Learn how the pawns move and capture. Pawns cannot go backwards. When the pawn reaches the back rank, it is promoted into another piece: queen, rook, knight or a bishop, but never the king.

Do not forget to download the how-pieces-move-and-capture.pdf. Print it out or keep it handy whenever you want to remind yourself about what each piece can do.

Learn how the rook moves and captures. Rooks move horizontally or vertically, by any number of squares, but never diagonally.

Learn how the bishops move and capture. The bishop only moves diagonally, by any number of squares. The light-square bishop can never go to a dark square, and vice versa: the dark-square bishop can never go to a light square.

Learn how the queen moves and captures. It's the most powerful piece on the board, and can move any number of squares, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Learn how knights move and capture. It's the only piece that can jump over other men, and it always does it in the shape of the letter 'L'.

Learn how the king moves and captures. Unlike other pieces, the king can only move by one square, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

It is easier to attack the king stuck in the middle of the board than the castled one. Learn how to castle, bringing your king to safety.

The value of chess pieces changes all the time depending on the situation on the board. As a guide, the rook is worth 5 pawns, knight 3, bishop 3, queen 9, and the king is the game. This helps you work out what is good for you in the situations when you can trade pieces.

Check is when the king is under attack. This needs to be addressed, the king cannot remain under check. The options are: moving the king out check, taking the piece giving the check, or putting a defender in-between. This third option is not there if the piece giving the check is the knight.

When the king is in check, has nowhere to run, cannot capture the piece attacking giving the check or block the check, then it's a checkmate. When you deliver the checkmate, it's the end of the game, you win.

When one side cannot make any legal moves and the king is not is check, it's a stalemate. Nobody wins, the game ends in a draw. If you are down on material, the stalemate may be your last defensive resource.

Checkmating the king with 2 rooks is perhaps the easiest way to end the game in your favor. Two rooks do not need the help of your king. While one rook is cutting off the escape route, the other one pushes the king further towards the edge of the board.

Congratulations!

You’re now ready to start playing chess, and it is time to give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back and celebrate your accomplishment!

...and as practice makes perfect, as a special boon, you get to use Chess Mates Companion software to practice what you're learning against an electronic opponent!

Chess is a social game, and it's best to learn and practice with a friend - but when others are busy or unavailable, Companion is always there, day or night.

Learn how to checkmate the king with one rook, assisted by your king.

Learn how to checkmate with the queen, helped by your king.

2 knights cannot force a checkmate, but 2 bishops can. Learn how to checkmate the king with 2 bishops, helped by your king.

There are 3 possible results in chess: white wins, black wins, or a draw - no-one wins. The opponents can agree to a draw, or the remaining material may not be enough to deliver the checkmate.

When the pawn reaches the 8th rank (or 1st if you're playing with black pieces), promoting it into a pawn is usually the best. Usually, but not always - learn when promoting into a queen is a costly mistake.

Sometimes promoting a pawn into a queen leads to a stalemate. Here's how to avoid it.

In most cases, obtaining a win with 2 pawns is quite easy: one pawn advances with the help of the king, and the second pawn is used in the end to win a move and force the opponent's king out of the way.

Here's a great example of a tricky pawn promotion. Promoting into a queen, while tempting, definitely does not work in this case.

If one side plays badly, how many moves does it take to deliver a checkmate? Here's the answer...

When you're just starting with chess, many players will try to finish the game quickly and checkmate you in only 4 moves. Here's how to repel the attack, and how to gain the advantage from your opponent's early queen incursions.

Mistakes in the opening may lead to a quick checkmate. Learn how to defend, and how to fight for an advantage.

Here are the common mistakes in the opening, and some nifty tricks that can net a quick win. After going through the lecture you'll be able to avoid the opening pitfalls that often lead to a swift loss. Furthermore, you'll be able to put pressure on your opponents and take advantage of their mistakes at the early stage of the game.

Here's the game from the Queen's Gambit series on Netflix, played by Elizabeth Harmon and Vasily Borgov in the last, seventh episode. SPOILER ALERT: this is the entire game, so make sure to finish watching the series first :)

The game follows the actual encounter between Vassily Ivanchuk and Patrick Wolff from the Biel Interzonal tournament in Switzerland in 1993. It was an amazing marathon game, which ended in a draw after 72 moves.

Elizabeth Harmon deviated from the Ivanchuk game on move 37 (she played 37. Ne6). The rest of the game is constructed for the purpose of the series, but it is nevertheless a truly beautiful game. Enjoy!

Even experienced players find it difficult to uncover the best plan in different types of positions. It's a subject in its own right, and the focus of my next chess course.

Meanwhile, as a special bonus, here's the extended introduction to planning that explains key considerations to help you find your way regardless of what the position may look like.