Chess
From knowing the moves to winning games.
Learn chess as a beginner
Knowing how the pieces move isn't the same as winning games. This beginner chess course covers the rules and the ideas that actually decide beginner games: forks, pins, basic checkmate patterns and a simple blunder check before every move. It finishes with ten wins against computer opponents, using free tools only.
The path
- 1
Level 1Free Tactics
Your first 10 wins
14 Steps, about 40 minutes each. Anyone who's never played, or who knows the moves but loses every game. All free, all online.
- Chapter 1: Learn the game. Every piece and rule learned, your first full games played, the queen mate mastered, and your first win.
- Chapter 2: Tactics. A blunder check before every move, forks, pins and skewers, checkmate patterns, and the back rank mate.
- Chapter 3: Win games. The rook mate, a habit of reviewing your games, and ten wins on your tally.
- 1Show your groupLearn how the pieces moveFinish the first Lichess lessons on how every piece moves.
Chess is played on an 8 by 8 board between two players, White and Black. Each side starts with 16 pieces: a king, a queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights and eight pawns. White moves first, and players take turns.
Each piece moves in its own way. Rooks move any distance along rows and columns. Bishops move any distance diagonally. The queen combines both. The king moves one square in any direction. Knights jump in an L shape: two squares one way, then one square sideways, and they can jump over other pieces. Pawns move forward one square, or two on their first move, but capture one square diagonally forward.
The detail beginners miss is the knight's colors. A knight always lands on the opposite color from where it started. That's a quick way to check a knight move.
Here's an example. Lichess Learn opened. Rook lesson: collect the stars by moving along lines. Bishop: diagonals only, staying on its color. Knight: L-shapes, hopping over pieces. Pawns: forward to move, diagonal to capture.
Right is every piece's lesson finished on Lichess Learn. It's free and needs no account to start.
- 2Learn the special rulesKnow check, checkmate, stalemate, castling, promotion and en passant.
- 3Play your first gameA full game against the weakest computer, played to the end.
See all 14 Steps
- 4Checkmate with king and queenCheckmate a lone king using only your king and queen, three times.
- 5Show your groupOpen the right wayTwo games using the opening principles, and at least one win on your tally.
- 6Stop hanging piecesA game where you do a blunder check before every single move.
- 7
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- 9Learn checkmate patternsFive checkmate patterns you can name, and 15 mate-in-one puzzles solved.
- 10Show your groupBack rank mateSpot the back rank mate in puzzles, and protect yourself from it in a game.
- 11
- 12Review your own gamesOne of your games reviewed move by move, with the turning point found.
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- 14Show your group
- 2
Level 2Unlocks after Level 1 Openings and Plans
A repertoire you trust
20 Steps, about 44 minutes each. Players who finished Level 1 or can already spot forks and pins, avoid hanging pieces, and beat a weak computer.
- Chapter 1: An opening for White. The Italian Game's first moves and plans, the traps to know, your repertoire study started, and three games played with it.
- Chapter 2: Openings for Black. 1...e5 with ...Bc5 against the Italian, the Queen's Gambit Declined against 1.d4, both drilled, and three games played as Black.
- Chapter 3: Middlegame plans. A way to make a plan, outposts for your knights, rooks on the right files, imbalances spotted, and games played with a plan.
- Chapter 4: Endgames and your rating. Opposition, the Lucena and the Philidor, converting an advantage, engine reviews, and your 20 rated games.
- 1Show your groupLearn the Italian GameThe first five moves of the Italian Game played from memory, and why each move is good.
An opening repertoire is a small set of openings you know well and play every game. The Italian Game is one of the oldest and best openings for White at club level, because it follows the opening principles naturally.
The moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. White takes the center with the e-pawn, develops the knight to attack Black's e5 pawn, and places the bishop on c4, where it aims at f7, the weakest square near Black's king.
The detail beginners miss is knowing why each move is played. Memorizing moves without reasons falls apart as soon as your opponent does something unexpected. If you know what each move is for, you can find good moves on your own.
Here's an example. Lichess analysis board. 1.e4: takes the center, opens lines for the queen and bishop. 1...e5: Black takes the center too. 2.Nf3: develops, attacks e5. 2...Nc6: develops, defends e5. 3.Bc4: develops toward f7, prepares to castle. Each reason said aloud. Played five times from memory.
Right is the first five moves played from memory, with a reason for each. Level 2 assumes you can avoid blunders using the check from Level 1.
- 2Learn the Italian plansWhite's two main plans in the Giuoco Piano: the slow 4.c3 and 5.d3, and the central break with d4.
- 3Know the trapsThe Fried Liver Attack (for you) and two traps to avoid as White in the Italian.
See all 20 Steps
- 4Start your repertoire studyA Lichess study with a White chapter holding your Italian lines and notes.
- 5Show your groupPlay three games with WhiteThree rated 15+10 games with White using the Italian, each reviewed for where the opening ended.
- 6Black: meet 1.e4 with 1...e5Your Black answer to the Italian: 1...e5 2...Nc6 3...Bc5, with the same plans you learned for White.
- 7Black: when they play something elseA plan for when White avoids the Italian, found by playing the line from the other side against the computer.
- 8Black: the Queen's Gambit DeclinedYour answer to 1.d4: the Queen's Gambit Declined, with its setup and its key break ...c5.
- 9Drill your repertoireEvery chapter of your study played through from memory, with weak spots marked.
- 10Show your groupPlay three games with BlackThree rated 15+10 games as Black, using your repertoire, each reviewed and your study updated.
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- 12Find outpostsOutposts spotted in practice positions and a knight placed on one in a game against the computer.
- 13Use open filesRooks placed on open files that lead somewhere, and doubled when it helps.
- 14Spot the imbalancesThe main imbalances (material, structure, minor pieces, space, development) spotted in three positions.
- 15Show your groupPlay with a planFour rated 15+10 games where you write your plan after the opening, and review whether you followed it.
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- 17Two rook endgamesThe Lucena position won and the Philidor position held against the computer.
- 18Convert an advantageWinning positions converted to wins against the computer by trading pieces and keeping it simple.
- 19Review with the engineFive of your rated games reviewed: your own thoughts first, then the engine, then one lesson each.
- 20Show your groupReach 20 rated gamesYour last rated games played to reach 20, with your repertoire updated and your rating recorded.
Where it ends: a 1200 online rating
Questions about learning chess
How long does it take to learn chess?
Level 1 is 14 Steps of about 40 minutes each, around 9 hours in all, split into 3 chapters. Go at your own speed: one Step a day, or a whole chapter in a sitting.
What do I need to start chess?
You'll need a free Lichess or Chess.com account and a notebook. There's nothing you have to buy to start.
Can a complete beginner learn chess?
Anyone who's never played, or who knows the moves but loses every game. All free, all online.
What will I have made by the end of Level 1?
Ten wins against computer opponents, using forks, pins, checkmate patterns and a blunder check.
Is this chess course free?
Yes. Level 1 of every hobby on Eras is free, and every Step links free lessons from great teachers online. Eras Plus is an optional subscription that opens the levels after it.
Free lessons in Tactics come from Mr.Animate, Lichess, ChessKid, Chess.com, GothamChess, Wikipedia, Lichess blog, the chess nerd, Chess Vibes, Lichess study. We link to their work and never copy it.
Cover photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash