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Chess Basics

Learn to play from zero
All 16 lessons online Complete beginner

Chess from Zero

Learn to play chess, step by step · by Kapilash Chess Academy

The complete beginner’s course. Learn the board, how every piece moves and captures, check and checkmate, castling, en passant, stalemate, how to write down moves and how to start a game. Every rule is practised on a live board: try-it boards in every lesson need no account, and 175 exercises check your answers. Ideal for children, parents and schools.

16 Lessons46 Diagrams175 Exercises
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Openings

Start every game with a plan
All 12 lessons online Beginner

Your First Openings

Italian, Scotch, Four Knights, Ruy Lopez and the famous traps · by Kapilash Chess Academy

The next step after Chess from Zero. Learn what the opening is for, then play real openings: the Italian Game, the Two Knights and the Fried Liver, the Scotch, the Four Knights and the first steps of the Ruy Lopez. As Black, answer 1.e4 and 1.d4 with simple, solid moves. Learn the famous traps — Légal, Blackburne, Elephant, Englund, Lasker, Noah’s Ark — so that they never catch you, and the mistakes beginners make in the opening. 22 examples and 123 engine-checked exercises.

12 Lessons22 Examples123 Exercises
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All 12 lessons online Club & rated

The London System

A complete 1.d4 repertoire with surprise weapons · by Kapilash Chess Academy

One setup against almost every defence: d4, Bf4, e3, Nf3, c3, Bd3 and Nbd2. Learn the plans, the critical lines against ...c5 and ...Qb6, the sharp h4 surprise against ...g6, and the traps that win games. Every line in this course has been checked with a chess engine.

12 Lessons20 Model positions149 Exercises
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All 12 lessons online Club & rated

A Black Repertoire: Scandinavian and QGD

The Modern Scandinavian against 1.e4, the Queen's Gambit Declined against 1.d4 · by Kapilash Chess Academy

A complete, solid repertoire for Black. Against 1.e4: the Modern Scandinavian, 1...d5 2.exd5 Nf6, with the main line, the 4.c4 space line, the 3.c4 gambit and every sideline. Against 1.d4: the Queen's Gambit Declined with the Tartakower, the Exchange Variation, the Bf4 system, the Catalan, the London and the Colle. Plus a simple setup against 1.c4 and 1.Nf3. Every line has been checked with a chess engine.

12 Lessons26 Model positions153 Exercises
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Tactics

Forks, pins, mates and combinations
All 19 lessons online All levels

Attacking the King

Checkmates, Attacks and Defence · by Yatish Chandra Shukla

The mating patterns that appear again and again in real games, how to bring your pieces to the enemy king and when a sacrifice works, and how to keep your own king safe and defend calmly when you are the one under attack. Every exercise is graded with one, two or three stars.

19 Lessons103 Diagrams411 Exercises240 Mixed puzzles
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All 12 lessons online Beginner to club

Tactics Essentials

The basic patterns that win games · by Kapilash Chess Academy

Loose pieces, forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, removing the defender, deflection and decoy, mating patterns and defence. Every exercise comes from real opening play: your opponent makes a natural mistake, and you find the move that punishes it. All positions are checked with a chess engine.

12 Lessons20 Model positions191 Exercises
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Calculation

See further, blunder less
All 12 lessons online Beginner

Calculation in Chess

A Beginner’s Guide to Thinking Ahead · by Yatish Chandra Shukla

Learn to play the moves in your head before you play them on the board. Each lesson starts with one simple idea, shows it through examples, and ends with exercises you solve on a live board.

12 Lessons100 Diagrams310 Exercises300 Mixed puzzles
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Middlegame

What to do after the opening
All 13 lessons online Club & rated

Middlegame Strategy Essentials

How to find a plan when there is no tactic · by Kapilash Chess Academy

How strong players make plans: good and bad pieces, weak squares and outposts, open files, bishops against knights, the isolated queen's pawn, hanging pawns, the minority attack, pawn breaks, prophylaxis, exchanges and weaknesses. Every position comes from a real opening, and every line and exercise has been checked with a chess engine.

13 Lessons19 Model positions151 Exercises
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Endgame

Turn advantages into wins
All 13 lessons online Beginner to club

Endgame Essentials

The endings every chess player must know · by Kapilash Chess Academy

The basic mates, king and pawn endings, the opposition, pawn races, queen and minor pieces against pawns, the wrong bishop, and the two key rook endings: Lucena and Philidor. Every example and every exercise has been checked with a chess engine, and each exercise has exactly one move that wins or draws.

13 Lessons41 Model positions171 Exercises
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All 12 lessons online Club & rated

Practical Rook Endgames

The endings that decide tournament games · by Kapilash Chess Academy

Rook endings are the most common endings in practical play. Learn the active rook, the Tarrasch rule, cutting off the king, checking distance, the a-pawn and the Vancura position, rook and two pawns, rook against pawns, rook against bishop and knight, and endings with more pawns. Every exercise has been checked with a chess engine and has exactly one move that wins or draws.

12 Lessons19 Model positions133 Exercises
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Strategy

Think like a strong player
All 12 lessons online Club & rated

Chess Strategy: Imbalances and Plans

How to decide what to do when there is no tactic · by Kapilash Chess Academy

Learn to read a position the way strong players do: list the imbalances, then play to make them count. The fight for the centre, development and the initiative, playing where your pawns point, majorities and passed pawns, the blockade, colour complexes, restriction, opposite-coloured bishops, static against dynamic advantages and transforming an advantage. Every example and all 131 exercises have been checked with a chess engine.

12 Lessons14 Diagrams131 Exercises
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Psychology

Time, nerves and tournament play
All 12 lessons online All levels

Practical Chess Psychology

Time, nerves, rules and the tournament player · by Kapilash Chess Academy

Most games are not lost to brilliant moves but to hurry, fear, overconfidence and missed threats. Learn a thinking routine for every move, how to use your clock, how to stay calm after a mistake, when never to resign, how to win a won position, the FIDE rules every tournament player must know and how Swiss tournaments work. 107 exercises: engine-checked positions on the board and questions on time, rules and tournament play.

12 Lessons8 Diagrams107 Exercises
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