Brain games

Chesspedition's brain games are short chess exercises you can play in a minute: naming squares, finding a knight's route, rebuilding a position from memory, judging whether a move is legal. Each one trains a piece of board vision that helps in real games. They are free, need no account, and keep your best scores on your own device.

• Name the Square

  A 30-second game for learning chess coordinates: a square is named, you tap it on a board with no labels. Play from White's side or Black's.

• Knight Path

  A knight, a target square and 60 seconds: hop the knight to as many targets as you can. Trains the knight's awkward geometry.

• Eight Queens

  The classic eight queens puzzle on a board you can tap: place eight queens so that no two share a rank, file or diagonal. Timed, with attacks shown.

• Reflex

  A reaction time test: a square lights up after a random wait and you tap it as fast as you can. Five rounds, average in milliseconds.

• Piece Pairs

  Sixteen cards face down, eight pairs of chess pieces. Turn two at a time and find every pair in as few turns as you can.

• Position Recall

  Look at a position for six seconds, then put every piece back from memory. Each perfect answer adds a piece.

• What Moved

  A position is shown, then shown again with one piece somewhere else. Tap the piece that moved. Ten rounds.

• Legal Move

  A real position and a move: say whether the move is legal. Pins, checks and blocked lines included. One minute.

• Check Count

  A real position is shown: count the moves that give check and press the number. One minute. Trains the habit of looking at every check.

• Mate Dash

  Every position has a checkmate in one move. Find as many as you can in two minutes; the positions get harder as you go.

• Safe Passage

  Take a knight to the target square past the black pieces without ever landing on a square they attack. One more piece guards the board after each crossing.

• Mind's Eye

  A piece is shown, then taken off the board. Its moves are told in words. Follow it in your head and tap the square where it ends up.

• Blunder Check

  A position from a real game and a move about to be played: decide whether it is a good move or a blunder. Ten rounds, with the line that proves it.