Chess Study Center

Chess Study Center

Chess Study Center

Getting started at chess

Learn how to play chess from scratch - the board, the pieces and their moves, explained step by step for absolute beginners.

Getting started at chess
Chess Guide

A structured introduction to notation, opening principles, tactics, strategy, and the endgame for the casual player.

Chess Guide
Chess Terms

A chess glossary from en passant to zugzwang - chess terminology explained in plain language.

Chess Terms
Coordinate Trainer

Sharpen your board vision. Find the named square, or name the square, against the clock.

Coordinate Trainer
Opening Directory

Explore chess openings move by move - named lines and variations from the opening book.

Opening Directory
Checkmate Patterns

Learn how to deliver checkmate. Patterns that every chess players should know.

Checkmate Patterns
Chess Puzzles

Solve over 20,000 rated chess tactics puzzles, every solution verified by Stockfish. Pick your difficulty or checkmate-only mode, earn a puzzle rating, and climb the leaderboard.

Chess Puzzles
Games Explorer

Browse completed games and study the games of the best players.

Games Explorer
Annotated Games

Replay games annotated move by move by the community - see the thinking behind every move.

Annotated Games
Chess Variants

Learn how to play both popular and unusual chess variants.

Chess Variants
GM Directory

Biographies of FIDE grandmasters - the achievements and playing styles of the strongest players in chess history.

GM Directory
FEN Viewer

Enter Forsyth–Edwards Notation to view piece arrangements that you can study, modify and share.

FEN Viewer
PGN Viewer

Interactive Portable Game Notation viewer - paste any PGN to replay and study the game move by move.

PGN Viewer
Play Chess AI

Play solo against the computer to practice and improve your game.

Play Chess AI

Improve Your Chess

The Study Center gathers every free learning resource on the site in one place: beginner guides, a structured chess course, glossaries of terms and checkmate patterns, an opening directory, interactive puzzles, training tools and thousands of games annotated by the community. Pick one theme at a time and improve at your own pace.

Frequently Asked Questions

Play regularly against real people, review your finished games, and study one theme at a time - openings, tactics, or endgames. The Study Center gathers free guides, glossaries, puzzles, training tools and thousands of annotated games to work through at your own pace.

Yes. Every guide, directory and tool in the Study Center is free. A free account additionally lets you play correspondence chess, solve puzzles and record training scores.

Start with Getting Started at Chess to learn the rules, then work through the Chess Guide for notation, opening principles, tactics and endgame basics. The Coordinate Trainer builds the board vision you need to follow along.