Starts from the normal position.
This board starts from a custom FEN. Click next to see the winning sequence.
Knights before Bishops. Bishops like open diagonals; Knights like closed, complex positions. Notice how White smoothly develops minor pieces with purpose before moving any pawns unnecessarily.
Every tempo matters. Develop with a threat if possible. In this Scandinavian Defense, Black moves the Queen twice, allowing White to develop the Knight (Nc3) with a free tempo.
Control the center and capture toward the center with your pawns to build a strong mass. Notice how Black's 4...exd5 pawn capture replaces a wing pawn (e6) with a central pawn (d5).
Castle before move 10. Avoid moving the pawns immediately in front of your castled King, as this creates permanent weaknesses that can never be undone.
No Queen too early. Bringing her out too fast just allows your opponent to develop their minor pieces while attacking her, forcing you to waste moves retreating.
Amateurs view en passant as a trick; masters use it to destroy defenses. Watch Black play ...g5, attempting to keep the Kingside closed and their King safe. White ruthlessly punishes this with hxg6 e.p., kicking the door down, ripping open the h-file for the Rook, and initiating a brutal mating attack.
Isolated pawns (pawns with no friendly neighbors) are massive liabilities. Notice White's d4 pawn. It cannot be defended by another pawn, meaning pieces must be tied down to defend it.
A backward pawn cannot step forward safely. Look at Black's d6 pawn. By jumping the Knight to d5, White perfectly blockades the pawn, ensuring it can never advance.
Pawns cannot move backward. Every time a pawn moves, it permanently leaves squares behind it weak. Pushing the f and g pawns carelessly results in an instant catastrophe.
Put your pawns on the opposite color of your remaining Bishop so they don't block its diagonals. Notice how White's pawns are on dark squares, allowing the light-squared Bishop total freedom.
Advancing a smaller group of pawns against a larger group. Watch White play 11. b4, beginning a Queenside pawn storm with just two pawns (a and b) against Black's three (a, b, c) to create a weakness.
A "bad" Bishop is blocked by its own pawns. Look at Black's light-squared Bishop on d7. It is completely trapped behind its own e6 and d5 pawns. It is essentially a tall pawn. NEVER trade a good Knight for a piece this restricted!
An outpost is only truly permanent when enemy pawns can no longer control the square. Watch Black play ...e5. This is a massive positional blunder. It permanently weakens the light squares, specifically the d5 square, while simultaneously blocking their own light-squared Bishop. White immediately punishes this with Nd5, establishing an unkickable "octopus" Knight that dominates the board forever.
Rooks are long-range artillery that are completely useless if blocked by their own pawns. An "open file" is a column with no pawns on it. Watch White immediately slide the Rook to Re1 to take control of the e-file, and then double up with Rae1. Whoever controls the open files controls the highways into the enemy camp.
A major milestone out of the opening is "connecting" your Rooks. This means clearing the back rank of your minor pieces and your Queen so your Rooks defend each other. After White plays Qd2, the Rooks on a1 and f1 are connected. They are now highly resilient to tactics and ready to deploy as a coordinated team.
Two Rooks on the 7th rank are called "Blind Swine" because they greedily gobble up everything in their path. Watch the sequence: Black makes a terrible positional mistake by playing the useless ...a6 instead of contesting the open d or e files. White immediately punishes this by invading with Rd7, attacking c7. When Black desperately tries to defend with ...Rac8, White casually slides the second Rook up with Ree7. The Black King is trapped, the pawns will fall, and the game is effectively over.
Two minor pieces are generally superior to a Rook and a pawn because of their agility. Watch Black greedily play ...Rxa2, securing the material advantage. White calmly centralizes with Nf6+ and Bd4, creating a deadly battery. When Black tries to attack the Bishop with ...Rd2, White springs the trap: Ne4+ unleashes a discovered check while simultaneously forking and winning the clumsy Rook!
If the opponent delays castling, ruthlessly blow open the center files to reach their King. Watch Black greedily play ...exd4. Instead of recapturing, White plays the explosive e5!, sacrificing a second pawn to clear the e-file. After the pieces trade, White unleashes Rxe5+. The uncastled King is caught in the crossfire, and the Rook simultaneously forks and wins the Bishop on c5.
The Yugoslav Attack! White has castled Queenside; Black Kingside. White launches a devastating pawn storm, perfectly willing to sacrifice pawns (g4, h5) just to tear open the h-file for the Rooks.
Bring at least two more attackers than they have defenders. White doesn't just attack the King with one piece. The Knight, Bishop, and Queen all converge on the Kingside, completely overwhelming the lone defensive pawn structure.
Line up your heavy pieces to smash through defenders. This famous setup (Alekhine's Gun) features two Rooks backed up by a Queen on the same file. It operates like a battering ram that no single defender can withstand.
The golden rule of chess: meet a flank attack with a central counter-strike. After Black sets up the King's Indian Defense, White launches a premature flank attack with 5. h4, completely ignoring development. Black immediately strikes the center with ...c5! White panics and pushes e5, but the center collapses. After the Queen trade, Black's Knight jumps to Ng4, simultaneously attacking the e5 pawn and threatening a devastating fork on f2. White's flank attack was useless, and their game is ruined.
A true fork attacks two high-value targets simultaneously, forcing the opponent to abandon one. This is the famous Fried Liver Attack. Black tries to defend the center with ...Nxd5, but walks into a brutal family fork. White plays the devastating Nxf7!, simultaneously attacking Black's Queen and Rook. Black is mathematically forced to lose heavy material.
A skewer is the inverse of a pin. The more valuable piece is in front. Watch Black mistakenly play ...Rab8??. White immediately punishes this with Bf4!. The Bishop attacks the Queen on c7, and because the Rook is trapped behind it on the exact same diagonal, the Queen must flee to safety, leaving the Rook to be captured.
Moving a piece to unleash a hidden attack from the piece behind it. In this classic opening trap, Black tries to retreat their Knight to safety with ...Nf6??, but walks right into disaster. White plays Nc6+!. This unleashes a deadly discovered check from the White Queen, while the Knight simultaneously attacks Black's Queen. The game is instantly over.
Smothered mate occurs when a King is trapped by its own pieces. Watch the legendary "Philidor's Legacy" sequence. White unleashes a devastating double-check with Nh6+, forcing the Black King to the corner. White then plays the brilliant decoy sacrifice Qg8+!, forcing the Black Rook to capture and permanently trap its own King, allowing Nf7#.
When you are completely losing, your only goal is survival. Look at this position: Black is down an entire Rook. The game seems hopelessly lost. But Black plays Qe3+!. White's King is forced to dance endlessly between g2, h3, and f1 while the Black Queen continuously checks on e2, h5, and f3. White can never escape the loop, and Black forces a miraculous draw.
When you are ahead in material or trying to survive a scary attack, trade the heavy pieces. By forcing a Queen trade here (Qc3), White instantly removes all checkmate threats and transitions into a winning pawn endgame.
Black's Knight is absolutely pinned to the King. If the King stays on the e-file, White will eventually march pawns or the King up to capture it. Black simply steps off the e-file (Kd7), breaking the pin and freeing the Knight.
Look at Black's pawn on g2. It looks dangerous, but it is actually shielding the White King! Black's heavy pieces cannot check the White King on the g-file because their own pawn is in the way. Do not capture a shield unless necessary!
The best defense is a good offense. When White pins the Knight (Bg5) threatening to ruin Black's structure, Black doesn't passively defend. Black immediately questions the Bishop with h6, forcing it to make a decision.
In the Scandinavian, after White plays Nc3, Black's Queen is under attack. Amateurs panic and move it to a random square. The principled, calm defense is to simply retreat the Queen back to its safe starting square (Qd8) or Qa5.
The endgame King is your strongest piece. Activate it immediately! Watch how White marches the King up to take "The Opposition" (Kings facing each other with an odd number of squares between them). White uses this to shoulder-block the Black King away from the center.
A passed pawn has no enemy pawns in front of it or on adjacent files to stop it. It is a ticking time bomb. If the enemy King is too far away, push it relentlessly to promotion. Do not overthink it.
Rooks belong behind passed pawns. White's Rook is perfectly placed behind its own passed pawn, supporting it all the way to promotion. Black's Rook is awkwardly placed in front, acting as a miserable roadblock for the pawn it's trying to stop.
A German term meaning "compulsion to move." In chess, you cannot pass your turn. Here, Black's King is perfectly centralized, but it is Black's turn to move. Every legal move forces Black to abandon the blockade or step away, allowing White's King to infiltrate and win.
In pawn endgames, fixing your opponent's pawns on the same color as your bishop, or forcing pawn weaknesses is key. Here White prematurely pushes b4, allowing the Black King to easily march over and gobble up the isolated pawn.
The absolute classic. The King is trapped behind its own three pawn shield, and a Rook or Queen drops down to the back rank to deliver a brutal, undefendable mate.
A beautiful mate delivered solely by a Knight. The enemy King is completely surrounded (smothered) by its own pieces, meaning it cannot step out of the Knight's checking path.
The Knight and Rook work together in perfect harmony in the corner of the board. The Knight protects the Rook and cuts off the King's escape square, while the Rook delivers the fatal blow.
The infamous 4-move checkmate. The Queen and Bishop team up to target the f7 square (f2 for Black). This pawn is only defended by the King in the opening, making it the weakest point on the board.
A devastating checkmate delivered by two Bishops on criss-crossing diagonals. It usually happens when the King is castled Queenside and its own pawns or pieces block its escape.