How to play chess, and get better

Getting started in Kingside

• Play online against real players in rated Bullet, Blitz and Rapid games, with ratings, leaderboards and your country’s flag.
• Play a bot at your level. The three Beginner bots (Pip, Rosa and Tomás) are always free in the browser.
• Pass & Play lets two people share one device.
• To move, tap a piece and then its square. Legal moves light up.

When nobody is waiting for your time control online, you may be paired with one of Kingside’s own computer players. They are always marked Computer next to their name; anyone without that label is a real person.

The opening: three simple rules

1. Fight for the centre. Pawns and pieces on the four central squares control the most of the board. Start with a centre pawn, such as e4 or d4.
2. Develop your pieces. Bring knights and bishops out before moving the same piece twice. Each move should add a new piece to the game.
3. Castle early. Castling tucks your king behind pawns and brings a rook towards the centre. Most games between beginners are lost by a king left in the middle.

Two more habits help: avoid bringing the queen out too early, where she can be chased around, and connect your rooks by clearing the back rank.

The middlegame: check, capture, threat

Before every move, ask what your opponent is threatening. Then look for your own checks, captures and threats, in that order. This short routine prevents most blunders and finds most tactics.

• Count attackers and defenders before you capture. If you attack a piece twice and it is defended once, you win it.
• Watch for forks: one piece attacking two at once. Knights are especially good at this.
• Look for pins: a piece that cannot move without exposing something more valuable behind it.

The Daily Puzzle in Kingside trains exactly these patterns. One puzzle a day builds your eye faster than you would expect.

The endgame

• Once the queens are off, bring your king out. In the endgame it is a strong piece.
• A passed pawn, with no enemy pawns in front of it or on the files beside it, is worth pushing. Rooks belong behind passed pawns.
• Learn the basic checkmates with king and queen, and king and rook, against a lone king. Kingside’s lessons cover them step by step.

Learning with Kingside

Kingside has 22 lessons with Coach Paul, from the chessboard itself to the endgame, plus a Coordinates trainer. They are free in the browser. In the app, Game Review explains your mistakes after each game and suggests a lesson or a puzzle on that idea.

A good weekly routine: a few rated games, the Daily Puzzle every day, and one lesson on whatever cost you a game.

Fair play online

The server checks every move and runs the clocks. A game is aborted if the first move is not made within 30 seconds, and if a player disconnects for 45 seconds their opponent may claim the win. Using an engine or any outside help in a rated game is not allowed.

Updated 2 November 2026. Written by JPAM Studio, the makers of Kingside Chess Club.