Introduction

Welcome to the course that will teach you how to play the famous game of Chess! It teaches you the rules, but also explains the fundamental tactics and principles that will improve your game significantly. In the end, though, you can only improve by simply practicing and playing a lot.

Chess is an ancient game. As the story goes: long ago, there was a king who ordered one of his servants to create a game for him. He was bored and needed something to entertain him.

That servant thought for a while, until he invented the game we now know and play as “Chess”. As a reward, he was allowed to ask anything from the king, and it would be given to him.

But the inventor was smart. He tricked the king. First, he put one grain of corn on the first field. Then he asked the king to put twice the amount on the next field, and twice that amount on the next one, and so on and on until all fields on the board were filled. As the king was counting, he discovered there wasn’t enough grain in the whole world to live up to his demands.

He rewarded the inventor with something else: he made the game famous. Nowadays, it’s still more popular than ever.

But that’s enough history for now! Let’s start.

What do I need?

These days, you have free and easy access to computer opponents that are better than any human will ever be. It’s a fact both sad and amazing.

The biggest two websites are Chess.com and Lichess

Most AI chess players have different “levels”. I obviously recommend starting with the lowest one. Continue to the next level if you can consistently beat your current.

At the same time, many AIs play … predictable and like a machine. The strongest AIs we have play much more creative and like a human, and they are AlphaZero and LeelaChess Zero.

Of course, I’d recommend just finding another player and a physical chess board. It’s always different (and a better experience) to play a game in real life, against a real human, with physical pieces.