♔ Chess Primer

The Basics

What is Chess?

Chess is a strategic board game played between two players on an 8×8 checkered board with 64 squares. Each player starts with 16 pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.

The Board

• 8 ranks (rows): Numbered 1-8 from White's side
• 8 files (columns): Labeled a-h from left to right
• Each square has a unique name (e.g., e4, d5)
• Light square on right: Remember "white on right" when setting up

Goal of the Game

Checkmate your opponent's king! This means the king is under attack (in "check") and has no legal move to escape. The player who checkmates their opponent wins the game.

Core Ideas (the stuff that wins games)

♔ How Each Piece Moves

Quick guide to movement + how beginners should think about each piece.

Piece Values (approximate)

Piece values help you decide whether a trade makes sense. They are a guide, not a rule.

Special Moves

Castling

A special defensive move involving the king and one rook:

• Kingside Castling (O-O): King moves 2 squares toward the h-rook, rook jumps to f-file
• Queenside Castling (O-O-O): King moves 2 squares toward the a-rook, rook jumps to d-file

Conditions (all must be true):

• Neither the king nor chosen rook has moved before
• No pieces between the king and rook
• King is not currently in check
• King doesn't pass through a square under attack
• King doesn't land on a square under attack

Why castle? Protects your king and activates your rook!

En Passant

A special pawn capture that can occur when:

• Your pawn is on the 5th rank (White) or 4th rank (Black)
• Opponent moves their pawn two squares forward from starting position
• Opponent's pawn lands directly beside your pawn
• You must capture immediately on your next move (can't wait)

The capturing pawn moves diagonally to the square the enemy pawn "passed through" and removes the enemy pawn.

Pawn Promotion

When a pawn reaches the opposite end of the board (8th rank for White, 1st rank for Black):

• It MUST be promoted to another piece (cannot stay a pawn)
• Can become: Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight
• Usually promoted to Queen (most powerful)
• Sometimes promoted to Knight (for checkmate or to avoid stalemate)

📜 Important Rules

Check, Checkmate, and Stalemate

Check: When your king is under attack

• You MUST get out of check on your next move
• Three ways to escape: Move the king, block the attack, or capture the attacking piece

Checkmate: King in check with no legal moves to escape

• Game ends immediately - the checkmated player loses
• This is the goal of chess!

Stalemate: Player has no legal moves but is NOT in check

• Game ends in a draw (tie)
• Neither player wins

Draw Conditions

A game can end in a draw if:

• Stalemate: No legal moves and not in check
• Insufficient Material: Neither player has enough pieces to checkmate (e.g., only kings left)
• Threefold Repetition: Same position occurs three times
• 50-Move Rule: 50 moves by each player without a pawn move or capture
• Agreement: Both players agree to a draw

Touch-Move Rule

In official chess (not enforced in this app):

• If you touch a piece, you must move it (if legal)
• If you touch an opponent's piece, you must capture it (if possible)
• Say "I adjust" (j'adoube) if you just want to center a piece

Reading Chess Notation (Algebraic)

Most chess books, videos, and analysis tools use algebraic notation. Learning it makes improvement much faster.

Square names

• Files are letters: a to h
• Ranks are numbers: 1 to 8
• Example: e4 means file e, rank 4

Move basics

• Pawn moves: just the destination square → e4, d5
• Pieces: use a letter: N knight, B bishop, R rook, Q queen, K king
  • Example: Nf3 = “knight to f3”
• Captures: add x → Bxc4, Qxe7
• Check: add + → Qh7+
• Checkmate: add # → Qh7#
• Castling: O-O (kingside), O-O-O (queenside)
• Promotion: e8=Q (pawn promotes to a queen)

When two pieces can go to the same square

Notation may include extra info to show which piece moved:

• Nbd2 = the knight from the b-file goes to d2
• R1e1 = the rook from rank 1 goes to e1

The 10-Second Blunder Check (do this every move)

If you want the single highest-impact habit for improvement, it’s this: before you move, do a quick scan.

Most beginner games are decided by a missed CCT or a hanging piece. This habit alone can jump your results quickly.

Opening Principles (first ~10 moves)

You don’t need to memorise lots of opening theory to improve. Follow principles and avoid common traps.

Principles

1. Fight for the centre: pawns on/attacking d4/e4/d5/e5
2. Develop minor pieces: knights and bishops out early
3. Castle: usually by move 10 for king safety
4. Connect rooks: move your queen only when it helps

Common opening mistakes

• Moving the same piece repeatedly while others stay asleep
• Early queen raids (you lose time defending it)
• Too many pawn moves (you fall behind in development)
• Greedy pawn grabs that open your king (especially f-pawn)

Practical tip

Pick 1 opening as White and 1 response as Black, learn the first 6–10 moves + typical plans, and spend the rest of your time on tactics and endgames.

Tactics You Must Know

Tactics are short forcing sequences that win material or deliver checkmate. Look for them when pieces line up or a king is exposed.

How to train tactics

• Do small daily sets (10–20 puzzles) and focus on accuracy.
• After solving, ask: What was the pattern? Fork? Pin? Back rank?
• In your games, pause and check CCT (see the blunder checklist above).

Common Checkmate Patterns

Learning a few mating patterns makes it much easier to convert winning positions.

Back-rank mate

• Opponent king is stuck behind its own pawns (typically on 8th or 1st rank).
• Your rook/queen delivers mate on the back rank.
• Defense: make “luft” (an escape square) by moving a pawn like h6/h3 when safe.

Ladder mate (two rooks or queen+rook)

• Use one rook/queen to cut off ranks/files, the other to give check and push the king back.
• Repeat, shrinking the king’s box until mate.

Basic mates to learn early

• King + Queen vs King (force the king to the edge, then mate)
• King + Rook vs King (same idea; learn this to win many endgames)

Don’t worry about bishop+knight mate yet — it’s a specialist technique.

Endgame Essentials

Endgames feel slow, but they’re where a lot of games are won. You mainly need a few key rules.

Golden rules

• Activate your king: in endgames, the king is a strong piece.
• Create passed pawns: and push them with support.
• Rooks belong behind passed pawns: yours or your opponent’s.

Pawn endgame mini-tools

• Opposition: kings facing each other with one square between; whoever is not to move often has the advantage.
• Rule of the square: if the king can enter the pawn’s “square”, it can catch the pawn (when no pieces interfere).

Convert material advantage

• If you’re up a piece, trade pieces, not pawns (usually).
• If you’re up pawns, trade pieces to reach a pawn endgame.

Planning & Strategy (simple but powerful)

How to make a plan in 30 seconds

1. Fix your worst piece: which piece is doing nothing? Improve it.
2. Find a target: weak pawn, exposed king, loose piece, open file.
3. Choose a pawn break: pawn moves that open lines (like e4→e5 or c4→c5).

Good positional habits

• Two attackers beat one defender: try to overload defenders.
• Open files: put rooks on them, then invade the 7th rank.
• Knights love outposts: protected squares that enemy pawns can’t chase.
• Bishops love open positions: avoid locking them behind your pawns.

Time Management

If you’re learning, slower time controls are your friend.

• Bullet (1–2 minutes): fun, but teaches bad habits.
• Blitz (3–5 minutes): good for practice once you know patterns.
• Rapid (10–15 minutes): best for improvement (time to think + blunder check).

Using Chess Primer (features & how to improve faster)

Play page

• Help Mode: keep this on while learning. It’s better to play accurately than quickly.
• Engine Strength (ELO slider): choose a level where you win ~40–60% of games.
• Time Control: use Rapid when you want to improve; Blitz/Bullet for quick reps.
• Get Hint / Suggest Move: use sparingly—try to calculate first, then compare.
• Draw Arrows: mark ideas (attacks, defenses, plans) before moving.

Analysis page

• Review the game and focus on turning points (big evaluation swings).
• When you see a mistake, ask: Did I miss a check/capture/threat?
• Export as PGN if you want to share the game or analyse elsewhere.
• Try a better move on the board and see what the engine suggests.

A simple weekly improvement plan

1. Daily: 10–20 tactics puzzles
2. 3× per week: 1 rapid game (10+0 or 15+10)
3. After each game: review 3 moments: one opening mistake, one tactic, one endgame decision
4. Weekly: learn one endgame technique (K+Q vs K, K+R vs K, basic pawn endgame)

Strategy Tips (quick recap)

Opening Principles (First 10-15 Moves)

1. Control the Center: Place pawns and pieces in/attacking the center (d4, d5, e4, e5)
2. Develop Your Pieces: Get knights and bishops out early
3. Castle Early: Usually within the first 10 moves for king safety
4. Don't Move the Same Piece Twice: Unless necessary
5. Don't Bring Queen Out Too Early: It can be attacked!
6. Connect Your Rooks: Get all minor pieces (bishops, knights) developed

Middlegame Principles

• Look for Tactics: Forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks
• Control Open Files: Place rooks on files with no pawns
• Create Threats: Force your opponent to respond
• Trade When Ahead: If you're ahead material, trade pieces (not pawns)
• Improve Piece Position: Move pieces to better squares

Endgame Principles

• Activate Your King: In the endgame, the king becomes a fighting piece
• Passed Pawns are Powerful: Pawns with no enemy pawns blocking them
• Rook Behind Passed Pawn: Support your or attack opponent's passed pawns
• Opposition: Kings facing each other with one square between

General Tips

• Always ask: "What is my opponent threatening?"
• Think before you move: Look for all checks, captures, and threats
• Don't play too fast: Take your time to find the best move
• Learn from losses: Use the analysis feature to see mistakes
• Practice tactics: They win games!

Chess Terminology

If a commentator says these words, this is what they mean.