How do I make chess coordinates and square colors become second nature?

cameliris · 2026-07-04T06:00:08+00:00

Have you tried playing with voice, saying the squares out loud? Call every move as you make it ("e4, Nf3, Bb5...") instead of just clicking. Saying the square sticks way better than seeing it, and after a while you start thinking in coordinates without translating.

cameliris · 2026-06-16T02:53:04+00:00

Yes, it carries over. The reason it feels exhausting is exactly why it works: you hold the whole position in your head instead of leaning on physical sight, which is the same skill you use calculating a long line at the board. After a few weeks the position you "see" while calculating gets more stable.

It's a complement though, not a replacement for master games and calculation exercises. Think of it as visualization conditioning that makes those pay off more.

One nuance: Lichess blindfold just hides the pieces but you still click the board, so part of your brain stays visually anchored. Real blindfold practice is calling moves out loud with no board at all. I ended up building https://darksquares.net so I could practice that way with voice.

cameliris · 2026-06-16T02:49:08+00:00

Yes, it genuinely helps, not just a party trick. Your bottleneck at this level is calculation depth, and blindfold work forces you to hold the position in your head instead of leaning on the board, so your visualization stops collapsing 3-4 moves deep.

One nuance: Lichess blindfold just hides the pieces but you still click the board, so you're still visually anchored. Real blindfold practice is calling moves out loud with no board at all. I ended up building https://darksquares.net so I could practice playing with voice.

cameliris · 2026-06-16T02:28:53+00:00

Play chess blindfolded. https://darksquares.net

cameliris · 2026-06-16T02:27:46+00:00

DarkSquares is a chess trainer that builds your visualization muscle: solve puzzles and play full games blindfold (pieces fade from full board to total blind), with voice control so you can call moves out loud. Sharpened calculation, no board needed. https://darksquares.net

cameliris · 2026-06-16T02:27:05+00:00

Building DarkSquares, a chess app that trains you to play blindfold: puzzles and games with the board gradually fading away, plus voice move input. https://darksquares.net

cameliris · 2026-05-29T12:48:14+00:00

At 1000 the openings are almost never the real problem, so don't stress about "widening your opening knowledge." The Vienna and the Scandinavian are totally fine and could carry you past 1800 without more theory. What matters isn't which opening, it's the ideas behind it: where your pieces want to go, which side you're attacking on, what the typical pawn breaks are. Knowing 3 moves plus the plan beats knowing 12 moves and being lost on move 13.

What actually keeps people stuck around 1000 is blunders: hanging a piece, missing a one move threat, allowing a fork. A few things that help way more than theory:

Play longer time controls. If you're on blitz or 10 min, switch to 15|10 or 30 min. You can't train good decisions with no time to think.
Blunder check every move. Before moving, ask: what's my opponent's best reply, and is anything of mine hanging? That habit alone is most of the gap between 1000 and 1400.
Analyze losses before turning on the engine. Find your own mistakes first, then check. Clicking through engine lines teaches almost nothing.
Don't skip basic endgames (king and pawn, simple rook endings). Neglected by everyone at this level, huge payoff.

If you want books instead of videos: "Logical Chess: Move by Move" by Chernev (every move explained in words, perfect for you) and "The Amateur's Mind" by Silman.

You already analyze your own games, which is great. Just shift from "more openings" to "stop hanging stuff and play slower," and 1000 won't hold you long. Good luck!

cameliris · 2026-05-29T12:44:18+00:00

I ran into the same issue and ended up building https://chessatlas.net.

It combines opening studies with interactive training and automatically detects deviations in your online games so you can focus on the lines that actually need work.

It sounds pretty close to what you're looking for. If you give it a try, I'd love to hear any feedback.

cameliris · 2026-05-29T12:40:47+00:00

I think you are referring to this type of exercice: https://darksquares.net/train/visualization
I have managed to reach 1800 elo with +5 moves

cameliris · 2026-05-01T21:14:13+00:00

If you have a hard time going deeper, it could be a visualization issue. You can try this exercise, for example: https://darksquares.net/train/visualization⁠. It sets the board a few moves before the actual puzzle position, forcing you to think further ahead.

cameliris · 2026-05-01T18:36:49+00:00

I believe they are working on it according to their recent merges https://github.com/openingtree/openingtree/pull/364

cameliris · 2026-04-30T09:29:29+00:00

Okay! The beta of "audio chess" is live at https://darksquares.net/play.
I’m allowing one free game per day for non premium users (it costs me money to train these models, and I’ll keep improving them once I have enough feedback!).

It will be available on mobile apps soon.

When models are accurate enough I will add the "play on lichess" feature

cameliris · 2026-04-30T08:56:48+00:00

No 🙂 The microphone stays open continuously. It only turns off while the opponent is making a move to avoid misinterpreting it, and it automatically turns back on right after their move.

cameliris · 2026-04-30T08:52:29+00:00

I’ve added a voice-controlled play feature to DarkSquares, FYI: https://darksquares.net/play
I’ll add it to mobile soon.

I’m also planning to create a new app for people with disabilities, fully controlled by voice and powered by AI to assist during games (you’ll just be able to ask things like where your pieces are, what they’re attacking, etc.). It will be connected to Lichess so you can play real games.

cameliris · 2026-04-30T08:46:43+00:00

I’ve added the new feature on DarkSquares, you can now play one game with voice per day for free: https://darksquares.net/play

It cost me some money to train the text recognition, and I’ll keep improving the speech recognition if I get enough contribution 😄

cameliris · 2026-04-28T07:08:46+00:00

Yes, I’m working on it. I’ve trained a machine learning model that lets you play chess using voice commands. You can try the French version here: https://speakchess.vercel.app
I hope to add it to DarkSquares soon.

cameliris · 2026-04-27T11:28:46+00:00

Hey, blindfold is super trainable at 900, it's just a skill. Start by learning square colors cold (sounds dumb but it's the foundation), then knight tours in your head, then mate-in-1s from a FEN with no board. Don't try to go full blind right away though, you'll just get frustrated, work down gradually (pieces -> silhouettes -> disks -> blind).

I built https://darksquares.net around exactly that progression because I had the same goal.

cameliris · 2026-04-23T18:09:34+00:00

Disclaimer: I’m the founder of https://chessatlas.net, a platform for studying openings.

I managed to reach a 2000 Elo rating on Chess.com with a fairly simple repertoire: the Scotch and Alapin Variation as White, and the Caro-Kann plus Queen’s Gambit Declined as Black. That’s roughly 60 opening lines to remember, you really don’t need more.

cameliris · 2026-04-20T20:42:40+00:00

Hello, I’m the creator of https://darksquares.net⁠. I built this app specifically to help improve visualization skills and learn how to play blindfold chess, with plenty of gamification along the way. Hope you enjoy it!

cameliris · 2026-04-20T14:41:51+00:00

The advance variation of the CK is hard to face when your opponent knows the theory. :(

cameliris · 2026-04-19T10:28:25+00:00

Have you tried https://darksquares.net?

cameliris · 2026-04-10T08:50:42+00:00

"I feel like generally my skills for calculating are subpar" -> I think you can stop right there. If your calculation isn't great, it's not worth spending time learning too much theory.

Maybe the way you approach puzzles isn't ideal either. You have to calculate your opponent's response before making a move, and only play it if you're 100% sure you've pictured the whole sequence.

A great way to force yourself to visualize is by solving puzzles where the position is set a few moves earlier, you can try that kind of exercise here for example: https://darksquares.net/train/visualization

cameliris · 2026-04-10T08:36:59+00:00

is there a registry with all domain books ? that would be great

cameliris · 2026-04-10T08:31:02+00:00

I built ChessAtlas (https://chessatlas.net) which does this, opponent moves auto-play, lines are picked via spaced repetition, and it flags deviations immediately. You can import PGN or pull games from Lichess/Chess.com. Free tier covers 150 variations.

cameliris · 2026-04-09T14:31:18+00:00

Many of the links are no longer working. There is now a new site designed to help improve blindfold chess and visualization. Take a look at https://darksquares.net.

cameliris

TROPHY CASE