Simple Defense

If you are a beginner, your first priority should be mastering the defense of your pieces from being captured. Every chess player must develop and strengthen fundamental defensive techniques, like retreating or protecting a piece, intercepting the opponent, or counterattacking. With consistent practice across numerous exercises, you will sharpen your skills and raise your playing level. This course offers more than 2800 exercises featuring rich board positions, providing an effective training resource for chess novices.

This course is part of the Chess King Learn series (https://learn.chessking.com/), an innovative chess training methodology. The series covers tactics, strategy, openings, middlegames, and endgames, with lessons tailored for everyone—from beginners and club players to masters and professionals.

Using this course, you can deepen your understanding of chess, pick up new tactical ideas and combinations, and apply what you have learned in practice.

The program serves as a personal trainer—assigning puzzles and helping when you are stuck. You’ll receive hints, clear explanations, and even see convincing refutations for common mistakes.

Program Highlights

♔ High-quality examples, all verified for accuracy

♔ All key moves, as directed by the trainer, must be entered

♔ Tasks range in difficulty to suit your level

♔ Various objectives to achieve in each puzzle

♔ Hints provided when you make an error

♔ Refutations shown for typical incorrect moves

♔ Play out any position from the exercises against the computer

♔ Clearly organized table of contents

♔ Tracks your rating (ELO) progress over time

♔ Customizable test mode with flexible settings

♔ Bookmark your favorite exercises for easy access

♔ Fully optimized for tablet displays

♔ Works completely offline—no internet required

♔ Sync your progress across devices by linking the app to a free Chess King account (Android, iOS, and Web)

A free portion of the course is included so you can try the program. The free lessons are fully functional and let you experience the training system before unlocking additional topics:

1. Retreating a Piece

2. Defending with Another Piece

3. Capturing the Attacker

4. Interception

5. Defense Against Checkmate

6. Difficulty Levels