Chess

What it is

After just three moves each, there are over nine million possible chess positions, and the total number of playable games exceeds the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe. Chess is a two-player strategy game on a 64-square board where each side commands 16 pieces with different movement rules, and the goal is to trap the opponent's king in checkmate. That astronomical complexity, hiding inside such simple rules, is exactly why a game over 1,500 years old has never come close to being exhausted.

The depth is the entire draw. The rules can be taught in 20 minutes, but the strategy is effectively bottomless. There are documented opening systems studied for centuries, middlegame plans, endgame techniques precise enough to be solved mathematically, and a lifetime of pattern recognition that separates a beginner from a master. What makes chess endure where simpler games fade is that improvement never stops, there is always a deeper layer, a sharper plan, a player better than you to learn from. The honest barrier is that the learning curve is steep and losing repeatedly stings, since every loss is entirely your own doing with no luck to blame. But that same absence of luck is what makes a hard-won game feel completely earned, and few games reward sustained study as richly or as endlessly.

How it works

Learn how the pieces move and what checkmate means, then play games immediately rather than studying theory. The rules take twenty minutes: the rook moves in straight lines, the bishop diagonally, the queen both, the knight in its L-shape, the king one square, the pawn forward but capturing diagonally, and the goal is to trap the enemy king so it cannot escape capture. You learn chess by losing games and noticing why, not by memorising openings before you can use them.

In the early going, follow a few principles instead of memorised lines. Control the centre with your pawns and pieces, because a piece in the middle of the board reaches more squares than one in a corner. Develop your knights and bishops off the back rank early toward the centre. Castle your king to safety behind a wall of pawns within the first ten moves or so. And before every move, check what your opponent's last move threatens, because beginners lose almost entirely by overlooking simple one-move attacks on their own pieces, not by failing to find deep plans.

Improvement comes from reviewing your losses, which is where the real learning hides. After a game, look back for the move where it went wrong, the piece you left undefended, the threat you missed, and most chess apps will analyse a game for free and flag the critical mistakes. The depth is effectively bottomless, with opening systems studied for centuries and endgames solved to mathematical certainty, and there is always a player better than you to learn from. The absence of luck stings when you lose, because it was entirely your own doing, but it is exactly what makes a hard-won game feel completely earned.

Benefits

Strategic Thinking Development Pattern Recognition Focused Concentration Global Community Measurable Skill Progression Lifelong Intellectual Challenge

What you need

Here's what to gather before you start. The essentials are marked.

Chess.com or Lichess account (free)

Physical chess set Optional

Chess clock (for over the board)

Beginner chess book (Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca)

Puzzle practice habit

FAQs

I know the rules but lose every game. Where do I start improving?

Stop hanging pieces and learn basic tactics, in that order. Most beginner games are decided not by deep strategy but by someone leaving a piece undefended or missing a simple capture. Before studying openings or endgames, train tactics, the forks, pins, and skewers that win material, on a site like Chess.com or Lichess, both free.

Do I need to memorise openings to be any good?

Not at the start, and obsessing over them early is a classic time-sink. Understanding opening principles, control the centre, develop your pieces, get your king safe, takes you further than memorising twenty moves of a line you will not face. Specific opening study pays off much later. For now, principles beat memorisation every time.

How important is it to think ahead, and how many moves?

Less about counting moves, more about checking every move for threats. The useful beginner habit is not "calculate ten moves deep" but "before I move, what is my opponent threatening, and what does my move leave undefended". Grandmasters do see far ahead, but a beginner who simply stops blundering by checking threats each turn improves dramatically.

Is it better to play against people or a computer?

Both, for different reasons. Playing humans, especially slower games rather than fast blitz, builds real decision-making under pressure. The computer is better for analysis afterwards, replaying your game and letting the engine show where it went wrong is one of the fastest ways to improve. Play people to practise, use the engine to learn from it.

How long until I actually get decent?

Depends entirely on how you spend the time, not just how much. Someone who plays slow games and reviews their mistakes improves far faster than someone who plays hundreds of mindless blitz games. With regular tactics practice and honest review, noticeable improvement comes in a few months. Chess rewards deliberate practice over sheer volume, and the players who plateau are usually the ones who never look at why they lost.

Is it worth learning basic checkmates and endgames early?

Yes, a handful of them, because games are won and lost in the endgame more often than beginners realise. Knowing how to checkmate with a king and queen, or a king and rook, against a lone king turns drawn or scrambled positions into wins. King and pawn endgames, especially the idea of the opposition, repay study early. You do not need dozens, just the few that come up constantly.