defence · recognise → explain → apply

Walk toward safety instead of toward the corner

Checks drive your king into the open, but forward squares are less dangerous than retreat squares.

Explanation styleChoose any style. Age is not playing strength; no birth date is needed.

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Notes and replay positions are saved. Practice games are temporary; export their PGN to keep them.

Choose an example

Morozevich,A – Nakamura,Hi

Makedonia Palace GP · 2013.05.25 · 1/2-1/2

27... Kd6 · White to move

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What to notice at 27... Kd6

The recorded king walk continues ...Ke5 and the game ends with Black’s repeated queen checks.

A legally replayed historical example, not a claim that every move is best. A game’s result does not prove every defensive position was lost or drawn.

Game source ↗

Your thinking first

Name the signal, choose a plan, and test the opponent’s most challenging response.

What do you notice?What is your plan, and why?How could the opponent resist?

Recall and explain

1. Where does Black’s king go after Bg5+?

Explain it in your own words before revealing.

Make it memorable

The safe exit is not always behind you.

Teach this to a friend in one minute. Then return to a different example and look for the same signal without being told its name.

Reflect and revisit

This is your self-assessment, not an engine grade or a promise of mastery.

Connect the ideas

Practise pawn transformations →

Sources and further reading

Original GolgiChess teaching and game analysis. Topic references are credited below; no affiliation or endorsement is implied.

Exeter Chess Club — The Theory of Steinitz ↗