Mate Me

Welcome to Mate Me

Chess is a game of patterns, calculation, and problem solving. The more positions you work through, the more you start to recognize those patterns when they show up again.

That's the idea behind Mate Me: solve a lot of chess problems and get better at seeing the solution.

Mate Me was designed to make that practice simple. Each book gives you hundreds of chess problems to work through, arranged to become progressively more challenging as you go.

One board. One problem. Find the mate.

There are no pieces to move and no computer waiting to tell you whether your first idea was right. Study the position, consider the possibilities, and calculate the solution before turning to the answer.

That matters.

Solving from a static board forces you to calculate instead of click. You have to visualize the moves, anticipate the defense, and work out the continuation yourself rather than relying on trial and error.

The computer isn't moving the pieces for you.

Your brain has to.

And because this is the print edition, there's nothing between you and the position. No screen, no app, and no notifications. Just a chessboard on the page and a problem waiting to be solved.

Take your time. Calculate as far as you need to. If you aren't sure, look again before checking the solution. Some problems will come quickly. Others may take a while. That's part of the process.

That's what Mate Me is about: a simple way to work through a lot of chess problems, one at a time, at your own pace.

Study the board. Calculate the moves. Find the mate.

Book 2 takes the next step in the Mate Me series.

The problems in this book range from approximately 600 to 1000 and are arranged to get harder as you go. The ratings use the Glicko-2 rating system and are based on how difficult the problems have been for people to solve.

Every problem in Book 2 is Mate in Two: you need to find the two moves that lead to checkmate.

Instead of finding a move that immediately ends the game, you'll need to find the first move, anticipate your opponent's response, and then find the checkmate.

The early problems start around the 600 level. Many of the first moves are fairly forcing, so these are good positions for getting used to looking one move ahead. You'll begin thinking not only about what your move does, but also about what the other player can do in response.

As you move through the book, the first move may become less obvious. There may be several checks to consider, more defensive possibilities, or moves that look promising but don't actually lead to mate. You'll need to start separating the moves that simply look good from the ones that actually work.

By the end of the book, you'll be working on problems approaching the 1000 level.

Just like Book 1, the idea is for the difficulty to increase gradually. You shouldn't suddenly go from an easy problem to one that feels impossible.

Before checking the solution, try to work out both of your moves from the printed position. Don't stop when you find a promising first move. Ask yourself how your opponent can respond and make sure you can see the checkmate that follows.

The ratings aren't grades, and taking longer on a problem doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. They aren't estimates of your playing rating. They're simply a way of organizing the positions and giving the book a general progression from easier problems to harder ones.

By the time you reach the end of Book 2, hopefully looking a move ahead and anticipating your opponent's response will feel a little more natural.

When you're ready to calculate a little further, move on to Book 3.