A common thread for beginners learning chess is to ‘forget’ about their rook. The rook is a difficult piece to develop at the beginning of a game, and its position makes it easy to forget until the later stages of the game. Keeping your rook in mind, and understanding its role will help you utilize […]

Chess is more than just a fantastic hobby. If you’re passionate about the game, it doesn’t just end there. It might seem like a career in chess is far-fetched, but with the popularity of chess only growing, developing your career around chess is quite viable. There are a few great opportunities to ingrain yourself in […]

When our students take their first steps into chess, the pawns are often the last things on their minds. The real power and bravado comes from higher value pieces. The drama of developing your queen or rook is so much more exciting than a strong pawn structure. The pawns are often moved just to make […]

Nothing is more frustrating than sitting down for a game of chess and realizing a few turns in that you’ve started on the wrong foot. One way to avoid this is memorizing chess openings. Once you have a full arsenal of openings, you can easily rely on these to make sure you start strong. But […]

Being such a central tenet of the game, strategies for protecting one’s King are too often skipped over by novice players. In our belief, chess basics start with King protection. Let us introduce you to a few key strategies that will keep your King in a safe position for as long as possible.   Protect […]

Polishing up your openings in chess is simple, as you find yourself in (nearly) the exact same position every game. However when it comes to the endgame, you often find yourself in wildly different situations – especially if the game went off book, which they so often tend to do! When it comes to mastering […]

Chess is a complicated game, and it takes many years to master. As a beginner, it’s important not to worry about mastering it, but rather focus on honing a few key skills. We’ve isolated a few important chess tips that we believe will give you the greatest improvement over the first leg of the chess […]

The knight can be one of the most difficult pieces for a beginner to add to their chess strategy. Unlike most pieces, the knight has a unique asymmetrical movement with the ability to jump clear over obstructing pieces. This makes the knight a master of surprise. Once you’ve got this piece mastered, you’ll have all […]

Understanding chess analysis as a beginner will be the best thing to accelerate your improvement. Reviewing games critically is the best way to improve, and it’s a skill that is used from beginner to GM. Starting out, it’s important to focus on making analysis as easy as possible for yourself, so you don’t get bogged […]

All of us at some point in our chess journey reach a plateau. It can seem like it’s impossible to improve at chess anymore than you have. We all get caught at a certain ELO, lose a series of games, or just cannot seem to crack a tournament. For times like these, it’s important to […]