Frequently asked questions

It's difficult to answer this question generally. It depends on your level and what you want to achieve. But to give you an idea:

Beginner

If chess is completely new to you, start with the lessons at the Pawn, Knight, and Bishop levels. This way, you learn the rules and practice tactical skills, laying a very good foundation. 

Somewhat advanced player

If you are somewhat advanced (from Bishop level), it's good to play many games alongside the lessons (this can be done in the Arena, under 'Play') and learn from your mistakes. It's also valuable to learn important opening principles in the opening trainer lessons, such as developing your pieces and fighting for the center. However, tactics remain the most important. At the black level, you will encounter increasingly complex combinations. 

Advanced player

For advanced players, the lesson series from the bronze level are interesting. Here, you learn not only tactical themes but also strategic themes, such as pawn structures. Still, training a lot of tactics is incredibly important. Endgame training also becomes important, as you will increasingly find yourself in endgames with equal material on the board. 

Chessity has developed an entry test that users can take when they create an account. You are presented with a series of exercises where you can indicate what you think is the best move. Based on this, we estimate your level. Do you score high? Then you might start at the black pawn level. You can then skip all lessons at the white level. 

Even after completing the entry test, there are still options to skip lessons. Normally, new lessons must first be 'unlocked' by completing the previous ones. However, for advanced players, it is also possible to unlock lessons. You don't have to unlock lessons first, but can start at a level of your choice.

For individual users:

Go to My account - Account settings and change your current level. Do you want to unlock everything immediately? Then check the option Unlock all lessons .

For users with a student account:

You cannot unlock lessons yourself. Only your coach can do this for you.

Note!

Many (young) players overestimate their own level. They then start with lessons that are too difficult, leading to frustration. Our advice is to be very cautious with unlocking all lessons! Even players who have been playing for one or two years can better start at the beginning. They will quickly go through the lessons until they reach their own level.

Reason 1

The default setting in Chessity is that all lessons are locked. You must first unlock a new lesson by successfully completing the previous one. If you haven't unlocked a lesson yet, you can't continue.

Individual users can unlock all lessons in their account settings. Users with a student account cannot do this themselves. The instructor can do this via Manage student accounts.

Reason 2

You haven't earned enough stars to take a mix lesson. Every fifth lesson in the lesson series is a mixed exercise lesson that reviews the material from the previous four lessons. You must earn a minimum number of stars in those four lessons to take the mix lesson. If you don't have enough stars, you don't master the material well enough and need to earn more stars first.

Reason 3

Your three weeks of unlimited play with your free account are up. A free account offers three weeks of unlimited access to all features, including all lessons, of Chessity. After this trial period, you need a premium account to use everything. With a free account, you can only complete the first five lessons of each lesson level. Your results remain saved. Once you upgrade to a premium account, you can continue where you left off.

In this section, you only get tactical exercises that you have done before and got wrong. The puzzles you last (incorrectly) attempted are shown first. You can use this tactics trainer to learn from your mistakes. The answers you give in Mistakes training do not affect your rating.

Routeplanner is a unique training to improve your board visualization.

The task is always to give check. You briefly see the pieces on the board, but then they disappear. To solve the puzzle, you must remember where the pieces are!

Training with the routeplanner is a very effective way to enhance your board vision. The Routeplanner TPR selects exercises that match your own level.

If this training form is new to you, it's best to start with the TPR trainer. If you have more experience, you can also try 'Mix'. 

Yes, the level of the exercises in the puzzle games in the Playroom is adaptive. You always get chess puzzles at your own level. This way, players of different levels can still play together and both have a chance to win.

Of course, this applies to the games where tactical exercises are central, such as Frog Race and Space Race. In games with a game form (such as gong chess and rapid/blitz chess), the level differences do become apparent.

When you have the classic mode enabled, after each lesson or set of tactics exercises you complete, you automatically enter the analysis room. Here you can see what you did wrong for each exercise. You can play the solution in full or click through it move by move.

Here you have the opportunity to come up with alternatives yourself. By delving deeper into a variation yourself, you can discover if there is a problem with your proposed solution. Use the Hint button to have a chess engine think about the continuation. It will then indicate what a good response to your move is. In most exercises at Chessity, there is only one solution, which often leads to a gain of material. With alternative moves, the opponent often has a defense to prevent material loss. So always try to find the best move!

Chessity is constantly developing to improve the explanations. Currently, a system is being worked on where you get a tip if you have made a wrong move. This system is already live in the Chessity app!

A system where all possible mistakes are specifically discussed is something that might be addressed in the future.

Chessity uses the standard tables also used by the Chess Federation and the world chess federation FIDE. This system is also known as the ELO rating, invented by the Hungarian physicist Arpad Elo.

We treat each puzzle as if it were a player. If the puzzle is not solved correctly, the puzzle 'wins'. This costs the player rating points, while the puzzle's rating goes up. If the puzzle is solved correctly, the player 'wins' and their rating goes up, while the puzzle's rating goes down. 

This way, you always get puzzles at your own level!

Your regular rating with the KNSB or FIDE gives an indication of your overall strength as a chess player. You earn this rating by playing 'official' games with a classical time control. Wins increase your rating, and losses decrease it.

In Chessity, you have different ratings: when you train tactics, you get a tactics rating, and for endgame training, you get an endgame rating. At Chessity, we aim for tactics ratings to approximate official ratings like the FIDE rating. So, you won't just achieve a tactics rating of 10000. Otherwise, Magnus Carlsen might get very jealous.

With tactics training, you are, of course, practicing only one aspect of the game! Suppose your FIDE rating is 1800, but at Chessity, you have a tactics rating of 1500. Then you are probably better at openings and endgames, and there is still room for improvement with tactics training.

If your Chessity rating is 2600 for tactics, but your actual rating is much lower, then you know that openings, strategy, and endgames are likely your weaker points.

Absolutely! You can do this on the Play page.

From there, you can challenge another player or a robot in the Playroom to:

• Blitz
  • A game with 10 minutes per person for the entire game
• Rapid
  • 20 minutes per person
• Gong Chess
  • Chess without a clock. The gong ends the game if it takes too long. The player with the most material points is declared the winner. 

Interested in a tournament? Join one of our many live events. 

The Playroom is the place where you can play fun chess games against someone else. You can find it on the 'Play' page.

In the Playroom, you go through three steps:

1. find an opponent
2. negotiate which game you want to play
3. let's play!

Let's go through these steps calmly.

1. Find an opponent

In the start screen, you can invite other players to play against you by clicking on the username. Another player can also invite you; you can see this by the cross that appears next to a name (clicking the cross means: reject invitation).

You can always play against a robot. The robots are recognizable by the icons with red names. The robots are adaptive: their level adjusts to that of the player.

2. 'Negotiate' which game you will play

Once there is a match with an opponent, different games appear on the screen that you can play. Then click on the game you want to play. If the other person also wants to play this game and clicks on it, the game starts automatically. If the other person clicks on a different game, you need to 'negotiate' together until you agree.

3. Let's play

Play games (different or the same) against your opponent until one of you no longer wants to play.

In the Playroom, you can play nine different chess games:

1. Blitz: a regular game with 10 minutes per person
2. Rapid: a regular game with 20 minutes per person
3. World Cup: a 'tug-of-war' match for the world cup. Solve chess puzzles with the theme indicated. The player who 'tugs' the world cup towards them wins.
4. Frog Race: a game that also appears in the lessons. Solve chess puzzles to move a frog. The player whose frog reaches the flower first wins. The theme of the exercises is not indicated.
5. Space Race: a game that also appears in the lessons. Solve chess puzzles to make a rocket fly faster. The player whose rocket reaches the finish first wins. The theme of the exercises is not indicated.
6. Castle Race: a game that also appears in the lessons. Solve chess puzzles to make a knight storm a castle. The player whose knight captures the treasure wins. The theme of the exercises is not indicated.
7. Jumping Jack: a game that also appears in the lessons. Collect coins with a knight. The player whose knight collects the most coins wins. This game is a very good exercise for the knight's move.
8. Gong Chess: a chess game where the goal is to earn as many points as possible by capturing pieces within 7 minutes. This game is very suitable for practicing the value of the pieces.
9. 5-Chess: a chess game where you can win not only by checkmating but also by earning five material points the fastest.