Meet Maya Calder

What helped was not more terminology. It was seeing one idea at a time.

Learn the board · See the plan

Hi, I’m Maya, the founder of CHESSHAVEN. It began with a board set up between two people and a rule explanation that moved far too quickly.

The pieces were familiar, but the reasons behind the moves were not. Every guide since has been written to fix exactly that.

Maya Calder, founder of CHESSHAVEN, at a table in a chess club with boards set up behind her
Maya CalderFounder & writer
How it started

A board between two people, and an explanation that moved too fast.

  • Move 1The pieces were familiar.Everyone knows what a knight looks like.
  • Move 2The reasons were not.Why that square, why now, why not the other piece?
  • Move 3Not more terminology.Naming things faster does not make them clearer.
  • Move 4One idea at a time.The shape of a move, then the purpose, then the question.
When there is no immediate answer

I slow the position down and ask three questions.

  1. HelpWhich piece needs help?Find the one that is undefended, stuck or doing nothing.
  2. ThreatWhat is the opponent trying to do?Their clearest idea comes before your own.
  3. CompareWhich two or three moves deserve comparison?Candidate moves, checked before committing.

Three questions, in that order. Not a trick, and not a memorised line. Just a calmer way of looking at the whole board.

Maya Calder moving a knight on a wooden chessboard at the club
At the boardMaya Calder
Where I begin

The shape, the purpose and the question.

I begin with the shape of a move, the purpose of an opening decision and the questions that reveal a tactic. Once those three feel natural, the rest of the game has somewhere to stand.

  • The shape of a moveEvery piece learned through the pattern it makes on the board.
  • The purpose of an opening decisionEach early move with a job, instead of a line to memorise.
  • The questions that reveal a tacticWhat checks exist? What can be captured? What is threatened?
Four guides · one complete beginner pathway

Each guide solves a different beginner problem.

Start from zero, or choose the guide that solves the part of the game that still feels confusing.

Rules
Chess Rules Made ClearThe board, the pieces, legal moves and how a game ends.Start here
Openings
Your First Opening PlansSimple setups without memorising long lines.The first ten moves
Tactics
Tactics You Can SeeForks, pins, skewers and basic combinations.Patterns, not tricks
Planning
Play with a PlanPiece activity, pawn structure and practical endgames.What to do next

Rules · Openings · Tactics · Planning. Learn the board. See the plan.

Built for people who want to learn without feeling tested

Progress is measured by clearer decisions, not by promises about ratings or wins.

  • Clearer decisions, one idea at a time.
  • Short explanations, colourful diagrams and practical questions.
  • Always a reminder to consider the opponent’s reply.
  • No guaranteed rating, win rate or improvement timeline.
  • No dense notation and no long lines to memorise.
Maya CalderFounder & writer · CHESSHAVEN

If a rule explanation ever moved too quickly for you, these guides were written with you in mind.

Official rules and online-platform settings can differ or change. For organised play, check the current rules of the relevant federation, organiser or platform. Children should use online chess platforms with adult supervision and privacy controls.
Your move

Make your next move easier to understand.

Begin with the rules, focus on the part of the game that confuses you most, or follow the complete four-guide pathway.

Explore the guides Get the complete collection

Rules · Openings · Tactics · Planning