Step-by-step guides to learning and improving at chess, written by a grandmaster.
A grandmaster teaches chess from the empty board up: setup, every piece's moves, the three special rules, and a six-rule plan for your first game.
The complete chess rulebook from a grandmaster: piece movement, castling, en passant, every draw rule, and the tournament laws that decide real games.
A grandmaster's definitive 4-step chess board setup: light square bottom right, pawns, pieces, queen on her color — plus the mistakes movies always get wrong.
Grandmaster guide to castling: exact king and rook squares, all five legality rules, kingside vs queenside strategy, and the check rules that confuse everyone.
Win at chess by checkmate, resignation, or time-out — then use a grandmaster's phase-by-phase system to start winning far more of your games.
GM Mauricio Flores explains how to checkmate in chess: the escape-route checklist, the three basic mates, and the patterns that finish real games.
A grandmaster explains how long chess games really last — about 40 moves, from one-minute bullet to six-hour classical, plus the fastest mate and the 269-move record.
A grandmaster's 30-day plan for chess beginners: board fluency, blunder-proofing, tactics, and checkmates — with a daily 15-minute routine that works.
500 ECO codes, 3,100+ named variations, 10^120 possible games — a grandmaster explains the real numbers and how many openings you actually need.
A grandmaster's honest improvement plan: find your biggest leak by rating bracket, fix it with the right training — and stop studying what merely feels fun.
A grandmaster explains chess strategy: the five elements of every position, how to build plans from the pawn structure, and the classic games that teach them.
A grandmaster's 4-step method for analyzing your own chess games: find your real leaks, use the engine the right way, and turn losses into rating points.
A grandmaster's six-step method for finding the best chess move — threat scan, forcing moves, candidates, calculation — plus a free engine for instant answers.
A grandmaster explains chess ratings: how Elo works, what a good rating really is, why online and FIDE numbers differ, and how to gain points fastest.
A real grandmaster explains the GM title: the 2500 FIDE rating, three norms at 2600 level, the years of work it took me, and what is realistically achievable for you.
A grandmaster's honest picks: the openings that teach beginners real chess — Italian, Scotch, Caro-Kann, QGD — plus what to avoid and how much theory you actually need.
I teach the ideas-first method I use with my own students: structures and plans before move lists, then spaced-repetition drilling so your openings survive real games.
GM guide to the Queen's Gambit: the moves behind 1.d4 d5 2.c4, plans against the Accepted, Declined and Slav, and the traps both sides must know.
GM Mauricio Flores explains the Sicilian Defense: why 1...c5 is Black's best-scoring reply to 1.e4, every major variation, and which one fits your style.
A grandmaster teaches the Caro-Kann: the moves, every main variation with plans, and why 1...c6 is the soundest, most structure-friendly reply to 1.e4.
The Italian Game explained by a grandmaster: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4, Giuoco Piano plans, the Fried Liver Attack, key traps, and why it should be your first opening.
A grandmaster's guide to the Ruy Lopez: why 3.Bb5 squeezes Black, the closed main lines, the Berlin Wall, the Marshall Attack, and how to learn it fast.
A grandmaster teaches the London System: the Bf4 setup, the attacking plans that make it dangerous, meeting ...Qb6 — and how to avoid autopilot chess.
A grandmaster's guide to the King's Indian Defense: the moves, the locked-center race, White's main tries, and choosing between the ...e5 and ...c5 strikes.
A grandmaster's guide to the Vienna Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nc3): the Vienna Gambit, g3 and Bc4 systems, key traps, and why it wins games at club level.
Every world chess champion from Steinitz to Gukesh — reigns, styles, and what a grandmaster thinks each era teaches improving players.
Blunders are attention failures, not talent failures. A grandmaster's pre-move blunder-check routine, board-vision drills, and clock habits to stop hanging pieces.
How to train chess tactics properly: woodpecker method vs volume, key themes in order, spaced repetition, ideal difficulty, and a GM's 20-minute daily routine.
Why chess rating plateaus happen and how to break them: audit your losses, find the real leak, switch to deliberate practice, and survive the psychology.
It's never too late to learn chess. A grandmaster's honest guide for adult beginners: realistic ratings, adult advantages, and a study plan that fits around a job.
A grandmaster's step-by-step method for teaching kids chess: age guidance, pawn games first, one piece at a time, mini-games, and when to introduce competition.
A grandmaster's honest answer: chess rules take a weekend, mastery is a lifelong ladder. What 'hard' really means at each stage, and why the depth is the appeal.
GM Mauricio Flores Rios gives the endgame study order that works — basic mates, king-and-pawn, rook endings — plus the spaced-review system that makes it stick.
A grandmaster's honest timelines for getting good at chess — casual, club, and expert — why hours matter more than years, and what accelerates or wastes your study time.
What research actually supports about chess and the brain — memory, planning, pattern recognition, aging — and what is hype, from GM Mauricio Flores Rios.
A grandmaster's honest answer: 1. e4, 1. d4, 1. c4, and 1. Nf3 are all sound. What each first move leads to, what the stats say, and what beginners should play.
No piece ever captures the king in chess. A grandmaster explains check, checkmate, why the game ends first, and the king myths that confuse beginners.
Learn algebraic chess notation from zero: square names, piece letters, captures, checks, castling, disambiguation, and a worked mini-game example.