Articles by Sriram
FEN chess notation explained: how to read and write a FEN string
What each of the six FEN fields means, worked through on the starting position and on Byrne against Fischer, plus the mistakes that make a FEN illegal and how to build one by hand.
The best move in chess: how to find the next best move, with or without an engine
The checks, captures and threats routine, candidate moves and the blunder check, tested on a famous position where the obvious capture is wrong, plus how to read an engine's best move.
The best chess openings for beginners: a starter repertoire for White and Black
A repertoire for White and Black that lasts for years, the idea behind each opening, the principles every good opening follows, and how to learn one without memorising lines.
The chess evaluation bar explained: how to read a Stockfish evaluation
What +1.50 means, how to read a mate score, why the number moves with depth, and how to use several engine lines at once, shown on real positions from Byrne against Fischer.
Puzzle Rush tips: how to score higher in Puzzle Rush and Puzzle Storm
How timed puzzle runs work, what they train that slow solving does not, and eight habits that raise your score, with a real Storm position worked through.
The daily chess puzzle: how to solve the chess puzzle of the day properly
Why one puzzle a day is a habit worth keeping, a five-step method for solving it properly, and a real puzzle of the day worked through move by move.
AI chess coach: how personal training from your own games works
A report tells you what is wrong; a coach decides what you practise today. How the AI Coach reads your games, names your biggest leak and builds a 15-minute session from your own positions.
Chess tactics training: how to train the tactical motifs you actually miss
Why random puzzles stop raising your rating, and how Elo Maxing rates every tactical motif separately and aims each ten-puzzle session at your weakest ones.
How to learn from your chess mistakes and stop repeating the same blunders
Why your own blunders make the best puzzles, how to train on them, and a real bullet mistake where a forced mate in five became a draw.
The Elo rating formula explained: how chess Elo is calculated, with real numbers
The two lines of arithmetic behind every chess rating, what the K-factor changes, and why choosing weaker or stronger opponents does not farm points.
FIDE rating explained: how to get a FIDE rating, the 1400 floor and titles
How to get your first FIDE rating, why the list starts at 1400, how the 2024 adjustment worked, what each title requires, and why FIDE and online ratings do not line up.
Brilliant moves, blunders and every chess move classification explained
What a brilliant move in chess really is, and what every other label means, from Best and Great to Mistake, Missed and Blunder, shown on Byrne against Fischer, 1956.
How to get unlimited free game reviews for your Chess.com games
A free Chess.com account gets one Game Review a day. Here are two free ways to review every Chess.com game you play, with no daily limit and no password.
How to analyze your chess games: a ten-minute review routine that works
How to analyze your chess games so your rating actually moves: which games to review, what to write before the engine, how to find the turning points, and what to train next.
How to get better at chess: find your weaknesses in your last 40 games
Why one game cannot show you a weakness, the six skills worth measuring, and a real 40-game report where the thing costing rating turned out not to be chess at all.
Chess stats explained: how to read your Chess.com and Lichess statistics
How to read your rating chart, results by opponent strength, time of day, how your games end and your openings, and which of those numbers you can trust.
The Woodpecker Method in chess: how it works and how to train with it
Why re-solving one fixed set of puzzles beats an endless stream of new ones, how to choose a set, how many cycles to run, and how to do the Woodpecker Method free online.
Chess puzzles rated to your level: how puzzle ratings work, and how to train
How rated puzzle training adapts to you, how your puzzle rating moves and why it differs from your game rating, and how to solve so the number means something.
Play chess online free, and get better from every game you play
Real opponents through your Lichess account, rapid and classical time controls, and a review the moment the game ends: how to play online in a way that actually improves your chess.