See each net, then deliver it.
Annotated Master Games
Walk through history's most famous games move by move, with a live eval bar and original annotations: Morphy's Opera Game, the Evergreen, and the Immortal. See ideas play out from the first move to mate.
Stage 3 · Level Up
3 roomsAttacking play, a real opening repertoire, and the calculation that starts winning games.
Intermediate Chess
The improver's path: how to build an opening repertoire, gambits, the endgames that decide games, sharper tactics, and the strategic ideas behind strong play.
Attacking the Castled King
How to break open a castled king: the Greek gift sacrifice, the weak squares (f7, g7, h7), pawn storms, and opposite-side castling races. See the attacks land, then deliver them.
Chess Openings
Meet the most important chess openings — their ideas, plans, and key lines — then drill them move by move.
Stage 4 · Go Deep
2 roomsJudge tricky endgames and think positionally, like a strong club player.
Essential Endgames
The endings you must be able to JUDGE: opposite-coloured bishops, bishop vs knight, the wrong bishop, rook-ending principles, and queen vs pawn. Learn won-from-drawn, then drill the techniques.
Chess Strategy
Think like a positional player: weigh the imbalances, find the right plan, and turn small edges into wins.
Just for kids · ages 5–8
A gentle, illustrated first course guided by Pip the pawn — perfect for a young child's very first games.
The training rooms
New here? Start in the right place
Not sure where to begin?
Take the 2-minute placement test — find your level and the right room.
…or jump straight in: