Articles
Articles from the people who build the games and the platforms
We build Carrom and chessGM, and we run GPS tracking platforms. These articles come from that work: the rules as the game applies them, the study plans our chess team uses, and how tracking works under the hood.
Carrom
Rules, scoring, aiming and strategy for the board game, written with the team that built Carrom by 22Softwares.
Disc Pool and Freestyle: the two quick carrom games, explained
How Disc Pool and Freestyle work in Carrom by 22Softwares: who scores what, when you keep your turn, what a foul costs, how the queen is covered in Freestyle, and tips to win each one.
How to play Carrom on your phone: game types, aiming, power, angles and cancelling a shot
A picture-by-picture guide to Carrom by 22Softwares: the five game types and their rules, placing the striker, aiming and power, cancelling a shot, and how to find the right angle for cut shots and bank shots.
Carrom fouls explained: what counts as a foul, what it costs, and what is not a foul
Every foul in Carrom by 22Softwares, game type by game type: striker off the board, touching nothing, what each one costs in Classic, the 29 Game, Disc Pool, Freestyle and Tal Gach, and the common mistakes that are not fouls at all.
Carrom with three or four players: doubles, partners and every-player-for-themselves
How carrom works with 3 or 4 players: 2 v 2 doubles with a partner, 3-player Tal Gach and Freestyle, turn order, how fouls and the queen work for a team, and tips for playing with a partner.
How the Carrom bots play: what Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert really do
A look inside the Carrom bots: how they pick a shot, why Expert takes almost every pot it sees, what Arjun, Rani, Vikram and Zara do differently, and how to beat each one.
Carrom strategy for beginners: how to win more boards
Six habits that win boards in carrom: keep your turn, plan the queen cover, avoid fouls, and hit coins slowly enough to fall into the pocket.
The carrom queen cover rule, explained step by step
You must cover the queen on your very next stroke by potting one of your own coins. Here is exactly what counts, what does not, and when to go for the queen.
Aiming in carrom: striker control, power and the ghost spot
How to place the striker, set the power and aim by picturing the ghost spot behind the coin, on a real board and with the touch controls.
Carrom scoring: the 29 Game and Tal Gach explained
How points work in the 29 Game and in Tal Gach: what a board is worth, why 170 can’t be overtaken in Tal Gach, and how scoring changes your tactics.
The Carrom Daily Challenge: how it works and how to solve it in fewer strokes
A new trick-shot board every day, the same for everyone. How the shot limit, coins and results work, and how to plan a solution in the fewest strokes.
Chess
How to study, review your games and build an opening repertoire, from the chessGM team’s training plans.
chessGM beat Lichess’s strongest computer: 3 games, 3 wins, all by checkmate
The chessGM engine played Lichess’s strongest computer level, which is Stockfish, and won all three games by checkmate. Here are the highlights, the games to replay and analyze yourself, and an honest look at what three games do and do not prove.
Learn chess with chessGM: a path from beginner to advanced
How the 92 free chessGM courses fit together, from the empty board to master openings: the levels, the order to take them in, how a lesson works, and a realistic way to study.
chessGM beginner courses: the rules and your first lessons, step by step
The thirteen beginner courses on chessGM, from the empty board to your first checkmates, safe pieces, stalemate, the blunder check and a first repertoire: what each one teaches, how the lessons work, a realistic first month, and the mistakes new players make.
chessGM tactics courses: forks, pins, mating patterns and more, from easy to hard
The ten chessGM tactics courses, theme by theme: forks, pins and skewers, discovered attacks, back-rank mates, deflection, sacrifices, quiet moves and mating patterns, with how the lessons work and how to study them.
chessGM opening courses: how to pick an opening and learn it properly
How the chessGM opening courses work: a starter repertoire, explained lines with traps and quizzes, the opening explorer and the full list of named lines, and a plan for learning an opening without memorising it.
chessGM endgame courses: ten courses from basic mates to master pawn endings
The ten chessGM endgame courses in order: queen and rook mates, king and pawn, rook endings, queen endings, bishops and knights, and the hardest pawn endings, with a study plan and common mistakes.
chessGM real-game tactics: ten courses of positions from real games, 600 to 2400
The ten chessGM real-game tactics courses: how the ladder works from free pieces and mate in one up to very long calculation, what each stage trains, and how to study them without just guessing.
New on chessGM: courses on thinking, plans and your first repertoire, plus the Petroff and the Two Knights
What is new in the chessGM courses: the blunder check, a thinking-and-plans ladder (how to choose a move, pawn structure, converting an advantage), a first repertoire, two new explained openings for Black, and a next-course card.
chessGM engine vs chess.com’s computer bots: 35 games, 35 wins, five against Maximum
What happened when the chessGM engine played 35 games against chess.com’s computer bots, including five against the strongest, Maximum: the results, accuracy charts, key moments, how we measured, and what the numbers do not mean.
chessGM engine vs Apple’s Chess app: 10 games, 10 wins, and what “256 seconds” really means
The chessGM engine played ten games against the engine inside Apple’s Chess app (Sjeng) at its strongest setting: the results, a fair-time check, accuracy charts, key moments, and what the numbers do not tell you.
How to review your chess games so you actually improve
A four-step review routine: look at the key moments, guess before you read, name the cause of each mistake, then practise the same idea.
How to build a chess opening repertoire without memorising everything
Pick one setup with White and one defence to 1.e4 and to 1.d4, learn the ideas, and use spaced repetition so the lines stay in your head.
A weekly chess improvement plan from 800 to 1600
What to study, how many puzzles and games per week, and how to measure progress at 800 to 1200 and at 1200 to 1600.
GPS tracking
How vehicle and asset tracking works, and what to check before you choose a system, from the team that runs Trakito and GPScom.
How GPS vehicle tracking works, from satellite to your screen
The path of one location update: satellites, the tracker, the mobile network, the server, and the map. Plus why positions sometimes jump or arrive late.
Choosing a GPS tracking system: ten questions to ask before you buy
Hardware, SIM, platform, alerts, history, data ownership and support: a checklist for businesses buying vehicle or asset tracking.