Requirements
How to play
Profile & Settings
Puzzles & Ratings
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Blitz
Find the best move against the clock. First you will see the opponent make a move.
You will then need to decide what your best move to play is. Once decided click and drag
a piece to make your move.
If you make the correct move in under 7 seconds you will gain maximum rating points.
If you take longer than 20 seconds or make a incorrect move you will lose rating points.
These time limits increase if there are multiple moves to the solution.
To finish click 'Final Puzzle' and the session will end after the current problem has been
solved correctly or incorrectly.
Some puzzles have more than one strong move - any of the strongest moves available
are deemed to be correct. When viewing the solutions to these puzzles the required
solution is shown in bold, the remaining moves as calculated by the puzzle generator
are shown for completeness. You can use the 'Copy->Clipboard' option to copy & paste
the current FEN position into your favourite chess program for further personal analysis.
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Memorize
Find or remember the best move. This is very similar to the Blitz exercise, except you are 'dealt'
puzzles from a limited pool size. The pool size starts at 10 and then increases by 10 each time you
solve 60% of the pool size correctly in a row. Also to spare complete scarring of your retinas, every
time you unlock 10 puzzles, the pool 'shifts along' by 2, thus slowly dropping the early, highly repeated puzzles.
You should find that you will see the same puzzle much more frequently and thus remember
it quickly. Should you get a little tired of seeing the same puzzles over and over you can adjust the
pool selection options from the settings page.
You may notice that closely related puzzles are numbered consecutively. This is deliberate and is
intended to help speed up the memorizing process.
To finish click 'Final Puzzle' and the session will end after the current problem has been
solved correctly or incorrectly.
First you will see the opponent make a move. You will then need to decide what your best move to play is.
Once decided click and drag a piece to make your move.
You have a more relaxed time limit of 25 seconds to find the best move.
Again this time limit increases if there are multiple moves to the solution.
Some puzzles have more than one strong move - any of the strongest moves available
are deemed to be correct. When viewing the solutions to these puzzles the required
solution is shown in bold, the remaining moves as calculated by the puzzle generator
are shown for completeness. You can use the 'Copy->Clipboard' option to copy & paste
the current FEN position into your favourite chess program for further personal analysis.
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Classics
Learn strategies from the all time greats (unfortunately by rote!).
We have compiled 200 of our favourite examples of outstanding chess play by the all
time masters of the game.
Start by viewing a game. The aim is to memorize the whole game inside out
so you can truly appreciate its subtleties and then apply it in your own chess play.
You will need to remember both white's and black's moves.
Once you think you can remember it test your memory out by trying to replay the whole game. You may find it
beneficial to play through the games alongside on a real chessboard.
There are no time limits here, but you are limited to 3 mistakes during an attempt.
The rewards will only be gained through patience, desire and determination.
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Endgames
The building blocks of chess. Master these and you should be able to
greatly improve strategic play and planning when there are few pieces left on the board.
Endgames are played against the computer in your browser. Click & drag a piece to make your move, then the computer will make
a move in response.
Unless explicity mentioned, it should be possible to win the from initial starting position for each endgame.
Hit the randomize button to start the endgame from a random configuration -
in many of these random positions it will not be possible to win, but they should also help the learning process.
The computer should take no more than 2 or 3 seconds to reply to your move.
The computer should play quite well but is unlikely to play perfectly -
the quality of play will also vary depending on the speed of your processor.
Unfortunately it is not currently possible for Flash programs to take advantage of multiple core processors.
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Attackers
Find all the attacked pieces on the board. Sharpen your static analysis skills with this rapidfire exercise.
To solve the puzzle, click on all the attacked pieces (white and black) on the board to mark them, including kings. Unmark
pieces by clicking them a second time. The puzzle will be solved when only the attacked pieces have been marked.
When viewing the solution green squares indicate correctly marked pieces, yellow indicates missed pieces and red
squares have been incorrectly marked.
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Defenders
Find all the defended pieces on the board. Sharpen your static analysis skills with this rapidfire exercise.
To solve the puzzle, click on all the defended pieces (white and black) on the board to mark them, EXcluding kings. Unmark
pieces by clicking them a second time. The puzzle will be solved when only the defended pieces have been marked.
When viewing the solution green squares indicate correctly marked pieces, yellow indicates missed pieces and red
squares have been incorrectly marked.
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