Chess Skill Courses: Tactics, Endgames, Strategy

Disclosure. No affiliate links are active on this page. How any future ones would be marked.

Pick the skill that is costing you the most games, then read the page for it. For most players between 800 and 1500 that is tactics or blunder prevention, because coaches commonly say games at that level turn on missed tactics rather than deep strategy. That is conventional coaching advice, not a measured result, and a free puzzle site covers part of it before you buy anything.

How to use this section

Each page below compares courses, and in some cases free trainers, for one skill. Where a seller publishes a rating range and running time, the pages report both with a date. Listed hours are not the time it takes to learn the material. Free options are named next to paid ones, and how we review explains what we can and cannot check.

Stop losing games to mistakes

• Courses and habits to stop hanging pieces: a pre-move check is free, with one taught ChessMood course noted as an optional extra.
• Best chess tactics courses: most players below about 1500 can use free puzzles; the page covers the taught options if you want a fixed order.
• Best chess tactics trainers and puzzle sites: Lichess puzzles are free; ChessTempo's price could not be confirmed.
• Best checkmate patterns courses: free practice covers the core, with two paid options for repetition in a fixed order.
• Best chess calculation courses: coaches commonly put tactics and hanging-piece checks first below about 1400 (received wisdom); paid options for about 1500 and up.
• Chess visualization and blindfold training courses: we found no dedicated course from the big sellers, only a low-priced exercise set with an unmeasured claim, and a free coordinate trainer.

Understand how games are won

• Best middlegame and strategy courses: players under about 1400 may gain more from tactics first; picks for about 1400 to 2000, with free studies as the alternative.
• Best chess endgame courses: a short theory-focused course plus free practice may cover most of what comes up.
• Attacking chess courses: optional below about 1500, since tactics and mating practice are free; ChessMood is the best-documented seller.
• Courses for saving lost positions and converting wins: covered mainly by a few ChessMood courses; we found none from other sellers.
• Opening principles courses: you probably do not need to pay, since a ChessMood page shows its principles course as free and Lichess Learn is free. For specific openings see the openings hub.

Find out what is wrong first

• Chess game review tools for improvers, compared: free Lichess analysis comes first; paid tools earn their price mainly if you want mistakes turned into a practice plan. Aimchess's price conflicts between its own page and the App Store.

If you cannot tell which skill is the problem, review ten of your recent losses and note how each was decided. A tactical oversight, a lost endgame and a bad opening are different problems with different fixes.

Related routes

By rating instead of skill: rating bands. Spending nothing first: free chess training resources. Full picks by need: chess course buying guides.