3 Fascinating Chess Puzzles

[@rosiefay7283]

I've heard of a king triangulating to lose a tempo, but the way that last problem motivated White's king triangulating is amazing.

[@prakash-ry9ot]

Rook H2 to H1 is checkmate na

[@Mr_Pug6]

@@prakash-ry9ot how? The pawn takes the rook and promotes queen has to take and then king take queen and promotes other pawn

[@vincehomoki1612]

@@prakash-ry9ot ye I got confused too

[@KolejowySzynszyl901]

Triangulation = pyramid. Pyramid = illuminati.

[@joshrasmussen9635]

@@prakash-ry9ot The board is flipped if you paid attention to which way the pawns were going!

[@gianlucatartaro1335]

I’m a measly 900 rated player, but as a mathematician, I just shouted “OMG THE CORNER!” as soon as he said that Kb6 was the right move because, even without vast chess knowledge, the concept of color parity is still pretty solid to me. That is a FASCINATING puzzle. Might be my new favorite!

[@Rammbock]

Same, and I'm not a mathematician

[@leefisher6366]

8:32 - If it's any help, I've been studying his tactics and there's a pattern emerging: Every time you make a move, he makes one too. -- Cat, Red Dwarf.

[@bruh_wut]

"king goes here here here and there and here here here and checkmate" -Hikaru probably

[@JSSTyger]

That looks completely reasonable --Magnus probably

[@RGC_animation]

Black in the last position can prolong his imminent death by moving the H1 Knight thus extending it by 1 move.

[@SmithCS]

If y’all aren’t familiar with the concept of triangulation, it’s a must know for all sorts of endgames

[@jacobpage410]

It’s not quite a simple triangulation though 😂 I somehow put together that the king needed to lose a tempo, and that the bishop couldn’t reach that square, but not that the king needed to go there to triangulate. *facepalm*

[@countmore]

PEPE QUIMBO SIUUUUUU🤓🤓🤓🤓

[@abdulsamadumer7660]

Rook h1 wasn't mate from the start?

[@abdulsamadumer7660]

Why moving king?

[@SmithCS]

because of gxh1=Q and then black wins

[@kruksog]

For anyone as dumb as me: on the 3rd puzzle, Rxh1 isn't mate because black's pawn can take. Nelson even told me which way the pawns we're moving, and I still stared at that for way too long.

[@gehrmansparrow3563]

Thank you bro❤

[@jabeavers]

@10:06, white isn't forced to move the bishop. He could move the knight. This doesn't help since the Queen can take the knight, which then forces a bishop move allowing the mate on g2.

[@die6122]

Exactly, I'm still trying to understand, why!?

[@SilverMosty]

What hes trying to say is that its a mate in 1-2 based one what black plays, becUse black is in zukzwang

[@arlissven1555]

i dont play chess at all but love seeing these kind of puzzles, and it fascinates me that i actually solved the final puzzle by myself!

[@blaisemacpherson7637]

You know what I get you. I can't play well. I just don't have the focus for it. And people say "keep it up you'll get better". No. No I won't. I've tried. But I LOVE analyzing puzzles and interesting checkmates for days in end. I like to take famous historical games, back them up a few moves and find the winning move for the losing side. I used to drive myself nuts for days in one game.

[@Rocky64]

Puzzle 1's task is incorrectly given as a "White wins" study. If it were a study, the alternative 2.fxg5+ which also wins (mentioned at 1:04) would have spoiled the problem. The correct task is "White mates in 4" which is necessary to make 2.fxg5+ faulty as it's too slow.

[@luuduonghy659]

10:06 This move forced black into zugzwang position where it had to make the move it doesn't want because any move it make will lead to checkmate in next move

[@ralkadde]

Thank you for this great puzzle. 01:07 Despite it is longer, I prefer 2. fxg5+ Kh7, 3. fxg6+ Kh8, 4. g7+ Kh7, 5. g6+ Kh6, 6. g5+ Kh5, 7. g4#.... with quadrupled g pawns.

[@irar4665]

On the one you did last-the featured event😎- I did think of heading towards the knight with the king, while staying on the dark squares, BUT I didn't think the black knight on h8 was trapped to just keep going back and forth . After that knight goes to G6 ,for example, I mistakenly thought it could move and attack the Queen , forcing the Queen to move -but I missed that White can just get a Queen, let the knight take the Queen, then take the Knight with the new Queen , and it's back to that winning position in the corner.🤩

[@johnathanpatrick6118]

Last puzzle is basically a battle to avoid zugzwang. 🤣

[@mrtommo9996]

with puzzle 3 i nearly asked why not move the king forward at the end instead of getting the queen for the knight to take; due to the bishop can't take it. but then realized the knight could just put you in check.

[@flubbledubble312]

Why not move rook to h1

[@themagnificentsansandmylaz4115]

@@flubbledubble312 pawn takes +queen

[@flubbledubble312]

@@themagnificentsansandmylaz4115 but they’ll be in check so they have no choice but move their king(or defend king) but you can’t kill rook unless it’s king killing rook and going into check again

[@fifiwoof1969]

@@flubbledubble312 incorrect - ANY piece can capture a checking piece to break check. The only time a king MUST move is to escape double check and your example isn't double check.

[@Ascended55]

@@flubbledubble312 0 elo player teaches how to play chess

[@togishere]

That king's path was basically a road trip with one little stop along the way to do something essential😂

[@kjellfredrikpettersen2311]

On 3rd puzzle, some ask about Ng6-f4 or Nf7-g5 attacking the Queen. But White still wins after Nf4 by h8Q Nxh3 Qxh3 and zugzwang.

[@bunpeishiratori5849]

Thanks. I was wondering about that and was kinda surprised he didn’t mention that possibility.

[@dieschachbrettfee2060]

Black might try to move the bishop after Nf4 h8Q because g2 is defended now. But in this case white wins by Rxh1+ gxh1~ Qxh1+ or Qxg2+ Nxg2 Rh1#. The latter also works after Nh4

[@kjellfredrikpettersen2311]

@@dieschachbrettfee2060 good point about the Nh4 line.

[@omnigodguy]

Hey Nelson, could you perhaps cover some bizarre openings like the Sodium Opening (Na3) and others?

[@reubenmanzo2054]

Is that actually what it's called?

[@gaopinghu7332]

@@reubenmanzo2054 it's a joke on the fact that Sodium's chemical symbol is Na

[@timesnow6205]

@@gaopinghu7332 which stands for North America

[@gaopinghu7332]

@@timesnow6205 I don't quite get the point of that observation, but cool. Especially Canada, I've heard that its climate is cool.

[@kirillzakharov7336]

@@gaopinghu7332 yeah because the Latin name for Sodium is *Na*trium

[@pizzagamingyt7821]

What if black moves the knight instead of the bishop on the third puzzle? Edit: nvm white queen takes the knight and the bishop needs to be moved next

[@Youtubebssurge]

The queen takes then bishop has to move then checkmate

[@AbouTaim-Lille]

9:51. After the knight move ti F7 rather than pushing the pawn you can move the king to G8 istead , the bushop cant check the king and the knight is forced to go back to H8 and then you take it without sacrificing the pawn.

[@SLAFN]

2:25 Black king can move his pawn and it is chek, then move his knight to b4 and it is chek and next move he takes queen and white lost

[@angelmendez-rivera351]

@@KisoDannete Yes, but that is a better defense than getting checkmated. Nelson made a mistake not realizing this is the variation with optimal play.

[@senaluffyzoro]

#3 : what if you get twice the position with the knight blocking your 2 cases while trying to find your way and realizing the tempo issue and then you come back while having gone through A8, would it end up as draw since 3 times the same position ? Or does the rules also include that the same player has to be the one playing in that same position ?

[@Rocky64]

Yes, for the 3-fold repetition rule, the "same position" requires that the same player is to move.

[@senaluffyzoro]

@@Rocky64 thanks !

[@nanhitailor6777]

I think that the puzzle shown at the beginning 00:01 can be solved by just moving the white rook to the last column . Correct me if I'm wrong. Thank you

[@AX1Lmv]

Cuz the black pawns are going down it would just take

[@BobChess]

The last puzzle is super fascinated! I really enjoy this video!

[@silentwatch2260]

Thank you for the clear explanation of a tempo.

[@c99kfm]

9:08 What if the black knight moves to F7 rather than G6? Then the king can't go to D6. I guess D4->E5 will accomplish the same thing, just in a more circuitous route. Heh, the one shown at 10:25. :)

[@KINGCROW54]

5:24 rookh1 pawn takes is forced then qg3 mate

[@christopherheckman7957]

Puzzle #3 appears in Andy Soltis's Chess To Enjoy, where it is credited to composer Vitaly Chekhover.

[@electricmaster23]

He also worked with Yuri Averbakh, co-writing books and the like. Averbakh lived to 100 years old and passed away earlier this year!

[@christopherheckman7957]

@@electricmaster23 I didn't know he was still alive; I thought he'd died a long time ago. And this is the first I've heard of him passing ... I didn't see it at Wikipedia.

[@electricmaster23]

@@christopherheckman7957 he is only chess grandmaster to reach 100 years old, but that’s not that surprising considering only about one in 5 million people become grandmasters.

[@gp_playz3849]

Hey Man! We did not Analyze Kb2 Kc3 Kd4 Ke3! Idea Qh4 Rxh1 gxh1=Q Qxf2 mate but it is not working as after Rxh1 there is gxh1=N! Protecting f2! I did not thought to go all over to the knight I just saw this mate thinking I was correct… I was confused on why you did not consider this move and that’s when I looked at it again I realised I made a mistake… Great Study BTW!

[@water_sponsored]

If Ka8 is played, you can play Ng3, efficiently losing a tempo, but it leads to: Qxg3, Qh3 and Rh1# or Qg2#. You probably can win with Qh4 after Qxg3 but I'm not sure yet.

[@JustAnotherCommenter]

Moral of the story: Missing a beat isn't always bad when it comes to tempos

[@marcvanleeuwen5986]

Analysing the main puzzle with Stockfish is kind of fun, and surprising. Amazingly, in the main line presented, it marks the crucial move Ka8 (and only that move!) as an inaccuracy. The reason appears to be that it sees an amazing alternative in the position at 6:43 (with white K on d6 and black N on g6): Qh5?! and if black makes a random Bishop move, so after Qxg6 black can do f1Q, white has Rxh1 Kxh1 h8Q+ and white wins the endgame with two queens against one. The move Bd3 defending Ng6 is a bit different: Rxg2+, Kxg2, Qd5+ and white wins after Qxd3. Too bad for such a nice puzzle. Stockfish also sees a surprising (though insufficient) alternative defence for black at 9:40 in the video (with white K on f6 and black N on f7): Nd5?! now if h8Q, Ng3, Qxg3?? Ne4+! a fork, Ke5 Nxg3 Qh3 Nh5!! and white cannot win. However instead of Qxg3?? white has Q8h4, and after some checks by the two black knights are exhausted (white's king staying on dark squares), the familiar threats together with the battery aimed at h1 are too much for black to defend against.

[@RiverLiffey23]

Thank you for the nice puzzles, I really enjoyed them.

[@miodragcristianiovanov229]

Just one work: Wow! Made me subscribe, you find amazing puzzles, like pieces of art!

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Welcome aboard!

[@ahmedabbasi5691]

In puzzle#3, at the very start when the king is on the other side of the board, the black knight can just go to f7, (followed by king move from white), and then knight g5 forking the pawn and the queen. He wins one of the two and no matter what happens next, the bishop can come out. Or if the bishop doesn't come out (if Queen keeps eyeing the checkmate square, knight just wins free pawn)

[@Rocky64]

...Ng5, h8=Q Nxh3, Qxh3 B~, Qxg2 mate.

[@kgyo]

9:56 I think we can still win even if opponent gets queen because we are 1 move away from a second queen and we will get it right after black gets his queen And its 2 queens+rook vs queen+knight+bishop

[@thefieryphoenix1]

9:10 - Knight could have moved to f7 (not g6), prevent the King's advances. Which makes this puzzle incorrect.

[@totallynotai7131]

if the king moves to f7 king moves to d4, then the knight has to move

[@tianlecheng2656]

Nh8 ke5 ng6+ kf6 zugzwang

[@dbly5460]

Kinda distant triangulation, like distant oppsition, amazing! Very instructive, thank you so much !

[@h.j.k_]

You can also move the king to g7 at the end because the knight is covering the light square

[@Leberteich]

Do you mean King to g8?

[@martincupito1208]

question from a totally amateur chess player: at 9:34. what would happen is the knight goes to F4 instead, targeting the existing queen? if the pawn promotes, you loose the queen already in play (H3)

[@You-hp3rl]

And then after u lose ur queen in h3 u simply capture the knight and maintains checkmate threat while black can't do any good moves

[@conrrr]

Puzzle 3, push pawn, Knight takes, Queen takes bishop moves, now just pin the pawn, king can't move or checkmate Then bring your Queen back to position and bring the king in

[@Erekose2023]

I loke chess, but totally useless at it. occasionally actually manage to solve the odd puzzle. When I was younger, much younger, I never came across the term 'tempo' used in connection with the knight move, but a;lways thought of it as the knight having to switch parity every time it moved. Funny how without formal introductions to chess, one can develop different terminology.

[@cdorresteijn]

Nice puzzle. Will the puzzle quiz ever get back? I really enjoyed those.

[@giovannicorno1247]

Beatiful! When I understood the King has to reach a8 I smiled, cute idea🙂

[@JanTimoButtgereit]

6:59 can't you do king to d5 or c6 because if black does check with the bishop the king can simply take it?

[@TheCursedLonewolf]

Black gets the queen and you're doomed.

[@Jungleali]

Thanks a lot for your videos, they really helped me become better at chess especially in the endgame

[@DawnWingsml]

Same he is amazing

[@unholykidd2842]

on 10:00, King g8 would be smarter as it forces the knight to move, the Bishop cant come out to protect it and if the knight moves anywhere else, you just get the Queen afterwards, no?

[@kirillzakharov7336]

10:29 LMAO that face says it all

[@cnarkoksal9417]

10:00 Kg8 would be a correct move too, since the knight is blocking that square

[@kjellfredrikpettersen2311]

Actually, it seems White still wins on puzzle 3 after KxNf7 (9:46), but much harder: Kxf7 Bc4+ Ke7 f1Q Qe3+ Nf2 (if Kxh2, h8Q mate and if Qf2, Qxf2 Nxf2 Rxg2 Kxg2 h8=Q) h8Q, Black has no immediate check and White should win. If nothing else, he could give the R for Pg2, and then try to force trade of Queens, since KQ vs KBN theoretically is a win in most positions.

[@maartendejonge978]

Not sure if it's "better", since you win anyway, but you can take the knight without saccing the pawn. King G8 doesn't result in check, since the knight blocks the bishop.

[@LordQuorad]

That's what I was thinking. Knight H6 check would probably follow.

[@st4rk1113r]

I'm pretty sure that you can solve puzzle 3 in two moves : rook to H1 check, black has to take the rook with a pawn, gets a queen, white queen to G2 check mate. If black gets a knight you can move the queen around to keep checking the king until you have eaten the knight or the king's guard

[@Rocky64]

1.Rxh1+?? gxh1=Q 2.Qg2+?? Qxg2, or 2.Qg3+ Qg2 and Black wins.

[@balil7677]

How is Queen to G2 checkmate? The Bishop and King can take it

[@manuelgarrido5602]

Thank you for these beautifull puzzle you give always for us. That's remind me every time pleasure when I started chess and it is a renewal.

[@jeffreyherrera5069]

5:15 "Because there's no more checkmate threat and Black obviously has a queen to, you know, whatever." Martin: So, what you're saying is that I could blunder it?

[@TheEthikos]

Nice puzzles, thanks.

[@degesvseobecby4433]

9:08 why knight did not go Back at samé position? It will block white king again

[@gapple1733]

At 9:44, I thought it would've been cooler to play Kg8, wasting another tempo, and blacks bishop cannot check us since the knight blocks the check, rather than making a queen with Black in Zugswang.

[@oenrn]

- Kg8 Nh6+, Kg7 Nf7 and we're back where we started, or: - Kg8 Nh6+, Q×h6 and now the bishop can move with a promotion on the next move

[@Nikolatsthefirst]

That third puzzle was mind-blowing

[@davidbnpl]

Puzzle 2 - stockfish moved king to F6 instead of moving knight and there is no checkmate possibility. At least not that stockfish can see it. And yes, you take a queen and you are ahead but for me it was still impossible to beat stockfish with so well placed bishop+knight+pawn... edit: stockfish vs stockfish finally won after 70+ moves but for like 50 moves it looked like a draw and they were repeating a lot of moves

[@Digg3rL3ss]

at 9:45, i yeleed to myself Queen! as a joke, and then you said that taking the knight was wrong and that you should just promote. I was very happy

[@dndabke]

Great! The third one is really great !

[@KKKK-np5vc]

I did not see that last one honestly, but when I finally got it, it made me literally laugh. Really a nice one :)

[@cedsgm9205]

10:00 what about king to g8?

[@Infernal_Sniper]

Why doesn’t the black knight just fork the pawn and the queen? No matter what black is up material and no matter what move that queen makes black wins the rook as far as I see.

[@brasidas7]

abuzing zugzwang to the extreme. I like it.

[@alainlaine4854]

tempo is an avatar of the odd/even concept

[@sunzitra2547]

That 3rd puzzle was amazing

[@bloooddmooonn]

In that final puzzle what would happen if rook takes horse and goes Check?

[@fomori2]

Remember that blacks pieces are moving down the board. So you would have gxh1 (g pawn captures rook) promoting blacks pawn to a queen.

[@averageasiankid3105]

Then it's checkmate with queen g3. So the pawn promotes to a knight, defending g3

[@zorm_]

Queen g3 would not be checkmate since queen and bishop can defend on g2. Promoting to a knight instead still wins for black but it's a difficult game of NNB vs Q

[@giovannicorno1247]

Bratiful the subtle way to victory of the kast one, losing that time in a8!

[@stantonanderson393]

I put this in an engine and #3 can be solved in a couple ways other then bringing king to the corner, you can brute force it and take the knight with a queen, take the pawn and put the king in check and promote pawn….

[@F15EX_Eagle_II]

I’m relatively new to chess so pardon me if this is a dumb move, but at 2:17 why doesn’t black move the pawn with discovered check?

[@Rocky64]

...e4+ loses the queen immediately to Bxg7.

[@faheemsameer1598]

10:06 can somebody explain why can't we move the knight instead of the bishop in this position?

[@evanwhitfield4859]

The knight can move, but then the white queen captures it, maintaining the checkmate threat. So the bishop still needs to move after that.

[@faheemsameer1598]

@@evanwhitfield4859 wait, after knight moves to g3, isn't it defended by the pawn? Black can just move the knight back and forth right?

[@faheemsameer1598]

@@evanwhitfield4859 ok. I am sorry. Pawns are facing this way. Got it

[@tianlecheng2656]

Otherwise rxh1 would just be checkmate

[@eyadahmed5401]

Bro in puzzle 3 rook h1 is checkmate all this time

[@thecomputerlibrary-8199]

7:01 kd5 is safe, because of if black want to chek with bishop he will lose it, and the white will be able to checkmate easier

[@neobullseye1]

The bishop itself is irrelevant. The point is not the check itself, the point is that white is forced to make a king move, and so they lose their chance at checkmate. No matter what white does, black will get a queen next turn, taking away white's checkmate chances.

[@You-hp3rl]

Kd5 Bc4+ KxB f1=Q+ and game is a win for black

[@thecomputerlibrary-8199]

@@You-hp3rl oh yeah you’re right I didn’t see that

[@StupidCat34]

6:50 not Bc4+. Black plays better Nf4+ and N:h3 :)

[@RAYON10]

03:00 even Nelson was puzzled for a sec 😂😂

[@PrestaPretzel]

Can anyone explain why in the last one white can't just move the rook to h1?

[@tsukimi7497]

I thought the same, but then I remembered that they're at the end game and both team's pawns are about to promote to a queen. Therefore if you take knight with rook, the pawn will just take it and promote to a queen... I was too focused with solving puzzle three that I forgot what he said at the beginning ╮⁠(⁠╯⁠_⁠╰⁠)⁠╭

[@PrestaPretzel]

@@tsukimi7497 damn I thought the black pawns were going up

[@lewiscook3918]

cant you also kg8 in the penultimate move as knight blocks that bishop check now

[@Drawfill]

That zwischenzug at the end was mastermind. Wow.

[@tianlecheng2656]

*zugzwang

[@Drawfill]

​@@tianlecheng2656 The zwischenzug (German: pronounced [ˈtsvɪʃənˌtsuːk], "intermediate move") is a chess tactic in which a player, instead of playing the expected move (commonly a recapture), first interposes another move posing an immediate threat that the opponent must answer, and only then plays the expected move.[1][2] It is a move that has a high degree of "initiative". Ideally, the zwischenzug changes the situation to the player's advantage, such as by gaining material or avoiding what would otherwise be a strong continuation for the opponent.

[@38FerreroX]

9:44 king g8 also works but longer

[@You-hp3rl]

It doesn't because after Kg8 Ng5 and ur queen is under attack+u are on a white square, so u end up either losing ur queen and letting black get a new queen, or don't lose ur queen but get checked and then let black get a new queen

[@38FerreroX]

@@You-hp3rl True, missed that

[@OcteractSG]

In the second puzzle, Black had a discovered check the with d5 pawn.

[@eliteteamkiller319]

Imagine someone sat around for hours devising this puzzle.

[@sergeyalexandrovich8443]

At 9:30, what if the Knight moved to F4, attacking h3?

[@ԱրենՆուրջանյան-օ9պ]

I think you queen then recapture your queen with the new queen

[@WGWP]

Rook captures the knight is checkmate

[@zombiedino184]

i was excited to test the less puzzle in the engine only to find stockfish doesnt follow that path

[@Diebeiden67]

Thank you!!

[@rezaaqbar]

at 9:10 how if Knight go to F7? Not to go G6,, cause Knight F7 block D6 and White King can't pass the square...

[@tianlecheng2656]

Kd4

[@attilalukacs2916]

Promoting to a rook at the end would be savage

[@Aurexo2]

At the end, you don’t have to sacrifice your pawn to take the knight You can move the king BEHIND the knight on the White square to force the knight to rather go away, losing one tempo once again, and then repositionning our king to threaten the knight while protecting our pawn

[@linuslucke3838]

If Kg8, Black plays Bc4 anyway, defending the Knight, if you promote they take with discovered check, and promote next move, if you move the king, they promote anyway

[@Aurexo2]

@@linuslucke3838 if black move the Bishop, we are not check, but its checkmate for him

[@linuslucke3838]

@@Aurexo2 Oh right I am just stupid. Why did I forget the checkmate thread?

[@Aurexo2]

@@angelmendez-rivera351 wait, you are supposing the case black knight are on g6 ? Or on f7 ?

[@angelmendez-rivera351]

@@Aurexo2 ​That was my mistake. I understand what you are talking about now. The Bishop cannot move without undefending g2, unless its move is a check. If Bc4, then White does not have to play h8=Q, White simply plays Qxg2#.

[@Einsteinium.]

these were all quite easy i had these positions in my games today

[@haiderabbas5394]

how did black even get his king there 😭

[@dragandjordjevic5603]

One more move, instead of moving bishop black can move knight to G3, but then white king will come.

[@bruce4139]

After king c5 around 9:32 why doesnt the knight go f7 to stop the king?

[@_weebzee]

King be like: Nah bro imma go get some tea and be right back

[@azulonme]

in the third puzzle, the knight can make a fork for a pawn and a queen with the move f7-g5))

[@oenrn]

... Ng5, h8=Q N×h3, Q×h3 forced bishop move followed by mate.

[@ateshaidel]

Puzzle #3 is a draw or black will wins the game.. review ur video in 9:05 if the white king go to c7 the knights will move to f7 to block the king ,then if the WK move b6 ,the knights back to h8, if the WK move to c5 the knights will block the king in f7 again that's why we the white can't win .if the white move to white area the black win .

[@ateshaidel]

The #3 puzzle is a draw for my opinion.

[@Rocky64]

At 9:09 after Kc5, if ...Nf7 then White wins by Kd4 Nh8, Ke5 transposing to 9:39.

[@TsuzuraYuuki]

At 2:54, can't the king just go back and repeat move?

[@You-hp3rl]

The queen behind him is undefended

[@TsuzuraYuuki]

i see, thanks for pointing it out

[@jackmclane1826]

I think puzzle 2 was the first one I got right... your vids are working! 😅

[@-racine-9485]

I guess it will not change the result, but if the Knight doesn't take the Queen at the end, then what will happen ? I guess it will be too much to handle with White having an extra queen who isn't locked on a specific location, and Black will end up losing anyway ?

[@cubetoast976]

what if Nf4 at 9:26?

[@balil7677]

The Pawn on H7 will promote into a Queen and White will win