Monthly
$13.99a month
Try a month, cancel any time
- A new notebook every month
- The first one right after payment
- Cancel online, from any of our emails
The monthly notebook
Upgrade your chess.
On paper.
Paper keeps you focused: no notifications, no next puzzle one tap away, just the position in front of you. Sixty chess puzzles a month, graded to your rating, in a PDF you print at home.
Pick your rating
You know how the pieces move. Now the basic shapes (the fork, the pin, the back rank) have to become automatic, and that only comes from meeting them often.
You find tactics when you go looking for them. The point of this level is to find them when you are not looking, in the middle of a game you are trying to win.
You calculate well enough. What is missing is the idea arriving before the calculation does: the combination you see whole, before you check it.
What changes
The move starts arriving on its own.
Now
You see the tactic afterwards, when the engine points at it, and you recognise that you could have found it.
A few notebooks in
You see it while the clock is running, because the shape on the board is one you have already met forty times on paper.
We will not sell you a number. Puzzle ratings and game ratings are not the same thing, and anyone promising you a specific gain is guessing. What this is, precisely, is the repeated exposure that pattern recognition is made of, graded, explained and in your inbox every month, so that it actually happens.
What you get
A notebook, not an app.
Sixty positions a month
Six chapters of ten, ordered from plain to nasty, with every answer explained at the back.
Graded to your rating
Three bands (600–1000, 1000–1400, 1400–1800), and you can move between them whenever you like.
Printed at home
An A4 PDF that prints on US Letter too. Print the whole notebook, or one chapter at a time.
One idea per chapter
Ten positions on the same motif in a row, so the shape is still in your head when you reach the tenth.
Room to write
Ruled lines beside every diagram. You commit to a move before you look at the answer, which is the whole point.
In your inbox, then on paper
The PDF arrives by email right after payment, then once a month. No app, no login, no streak to keep alive.
Notebook No. 1 · Beginner
First Patterns
The shapes that decide most games at this level, one per chapter. Ten positions each, from easy to hard, and every solution explained at the back.
Sixty positions · 598–1006 Elo
01
Mate in one
Seeing the finishing square
608–1006 Elo
02
Hanging pieces
Take what is left undefended
600–1001 Elo
03
Forks
One piece, two targets
601–993 Elo
04
Pins
The piece that cannot move
692–1002 Elo
05
Skewers
A pin turned inside out
608–994 Elo
06
Discovered attacks
The move behind the move
598–1002 Elo
Notebook No. 1 · Intermediate
Tactical Patterns
The same shapes, harder: the tactic hides behind a defence you have to see first, and the second move matters as much as the first.
Sixty positions · 995–1406 Elo
01
Mate in one
Seeing the finishing square
1008–1394 Elo
02
Hanging pieces
Take what is left undefended
1000–1397 Elo
03
Forks
One piece, two targets
995–1396 Elo
04
Pins
The piece that cannot move
1004–1406 Elo
05
Skewers
A pin turned inside out
1007–1404 Elo
06
Discovered attacks
The move behind the move
1008–1399 Elo
Notebook No. 1 · Advanced
Combinations
The same shapes at full strength: quiet first moves, defences that almost hold, and combinations strong players miss too.
Sixty positions · 1391–1806 Elo
01
Mate in one
Seeing the finishing square
1405–1800 Elo
02
Hanging pieces
Take what is left undefended
1391–1806 Elo
03
Forks
One piece, two targets
1400–1802 Elo
04
Pins
The piece that cannot move
1399–1792 Elo
05
Skewers
A pin turned inside out
1409–1793 Elo
06
Discovered attacks
The move behind the move
1409–1802 Elo
Each month’s notebook takes six chapters from ten themes: the six above, plus back-rank mates, mate in two, promotion and deflection.
Plans
A new notebook every month.
Every notebook is a PDF of sixty positions at your level, emailed to you. Subscribe month by month, with no commitment, or pay once for six or twelve months.
6 months
$69one payment
$11.50 per notebook · save 17%
- Six notebooks, 360 positions
- One a month, by email
- No renewal, nothing to cancel
12 months
$119one payment
$9.92 per notebook · save 29%
- Twelve notebooks, 720 positions
- One a month, by email
- No renewal, nothing to cancel
Prices in US dollars · A4 PDF, prints on US Letter · change level any time, just reply to one of our emails.
Not sure yet? Try four puzzles free.
Questions
Your questions, answered.
Which level should I choose?
The one that matches your rating: Beginner from 600 to 1000 Elo, Intermediate from 1000 to 1400, Advanced from 1400 to 1800. If you play online, your rating there is a good guide.
What if I pick the wrong level?
No problem: reply to any of our emails and your next notebook will be at the level you choose. You can change level at any time.
What is in each notebook?
Sixty positions from real games, in six chapters of ten, each on one tactical pattern and going from the easiest to the hardest. Every solution is explained at the back of the notebook.
Do I need a printer?
It is made for paper: you solve with a pencil and write your line beside each diagram, the way you calculate in a game. The pages are A4 and print on US Letter with “Fit to page”; print the whole notebook or one chapter at a time. No printer? A print shop or a library can print it for you.
When will I get my first notebook?
Right away: it arrives by email the moment you pay, usually within a few minutes, and the next ones follow every month. Anything wrong? Write to us at hello@knightsnotebook.com: we will send it again.
How do I cancel?
In a few clicks: every email has a link to your subscription page, where you cancel whenever you like, and the notebooks you already have are yours to keep. The six- and twelve-month plans are paid once and never renew: there is nothing to cancel.
Is payment secure?
Yes. You pay by card or Apple Pay through Stripe, one of the most widely used payment platforms in the world, and other options may be offered depending on your country. We never see your card details.
Will this raise my rating?
That is the whole point: after meeting the same patterns again and again on paper, you start to see them in your own games. We don't promise a number, since nobody knows your opponents; what we give you is real training: sixty positions at your level every month, every solution checked by an engine and explained.
How is it different from the books?
The monthly notebook is your regular training: every month, sixty new positions at your level, across all the themes. The books are focused courses on a single subject, a tactical theme or an opening, paid once and yours to keep. The two go together.
Where do the positions come from?
From real games. They come from the open puzzle database of Lichess, where their difficulty is measured by the players who have tried them. We choose them by theme and level, and every solution is checked by an engine and explained.
The books
Want to work on one thing in depth?
Alongside the monthly notebook, our books go deep into a single subject: a tactical theme, or an opening to learn from the first move to the traps. Pay once, and the book is yours.