The LearnChess blog
How to actually improve at chess: plateaus, blunders, openings you understand, and honest looks at the tools.
Nikolas Burk
Founder of LearnChess
I plateaued around 1600 on Lichess and built LearnChess to understand my own games more deeply: engine lines in plain English, questions about the board in natural language, and a structured path of lessons, practice and tests. On the blog I share what I learn along the way.
- Tools & comparisons
How to turn a chess screenshot into an analysis board
Turn any chess screenshot or photo into an analyzable position: Chess.com, Lichess, YouTube, books. The scanners compared, and what to do after the FEN.
10 min read
- Understand the idea
How to build a chess opening repertoire you actually understand
Pick openings by pawn structure, learn the plan instead of thirty lines, re-test every 90 days. A method for players under 1800, with a guide per pick.
11 min read
- Understand the idea
How to study chess endgames: the six positions that decide club games
The six endgame positions that decide club games, each as one idea with a diagram, and a ten-minute-a-day way to practise them against a tablebase.
11 min read
- Improver's playbook
Stuck at 1200? Four kinds of plateau, and how to tell which one you have
Four kinds of chess plateau, how to tell which one you have from your last ten losses, and a 30-minute-a-day fix for each.
11 min read
- Tools & comparisons
The best chess apps in 2026, sorted by what you're trying to fix
Ten chess apps tested on one job each: playing, puzzles, openings, game review, explanations, endgames, scanning a board. Prices checked October 2026.
16 min read