Guides

Everything you need to understand chess engines—how they work, how to use them, and how to get better with them.

Start Here

Chess Engine 101 — What engines are, how they think, and how to use them. The essential overview.

Stockfish — The strongest engine in the world. History, NNUE, settings, and why open-source won.

Leela Chess Zero — The neural network engine. AlphaZero’s open-source successor.

NNUE Explained — How efficiently updatable neural networks changed everything.

Understanding Evaluations — What +1.5 actually means, and when to trust (or doubt) the numbers.

Engine Settings — Hash, threads, MultiPV, contempt—what matters and what doesn’t.

Multi-PV Analysis — When to show multiple lines, and the trade-offs involved.

Tablebases — Perfect endgame play with Syzygy tables.

Opening Preparation — How to use engines for repertoire building without falling into traps.

Analysing Your Games — The right way to review games: think first, engine second.

The Engine Wars — From Deep Blue to NNUE: the full history of computer chess.

TCEC & CCRL — How engines are tested and what the ratings mean. (Optional—for those interested in engine competitions.)