Ponderchess / Explore
For the endlessly curious.The world of chess, waiting for you
Remarkable games. Beautiful ideas. Unexpected discoveries. Follow your curiosity and see where the next move takes you.
6,285 discoveries. Eight ways to follow your curiosity.
A few places to begin
Drag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Legendary games 01
Morphy’s masterpiece: every piece with a purpose, right up to the final sacrifice.
Replay the Opera GameDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Endgame essentials 02
Two kings, one pawn, and the quiet power of the opposition.
Try the positionThe collection
6,285 discoveries
Drag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4. The bishop aims straight at f7, the weakest point in Black's camp, and the game can be quiet or wild depending on Black's reply.
187 lines · C50–C59Drag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Played in a box at the Paris Opera during a performance, this is the most famous lesson in development ever recorded. Morphy brings every piece into play, opens lines toward the uncastled king and finishes with a queen sacrifice.
1858 · Annotated replayDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Whether a single pawn wins or draws often depends on one idea: the opposition. Get your king in front of the pawn and take the opposition.
White to move · Play to winDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
1.e4 c5. Black answers the king's pawn asymmetrically, fighting for d4 from the side and steering toward unbalanced positions where both sides play for a win.
400 lines · B20–B99Drag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Meet the minds that shaped chess. Explore the championship timeline and player profiles.
The people behind the gameDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Black to move. Find the best continuation in this position from a real game.
Rated 503 · Attacking F2F7 / Mate / Mate In 1Drag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Watch the king and rook move together, on both wings, and see why an attacked square makes castling illegal.
Directed film · Step through in 3DDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
A single piece attacking two or more enemy pieces at once. Knight forks are the most common.
A chess idea, explainedDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6
C50 · 3 moves · Italian GameDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
The emblem of the Romantic era. Anderssen gives up a bishop, both rooks and his queen, then mates with three minor pieces while Black's army sits undeveloped.
1851 · Annotated replayDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
A rook can mate a lone king, but only with the help of its own king. The technique takes longer but follows a clear pattern.
White to move · Play to winDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Follow the Queen's Gambit move by move and explore its named variations.
1 line · D06Drag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
1.e4 Nf6. Black provokes White's pawns forward, then tries to show that the advanced pawns are targets rather than strengths.
56 lines · B02–B05Drag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
1. e4 Nf6
B02 · 1 move · Alekhine DefenseDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Black to move. Find the best continuation in this position from a real game.
Rated 518 · Back Rank Mate / Endgame / MateDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
See the pawn double step, the square it skips, and the one-move window for the capture.
Directed film · Step through in 3DDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Named by Wilhelm Steinitz for its lasting freshness. An Evans Gambit becomes a race between Black's attack on g2 and White's attack on the king, settled by a queen sacrifice and a double check.
1852 · Annotated replayDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
The first mate every player should know. Shrink the king's box with the queen, then bring your own king up to finish.
White to move · Play to winThe opening atlas
Meet the idea behind the moves. Choose an opening, then watch its first steps take shape.
Browse the complete opening atlasDrag to rotate. Enable Rotate & zoom to zoom with the scroll wheel or pinch on touch screens. Keyboard: arrow keys rotate, plus and minus zoom, Home resets, Escape releases zoom.
Bring your pieces into the story. The bishop on c4 looks toward f7 while White prepares to castle.
Explore this opening