Checks and captures

Why look for checks and captures

Coaches advise looking at forcing moves first in every position: checks, captures and threats. That is how you find combinations and avoid missing your opponent’s blows. The habit comes with practice, and this trainer helps make it automatic.

Each puzzle shows a position from a tactics course. Find every check and every capture for both White and Black, even if it is the other side’s move. Make moves right on the board: a found move gets an arrow and goes to the list, and the counter shows how many are left.

The no-blunders mode teaches you to tell a good blow from a blunder: only moves that do not lose material count, and a blunder shows your opponent’s best reply with an arrow. Step-by-step mode splits the search into four steps: White checks, White captures, Black checks and Black captures.

How to play

1. Choose a level: easy positions have up to 5 moves for both sides, medium 6 to 9, hard 10 to 16.
2. Set the number of puzzles and, if you like, a time limit for each.
3. Move a piece of either color on the board. A check or a capture counts, other moves are a miss.
4. A puzzle is solved when every move is found. At the end you get the time, accuracy and blunders.

Questions and answers

Why look for the opponent’s moves too?

To see their blows as well as yours. An opponent’s check or capture is what you will have to deal with after your move.

Where do the positions come from?

They are the starting positions of puzzles from tactics courses. Checks and captures are counted in advance, and blunders are marked by the Stockfish chess engine.

What counts as a blunder?

A move after which the side loses more than two pawns by the engine evaluation, or throws away a decisive advantage. For example, a check where the king simply takes the piece.

Is it free?

Yes, the trainer is free and works without signing up.