Free drill
Name the Square
The classic drill. A square is highlighted and you answer with its coordinate by voice or by tapping. Levels expand from a single quadrant to the full board with the board flipped.
Loading the drill…
About this drill
Every move you read, every game you review and every lesson on this site is written in square names. If e4 takes you a second to find, you pay that second on every move. A square lights up, you say or tap its name, and the next one appears.
What you will learn
- Files a to h run left to right from White's side; ranks 1 to 8 run away from you.
- Four anchors, d4, e4, d5 and e5, plus the four corners locate every other square in one or two steps.
- From Black's side the h file is on your left and rank 8 is nearest you, and the names do not change.
How the levels build
Level 1 is the a1 to d4 quadrant: sixteen squares within reach of the a1 corner. Level 2 widens to a1 to h4, the half nearest White, so you meet all eight files before the far ranks.
Level 3 is the full board from your own side. Level 4 flips it, and you read every square from Black's chair; most players lose accuracy here and get it back within days. Level 5 changes the orientation on every question, which forces you to check the corners before the lit square.
Level 6 keeps the full board and adds a clock of five seconds per square. Each level changes one thing: more squares, then a new viewpoint, then the clock.
How to practise it
Start at level 1 even if you know the board. Answer by voice if you can: say "e four" and the drill checks the text the browser hears. Two minutes a day beats twenty minutes once a week. A level is passed at 80 percent accuracy. Move up when you pass without pausing, and return to the flipped level often, because it fades first.
Play the drill nowQuestions people ask
- Is Name the Square free?
- Yes, at every level, with no time limit and no card. Find the Square is also free all the way up.
- How long does it take to learn the chess board coordinates?
- A week or two of short daily sessions for most players, longer if you only practise from White's side. A short drill once a week keeps the squares after that.
- Does voice answering work on a phone?
- In Chrome, Edge and Safari, on desktop and phones. The browser turns your speech into text and nothing is recorded. Without voice you tap the name instead.
Guides