3 Chess Puzzles I Doubt You Can Solve 🤔

[@junumin2603]

wow, that 2nd puzzle is mind blowing with the triple underpromotions, very clever! Thank you Nelson for the video!

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

You got it!

[@MyBiPolarBearMax]

In a puzzle i would get it but in a game i would 100% stalemate 😂

[@junumin2603]

@@MyBiPolarBearMax lol true

[@CodeHiiro]

@@ChessVibesOfficial in the first puzzle before the knight moves, black can just win if they play check

[@smippycis6285]

What's crazy to me too is that all 3 underpromotions were DIFFERENT. DAMN

[@rowenagarcia6088]

Puzzle 1: Mate in 11 Puzzle 2: Achieve a winning position in 8 moves Puzzle 3: Mate in 15

[@imfullofsandwichesandimcom2301]

Puzzle 2: don't die

[@oomygamerchannel936]

@@imfullofsandwichesandimcom2301 more like Puzzle 2 : triple piece underpromotion for the win

[@jerichosiregar7635]

Puzzle 2 is using the brain to the max

[@galaxyeliel]

the second puzzle with the bishop sacrifice accepted, theres a knight fork of the pawn on f2. and after takes pawn and making a attack on the other pawn on h3. in this position i made, the bishop on h7 could take your other knight and defend the pawn but if you sacrifice your other knight for the pawn and bishop takes, white can just make a queen. ( Knight to d3 is the fork if you dont see it )

[@trollcart]

i was in a king-queen and it said mate in 59 lol

[@anniezhao60]

One under promotion is very rare in even studies, but three is mind blowing. Thanks Nelson for the videos!!!

[@oenrn]

Even better, you need to underpromote to 3 different pieces!

[@komodo1132]

But you don't have to in order to win. Just move the bishop to d4 to block the attack...

[@rejireyfernandez274]

@@komodo1132 how does that block the attack

[@komodo1132]

@@rejireyfernandez274 If you move bishop to d4 instead of knight to e5 it can either capture the pawn or block the check should the pawn be promoted. No underpromotion necessary

[@phoenix0401]

The knight in the first puzzle also makes queen A4-C6-C1 checkmate impossible.

[@Kevin-dt9xm]

Qc1 would be checkmate, if it werent blacks queen. Qc1 doesnt even check the white king.

[@yashajinkya2591]

Yea i just thought why it wasnt playable

[@breadymcsaus7755]

What happens if black takes the knight?

[@luqmaanhay4957]

@@breadymcsaus7755 one of the pawns queens

[@hinyuchin4724]

8:00 the knight on e1 can go to d3 and fork too, if the king capture.

[@hisuianzoroark5726]

His content has transformed over the past few months. 1 year to about 2 months ago, he did tips, traps, and tricks videos. Now, he does puzzles.

[@softenmydreamswys]

Nelson, you do a great job with these puzzles. You're going to have more subscribers than you ever imagined as word of mouth gets around in the chess world. Great job.

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Thanks a lot, Dudley, appreciate it!

[@quentinhuyghe]

i already had a staircase checkmate in a real game, that was very satisfying

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Nice! If you're comfortable sharing the game, I might be interested in making a video on that game. =P [e-mail]

[@michakuczyc1045]

That's cool.

[@michaelthebigaussie]

Definitely share it mate

[@MrError3000YT]

@@michaelthebigaussie I see what you did there

[@swaggypotato962]

@@MrError3000YT what did he do

[@kaibahnemann8049]

I really enjoy these puzzles, your detailed explanations and your very nice enthusiasm. You are doing us a favour - and yourself as well, which makes it even more fun to watch. A great thanks.

[@neutralgrey3774]

The way you explain enthusiastically makes me comfortable and easy to understand chess more easily ... thank you Nelson

[@Diebeiden67]

Puzzle 2 and your way to present is absolutetly wonderful. Thank you!

[@alyvav.trauma2440]

3:50 There is also another reason why the knight is placed there. Looking back at 3:00 black could have used the queen for checking white with a4 to c4. Following this white would have needed to go with pawn g5 to g6 leaving c1 for the black queen to deliever another check with following checkmate if the knight wouldnt be there to defend c1.

[@Jack-cv4ej]

4:53 couldnt black have taken the pawn on f7 with the queen and if the pawn on the left promotes do queen to g8 blocking it

[@Jack-cv4ej]

and if the queen takes queen then its capture with h7 pawn and promote to a queen

[@liorthedemon]

In puzzle 2, I felt so smart when I found the rook promotion in like 10 seconds, but those knight and bishops once were way beyond me. damn that was a cool puzzle

[@bat_0002]

I found Nf1 instead

[@fiertyga]

@@bat_0002 that hangs checkmate in 1

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasugar]

Being a 1000 rated player means that I could actually find the solution to the 2nd puzzle, but I'd still probably lose/draw after that

[@GalaXyKurt]

I was a 1596 at 8, and I recently got back into chess and those puzzles were so cool! Thank you Nelson!

[@maxd4669]

Hi I have question on puzzle 2. Wouldn't Ng3 win too? because.... Ng3-Be4-Ne4+Kc4-Nf2

[@charleslingerfelt7692]

At 7:50, if Kxb2, why not Nd3+ to fork the king and pawn? Then Kc3, Nxf2, then probably Bxf5, at which point any of your pawns can safely promote, and their only checking square (Be4) is guarded by the knight on f2.

[@whyyoureadingmyname2622]

3:06 . If the black queen wouldn't have gone to A3, and else would have gone to C6 dilivering a check hence the white pawn on G5 advances to G6 and then the black queen can go to c8 preventing both the white pawns from promoting and then if the white knight moves then C1 is a beautiful checkmate by the black queen after taking the white pawn which will be inbetween.

[@alyvav.trauma2440]

5:11 black might not have a lot of options but at least a good one. Queen a3 to d6 check. White loses if using the pawn g5 to defend, so the knight again jumps in from e7 to g6, leading to a more interesting endgame :) Besides its also worth to mention that instead of moving the queen to a4 at 2:33 , black could use bishop h3 to c8 following queen h4 to c4 depending on whites decision.

[@prasadmapatuna]

This is the most amazing chess video I have seen so far in youtube. I am not saying this lightly. I think the fact that you are not a Titled Player (as yet) but someone who is not very distant from intermediate/beginner players like us helps too. Like your calm approach. Your presentation style is amazing.

[@rogergeyer9851]

Wonderful. The staircase problem was simple enough that (re the hint about "staircase" in the video, that I was able to pretty easily solve it. The second one I was close, but I got stuck missing N-G6, but once you showed that I DID see the stalemate and figured out the required underpromotion sequence leading to the win. I don't recall seeing multiple underpromotions as a theme, not that I'm a big puzzle solver, more interested in, say, endgame themes. The first one was logical all the way, the main thing watching out for the checks. Of course, that theme made it easy (relatively speaking) to find the night sac on g6 at the end.

[@aleksandrajanicka6949]

In case you were wondering about 4:50 why Nc6 Qxc6 g6 Qf3 g7# doesn't work - this is because after g6 there is Qc1#. Brilliant geometry!

[@wayneyadams]

Both of the last two puzzles are just the coolest I have ever seen. Three underpromotions and a staircase. WOW!

[@phesonor9289]

got the first and third puzzle, almost got the second puzzle, i thought ng6 didn't work because after bishop bxg6, e8=R and bxe8, there would be no way to stop bc6 checkmate, i missed b8=n. got everything else in that puzzle though amazing puzzles 11/10 earned a sub

[@kenjiesanico6645]

Wow, the second puzzle is tricky but I got it all right man... Thanks For The Video Nelson I feel genius to that.

[@Eshtian]

First puzzle If you push with the right pawn queen moves in response to the first move, take the same pawn as it's promoted, then that's checkmate. Same thing happens if you push with the left except the queen is in a weaker position Pushing left then push right pawn. Queen has to focus one which leaves the other to promote (as the queen is on the second to last row, not the last row after the pawn take. You want to push left since the right pawn into queen is an instant checkmate

[@gorryhoren9302]

The first time i see staircase is from hikaru, he even say the same thing like you! 17:01 hikaru also said that "check check check" thingy. I really love all 3 puzzle btw

[@basteala525]

That second one has a really cool sequence of events, and that third one....my god, that's dramatic and it's wonderful for that.

[@danielbillings1876]

When I first starting watching this channel, I would look at this type of video in awe…now I’m beginning to get some of the moves correct. I appreciate all you do, Nelson.

[@rogergeyer9851]

Daniel: That's one of the great rewards of chess. It's all there for you to learn and improve with. Your opponent doesn't beat you in a sense -- you beat yourself. I like this SO much better than games like Magic The Gathering, where so much randomness spoils otherwise wonderful games -- to the extent I just didn't want to play in tournaments any more.

[@ayoutubecommenter7494]

I get many moves correct but I'm still in an awe especially when I find them, those underpromotions were truly mindblowing!

[@rogergeyer9851]

I'm definitely going to get this book. I just LOVE these endgame related puzzles, due to the concepts they illustrate. Chess is just so beautiful, and such problems are the pure art that shows that, IMO. I find the simplicity and purity of solving a difficult endgame using principles SO much more satisfying than finding some complex middle-game shot, and I always hated memorizing openings (which is why I never got good (above 2000), re rated tournament play. I was often way behind after the opening and would have to grind my way out for 70ish moves against a much weaker player. But if I could get to an interesting endgame against an expert or master, I had a decent shot. (Which would often blow them away after witnessing my opening. LOL)

[@prasanth6348]

In puzzle 3 , Rook should be in d8 And if bishop takes it we can finish our queen Or if they promote there queen we can play as you taught and put our rook in d1 amazing royal folk

[@arthurrtang9670]

nice, was able to figure out the first and last one, but the underpromotion one kind of got me since I was thinking to promote the e-pawn to a Queen (rather than a rook which wins) when that leads to stalemate, once I caught on, then the rest of the moves were not hard to find because it was all about controlling the a8-h1 diagonal from Black's light square Bishop. Incredible stuff! I mean, who isn't blown away from these mind boggling positions?! Chess is awesome, but not many people see it as such.

[@kirillzakharov7336]

7:57 not to mention, if King captures Bishop, then Knight takes F2 and then you can promote

[@thefastmeow]

if king takes bishop, the knight can fork the king and pawn!

[@kirillzakharov7336]

@@thefastmeow that's literally what I just said

[@Dev_1907]

@@kirillzakharov7336 😂😂😂

[@kirillzakharov7336]

@@Dev_1907 nani??

[@Robert-mx1io]

Wow puzzle #2 blew my mind, truly amazing. Is there a name for that puzzle cause I definitely want to show that from now on when someone asks if you promote to a queen everytime. Side note it took me the longest time to figure out why Bd2 didn’t work since it forces the king to the same square and you never move it again but of course it keeps the king from retreating back to its starting square (or C1) out of the knight checks

[@idarkissg3229]

in the first puzzle: after white plays Nd5, black can play Bc8 if a8=Q, then Qf6+ and if white plays gxf6 or Nxf6 it’s stalemate since black’s bishop is pinned by the queen on a8. if white tries g6 after Qf6+, then Qg7+ and it’s perpetual check (after Qg7+, Kg5, Qe5+, Kh4, Qh2+, Kg5, Qe5+...) so after Bc8, a8=Q leads to a draw. if white plays f8=Q, then Qxf8# so after Bc8, white has to play Nf6: Nf6, Qa3, Nxh7, Qd6+, g6, Qf4+, Ng5, Qf6, Ne6 and black is left with no moves. (the knight can’t be captured by the queen or the bishop and the queen has no good checks) after black moves, white just plays f8=Q+ forcing the queen trade with Qxf8+ and Nxf8. after that it’s an easy win for white.

[@gonzaguemonney]

Amazing ! Puzzle 1 : after 4. Nd5, the black move Bc8 makes the problem even trickier !

[@ednoham4999]

after qf3 Nd5 black has the move bishop c8 then a8 (Q) or (R) both leads to draw after qf6 check only way to win after Bc8 is to Nf6 Qa3 , Nh7 Bb7, f8(Q) Qf8 , Nf8 and wining the end game

[@tarunpant4906]

Puzzle 1: why can't the knight on b4 be taken? If a pawn promotes to queen, then Qd6+ will lead to checkmate after g6, Qf4++

[@Polymeron]

Exactly! It's been driving me crazy! Can't figure this out.

[@Polymeron]

No wait, I figured it out 🤦 If white promotes to queen on a8, this checks the black king and delivers a mate in 3. The black queen can't go to d6 because of the check.

[@TheMadLex]

The second one was mindblowing. I was getting it to the point where i need the knight to stop checkmate but didnt see it. Even though i knew one puzzle involved underpromotion. Also i promoted to a queen before since i didnt see the stalemate. I figured black just takes and then threatens checkmate. Last one was easy with the hint on the staircase. Fun video, keep it up :D

[@rogergeyer9851]

Yohan. Yes. To me, the staircase hint made it easy. Without that, I don't think I would have found the key sac theme to force the win.

[@TomBarrister]

The Staircase Maneuver is a common one and isn't confined to queens or requires all checks. You can find a detailed explanation on Wikipedia.

[@정예찬-i9q]

Now we have a queen walk. fascinating

[@MyBiPolarBearMax]

Even though i saw the first one it was very cool. I love these super interesting chess puzzles youve been doing. The game is so clever at crazy depths.

[@ethanbower0246]

It’s all fun and games till you premove the staircase mate and he blocks with the bishop

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

😂😂

[@scottodonnell7121]

These puzzles are like therapy for me. I'm getting older and need to exercise my mind as well as my body. I push the pause button and try to work it out in my head. Mental gymnastics. Thank You Nelson.

[@aaronchan1088]

the first position shows the importance of knight sacs and deflection shots. after black is forced to play hxg6, white recaptures with the pawn, threatening g7 mate with an easy win. black's queen is overloaded.

[@mgaadslazy188]

4:20 what about g6? If the opponent takes then you can take with the other pawn and push that pawn to g7 with checkmate I don’t think I’m overlooking anything but if I did, please let me know.

[@gabrielemerick2064]

i actually found the 2nd puzzle just because I had just seen the other underpromotion video of yours right before, thanks for doing such awesome videos !

[@Blazer69420]

7:25 why can’t knight to e3 work bc it’s defending the f1 square and the knight is defended by the bishop and the black bishop is light squared so it can’t kill either

[@DoubleVanimation]

12:43 what if A7 pawn bishop promotion it blocks the diagonal for the bishop to be able to checkmate and get a queen next move with the B7 pawn

[@undercoverotter4277]

Puzzle 3: (from this point 15:12) White queen b3, black queen c5, white queen b1 checkmate. Or White queen b3, black queen g3, white queen b1 checkmate. Or White queen b3, black queen b1, white queen b1 checkmate. Or White queen b3, black biship b2, white queen take b2, checkmate. The ladder what ever wasn’t needed. Do correct me if my wrong, I am a bit drunk.

[@hottoniapalustris1541]

Hey, I just wanted to let you know you're my favorite chess channel. You've the (he he) vibe that fits, it's easy to follow your way of thinking and everything is nicely explained, your puzzles are always interesting and their difficulty is just right. So yeah, cheers!

[@duskgleam4634]

when you find obscure checkmates easily in puzzles but cant find them in-game :(

[@phlosen7854]

I think it has to do something with the mindset. You know that there is a Solution to the Puzzle that ends in Mate or in win of Material. In a Game I don't assume that you I gain an advantage five moves after I saced a rook for a knight for example

[@lomtick6654]

15:50 what bothers black to block knight with a pawn breaking the mate instead of a move with king. nothing would bother the black queen to interrupt the white one. no?

[@charles4283]

I’ve been watching your content for a few days now, and I was able to solve the first one! Your puzzle content is wonderful.

[@BigDBrian]

Note: figured out why. But I think it's an interesting line. in puzzle #2 if you play bishop d2 and the king takes, you can check him with kf3, and then play kg3 to cover the checkmate threat. If the king tries to moves to capture the knight, he can take the first one but that'd be okay on its own. The issue is, this opens up black's bishop to have a checkmate threat on e4. Pretty interesting position, your knight needs to defend two checkmate threats but can't handle both at the same time. If he takes the bishop, pawn moves. If he doesn't, king moves for discovered mate.

[@arivsahoo774]

The second puzzle is absolutely amazing!

[@artham2676]

Puzzle 1: why not g6 instead of Kb4? The Knight prevents Qc1 checkmate after pushing g pawn so white should be ok. Right ? Aldo, Kf6 instead of Ke7 seems to worlk, threatening h pawn capture and also preventing Q check on the 6th line. Right ?

[@jacefairis1289]

5:42 I like how black's own bishop on h3 is preventing them from having checkmate, lol

[@BroomieHERE]

I feel so smart that I found every move in puzzle 2 and the RH1 in the 3rd !!!

[@HimitsuYami]

I couldn't find the first pawn move but I did see that knight move immediately. I was looking at that queen and like "what can I do to either take or block it?" And the knight was right there and made sense

[@ruselargentum2936]

Puzzle 2, first move: Knight to E3: «Am I a joke to you?»

[@swayamkomarpant1552]

Postion 2 was super amazing oh my

[@TheEthikos]

So puzzle 2 I knew the first was under promotion but ONLY because you told us it was a crazy move and I’ve seen lots of under promotions in your videos, which are super cool. I didn’t actually see the full stalement line though. Ludicrous!

[@charleslingerfelt7692]

To start the second puzzle, I wanted to say Bc3, but that allows mate in four with: ...fxe1=Q+, Bg1, Bxf5, e8=Q, Be4+, Qxe4, Qxe4#.

[@azteriaaa]

17:26 why is xe5 not a good move? it would completely eliminate the staircase, right?

[@pngmors855]

one of possible combination for second puzzle 1> Bd2 KxB2 2> Nf3+ Ke2 3> Ng3+ Kfx3 4> Qe8 white wins

[@baileygilbert5763]

5:00 for the first puzzle why not go Knight to C7 to protect when the a7 pawn promoting, queen trade then your up a queen?

[@foodie2616]

1st and 2nd puzzle was amazing

[@richedyt2712]

1:53 after the queen move isnt if white push the pawn to f7 the queen also can mate us with the same threat

[@thesunnyskypanda]

Puzzle 1. 1) Nd5 Qxf7 2) a8Q+ Qg8 Doesn’t that stop the threat? The knight can’t come in because of 3) Ne7 Qxa1 and for that matter, nothing else can because of the same move

[@m1nt9reen]

17:35 I had this same scenario recently except with pawns and not a bishop. But under a lot of time pressure I messed up the last move and ended up losing D:

[@alexanderxyz6146]

really really great, i tried hard to solve the puzzle 2 but yea... don't try hard, try smart I'd learn from that. self note 14:05 #3

[@NidusFormicarum]

1: White's moves were very easy to find, but I missed that Black had more defencive moves. Once I saw them, it was very easy to see what White should play from there though. 2: This was a hard one. So many ideas! I got the first couple of moves right, but I missed the point from two different positions. Amazing stuff! 3. This was extremely easy, I solved it in about two minutes and got the right idea from the very beginning. Why? Becasue there were no sidelines. The only thing I spent extra time on was to see if Black had any alternative first moves.

[@turbotong]

I think in puzzle 2, bishop can go to D2. White takes it with King. Knight to F3, check. If king moves right, then E pawn advances and checks.

[@aaravkokra414]

5:58 Q can take on f7 and after a8+ Q can go to G8

[@tom-sensei3249]

Pawn will just take though and the black king will still be stuck

[@limyuqingmoe2992]

Nelson, puzzle 2 if bishop goes to b2, king takes b2, you can use the knight to fork the king and the pawn

[@timesnow6205]

3:52 i litreally said it, without understanding and i didn't even know it blocks queen from capturing pawn in f8

[@sohailansari07289]

In puzzle 2, what will you do if black took his bishop from g6 to d3 after you promote your pawn to bishop? He might have an upper hand.

[@JustAnotherCommenter]

Ohhhh okayyy now I understand it when Hikaru says "Check check check check check check check check check check and Nf8". I can now confirm it's a staircase.

[@kylejoly577]

I was so close on the second one! I saw the second promotion to knight, but failed to see how the first promotion could cause a stalemate. Great puzzle.

[@SceneTurkey]

You forgot to mention for the second puzzle that ke3 right away doesn't work because be4 is checkmate. The knight is immediately blocking the bishop from going to e4, so the knight can only move if it is checking the king.

[@שחררפפורט]

I'm generally towards the end of the game that there are quite a few pieces and I can promot I take rocks and bishops because a queen can draw in so many random situations because she controls too many tiles, so the simpler pieces help more in my opinion

[@aaronchan1088]

my most favorite position has to be the second one. i quickly realized that e8=Q and a8=Q lead to stalemate... it's important to be aware of your opponent's stalemate tricks.

[@theravengercommunity1191]

These were all so beautfiul and I almost solved all of them right, Im not gonna brag or anything but this was exciting and lovely. The puzzles were really amazing i hope you make more videos like these!

[@v.gopalakrishnan350]

Wow, thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks! 👌

[@RayFreeman-kk6yf]

Here is another staircase puzzle. White: K at e7, Pawns at b7, c7, d7, Queen at e6. Black: K at h8, Pawns at g7, h7. White to move. (Oops! flip the board. The black pawns are ready to queen; the white pawns are on their original squares.)

[@e-pluszak9419]

6:50 actually 4 threats of checkmate 😜

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

😂 Good point!

[@rowenagarcia6088]

Nice! But the Rook and Queen movements don't really change each other much in the position, so it's generalized as 2 threats.

[@Johnyidc]

In the second puzzle you could do a fork from the forst moves and capturing the black pawn who was abt to promote

[@komodo1132]

You could also your bishop to d4 in the 2nd puzzle. This would block the queen and free your knight. With no more potential threads you could make all your pawns to queens ( 9:29 )

[@Mayhamsdead]

First puzzle was incredibly easy, though I almost blundered the second knight move on the King's side.

[@junipermurakami3710]

puzzle 2 is great to show anyone that thinks chess puzzles are a waste and unrealistic, really helps learn strategy

[@sirmonkz2983]

wait but what if you go to g8 with a bishop to threaten mate again instead? 10:28 You can't stop it with a horse like in a way you showed and you can just move bishop back and forth to force a draw (horse has to protect squares to which bishop can move to prevent checkmate)

[@BanLaNgayCuaToi]

Nf4 protecting Bd5. If bishop goes back then rook promotion, so there's no draw

[@nynagorli5074]

puzzle-1 i found it quiet quickly puzzle-2 amazing! i found all the moves except e8=R! puzzle-3 is easy i found right at the start.

[@ThatFFan]

at 17:29, can’t the pawn take the queen?

[@nifuheart6127]

thats what i thought too

[@fqnzii]

black pawns start at the row 7 they cant go backwards, the white pawns always start at the row 2

[@pngmors855]

second winning combination for second puzzle would be 1> Bd2+ Kc4 2> Ne3+ Ke4 3> Qe8 White wins.

[@ericmyers2532]

Very fun. I love the enthusiasm for the game. I’m grateful

[@cuetipnl]

Puzzle 1: Knight is NOT random placed. It prevents the mate by .. - Qa4, .. - Qc6, .. - Qc1, .. - Qxf4#

[@yoav613]

At 10:37 what about bishop to d4? Now if the black bishop goes for the check mate we can take with the knight and if the pawn promote we can block the check with the bishop?

[@frostypotatos180]

Qg2/qf3# at the end

[@yoav613]

@@frostypotatos180 yes,thanks.

[@cvindustries]

Qg2# 0-1.

[@mariolyubomirov4824]

Such amazing puzzles and i feel quite proud i managed to solve the first one. :D The only thing i think i can contribute to this chess art is to make final move queen to b2 in stead of a3 for it to be a complete staircase mate.w Amazing video and thank you for the brain gymnastics.