This is hard, dry, necessary material, and it stays that way. The casual sites have to gamify endgames because they serve everyone. This one doesn't. We won't waste your time — but we won't make it comfortable either.
Convert or fail
You are dropped into the position and must win it — or hold the draw — against an engine defending perfectly. No hints mid-drill.
No passive animations
Nothing plays out for you to watch. Watching a 12-move line teaches nothing; tedium is cut, difficulty is not.
One line of why, then work
Each position opens with why it costs you rating, then the idea, then the drill. No fluff, no confetti, no padding.
10 sections · 10 positions each
Ordered by what costs rated players the most points, not by what is easiest to teach.
- 01
Basic mates
K+Q and K+R, under a move limit. Not optional — you drop full points here.
- 02
King and pawn: the square
Rule of the square, on sight, both colours.
- 03
King and pawn: key squares
Outflanking and the shouldering race.
- 04
Rook endings: Lucena
Build the bridge. From the winning side, every time.
- 05
Rook endings: Philidor
Hold the third rank. From the defending side, against perfect play.
- 06
Rook activity
Cutting the king, checking distance, when a pawn is worth giving.
- 07
Pawn endings
Passed pawn races, breakthroughs, reserve tempi.
- 08
Minor piece endings
Wrong-coloured bishop, bishop vs knight, the good-knight squares.
- 09
Fortresses
Positions a piece down that never lose. Learn to build them and to break them.
- 10
Defending lost positions
The half point you currently throw away. Stalemate traps, perpetuals, blockades.
The “Finish the Game” badge
Earned by clearing all 10 sections. It is not a trophy — it expires. Your username is permanent; the flair has to be kept.
- Finish the Game
Days 0–45
Fresh
Full badge. You earned it — no nagging.
- Finish the Game
Days 46–60
Fading
The badge dims and one soft callout fires. Two weeks of warning before anything drops.
- Finish the Game
Day 61+
Lapsed
The badge greys out and breaks — but stays on your profile until you restore it.
The retest
5 positions sampled at random from the 100, winning side only, convert or fail. Miss one and it re-serves once; miss it twice and the retest fails — no lockout, try again. Under two minutes. Pass and the badge is fresh again.
Members only
Finish the GameThe course and the badge are for claimed usernames — the same $1 permanent identity that runs the strike system. No burner accounts drilling anonymously, no flair without a name attached to it.
Log in to claim a username