Get Started With Chess 'Cheat Sheets'
Just found out about us and not sure where to start? Then you're in the right place! On this page you'll learn more about Chess 'Cheat Sheets', what we offer, and how we can help you improve your chess.
Trusted By Almost 4000 Players In Over 20 Countries
Chess Cheat Sheets are a core weapon in your chess gameplay arsenal, able to bump your elo several hundred elo points with minimal effort – all by learning the opening. Nearly 4000 people have used these to cut through the noise and found a faster, easier way to learn and master their openings.
And the best part? It’s made easy and engaging. Each guide is visual and digestible, making learning oh-so effortless.
The Journey So Far
Below you can read the journey of Chess Cheat Sheets - how it started and how we got to where we are now. Scroll past this if you're interested in learning more about the products themselves and how they can help you.
The Origin
How Chess 'Cheat Sheets' Started
Hey, James here, the man behind the business. Chess Cheat Sheets began back in 2021, with simple move-by-move PDF guides for a handful of chess openings. I was interested in learning chess, but all the resources that I could find were either tedious books, easy-to-forget YouTube videos, or not visual enough to suit my learning style. No bueno.
The Specific Reason It Began
How Mental Blindness Led To Making These Guides
Trouble is, I've got something called 'Aphantasia', meaning I can't visualise. I'm mentally blind. Try to picture something in your head, like an apple - I can't do that. Nothing, nada. Just blackness. So, I wanted a visual and quick-reference way to see different variations and board positions without rote memorisation. Nothing existed that I could find, so I thought, f*ck it, I'll make it myself. So began the journey to creating these guides.
Early Iterations
What Were The Early Guides Like?
Initially, the guides were simple and lacking detail. We had a handful of simple PDFs, maybe 12, showing a few officially recognised variations for some popular chess openings. Each had 3 to 6 variations, and each was on average 4 moves deep. Barely any information, but people found it useful, and we had a few sales coming in.
Those early designs became the foundation for our current 20-page guides.
The Turning Point
Where Things Started Working
Throughout 2024, I was experimenting with new designs and product improvements, and had ideas about how to grow the business. I'd seen some, albeit inconsistent, success with advertising. I'd be working on website redesigns and new funnels, and had confidence I could scale, so switched to Shopify and built this site.
So in early 2025, I quit my job and went all-in. I remade all existing guides and expanded. I experimented with subscriptions (which didn't work). Things didn't really take off to the extent I wanted, but it did help build the business and reach more people. Through this, I came up with more ideas for products and improvements for the resources, such as the puzzle packs and trackers.
Chess Cheat Sheets Today
What's Changed? How The Guides Are Different Today
During the 5 years since starting, the products have gone through multiple iterations to improve them, and new guides and resources have been added. Today, we've got over 150+ chess opening cheat sheets, over 1.5 million puzzles, a collection of endgame-specific guides, 30+ opening 'toolkits' which help learn the 'book moves' for each opening, and a whole lot of other resources.
Today, I'm kind of out of ideas for other products and just focus on maintenance and customer support, providing tips and tricks where appropriate. And that's where we are now!
Getting Started With Our Guides
Now that you know about how the business started and where we are today, we can look at the different types of guides and resources we offer. Most of our resources are applicable no matter what elo you are, but each focuses on a specific area of learning. I'll break these all down below.
Opening Dominance Packs
Not Sure Where To Start?
Our latest bundle and the most cost-effective thing we offer are these two 'Opening Dominance Packs' for Black and White. Each contains everything you need to master 5 well-known openings, including:
- 5 x 20-page 'popular variations' cheat sheets
- 5 x official 'book move variations' cheat sheets
- 5 x 1000 opening-specific puzzles (as PDFs & PGNs)
Chess Opening Toolkits
Want to learn a specific opening in depth?
Our next best thing for people new to our guides are these Chess Opening Toolkits. Think of them like the Dominance Packs but for a single specific opening. For your chosen opening, each toolkit has:
- 1 x 20-page 'popular variations' cheat sheet
- 1 x official 'book move variations' cheat sheet
- 1 x 1000 opening-specific puzzles (as PDFs & PGNs)
Individual 'Popularity' Cheat Sheets
Want To Quickly Get Familiar With A Single Opening?
The modern updated versions of our first products, these individual cheat sheets give you all the info you need to quickly learn how an opening is played on the chess ladder.
Each gives you information about that opening, covers the 12 most popular variations (based on millions of Lichess games played) with win rate, chess notation, and position screenshots from both sides. You also get PGN versions of each variation and a selection of example games.
Popular Openings Bundle
All The Popularity Cheat Sheets In One Place
If you like the idea of our popularity cheat sheets and want them all in one go, we've got an ultimate value bundle to get them all at once for a heavily discounted price. You also get a selection of useful bonus resources for free.
Chess Puzzle Packs
Drill Home Your Opening Knowledge
If you feel like you've got a handle on a specific opening itself but want to control the game once it enters novelty, then our puzzle packs are for you. Each will help you recognise patterns, traps, and board states that arise from your chosen opening. Inside, you'll get:
- 10 x 100 puzzles as PDFs
- All puzzles as PGN files
- An exclusive puzzle tracker
Chess Puzzles Bundle
Unlock The Puzzle Vault And Get All Our Puzzles
Now if you're a real puzzle pro and want access to all our puzzles in one place, this bundle is for you. Inside you get 79 sets of 1000 puzzles as above, with PDFs and PGNs, then an additional 1.5 million puzzles as PGNs, all grouped by opening.
Endgame Expertise Bundle
Master The Endgame, Inside and Out
Our last major product is an exclusive bundle to help you finally master the endgame and be able to actually close out and win your games. All the opening and puzzle knowledge in the world is worthless if you're not winning.
Inside, you'll get cheat sheets on checkmating patterns, how to use pawns and pawn advancement techniques, then 2000+ endgame-piece-specific puzzles (as PDFs & PGNs).
Ultimate Chess Mastery Bundle
Get All Our Chess Resources In One Cost-Effective Bundle
Finally, we've pulled together all our guides and resources into a single bundle, which contains literally everything we currently have listed on the website. All the cheat sheets, all the puzzles, all the endgame guides - for a hugely discounted price.
If you're serious about improving your chess and want to cover all the stops without any need for future resources, this is the choice for you.
Hear From Chess Players Just Like You - Read Our Testimonials
What Now?
Now you've got all the info you need. You know how we started. You know what we offer. All that's left is to choose your guide and get to learning, improving, and winning more chess games!
If you're still not sure and want to try things out for free, you can download our completely free Scandinavian Defense Toolkit. Fill out the form at the bottom of this page to claim yours now.
That's it from me - all the best with your chess journey!
James
Chess Cheat Sheets
info@chesscheatsheets.com