A Grandmaster Solves Chess Problems | Puzzle Rush Survival, Part 3

In this video, I brave the next set of problems in my multi-part Puzzle Rush survival speedrun, starting from Problem 41. The problems have progressively increased in difficulty and are now at Master level, but I have tried my best to lay out every step of the solving process as plainly as possible.
Try your hand at Chess.com's Puzzle Rush: www.chess.com/...
Follow Daniel on Twitter at / gmnaroditsky
Daniel streams regularly on Twitch at / gmnaroditsky

[@algiovannelli1271]

The heroic lightbulb moment at 30:41 was beautiful

[@nathanfosdahl7525]

Thanks for the link. That was beautiful.

[@meylaul5007]

HEUREKA!

[@Deevke]

And the beauty of the agonizing pain of thinking before...

[@RaptureReady2025]

Lo and Behold, Danya had a vision from God who sayeth to Danya “bishop to d3!” And Danya moved the white bishop to b3 proclaiming check! And God rested for HE had already imparted the entire mating sequence of moves to his Prophet. And God was pleased.

[@amitv9128]

Indeed. That's one thing i've seen across experts of different fields of work: the ability to deconstruct a problem into its fundamental components and going through each component to see what can be improved. Most people think genius is the consequence of some god-given ability that someone had right from birth; but it really is the ability to deconstruct a problem and improve/understand each component, although within a short time frame. in that sense, many people are gifted, sure, but it really comes down to enough time and focus; and even the average joe can get there. Props to Daniel for helping me realise that.

[@Alchemistic88]

Danya is the hero chess needs. The calm presence of rationality amongst masses of techno music and repeating themselves 658 times for no reason. And some humility as well.

[@DanielNaroditskyGM]

Thanks for the sweet message man!!

[@Alchemistic88]

@@DanielNaroditskyGM thank you for the great videos! I'm really learning a lot. Everyone wants to play fast before they get a chance to understand the game, because they see GMs and IMs streaming. Your videos highlight the importance of taking your time and always finding better moves when you are learning. Not many chess streamers are doing that.

[@HippopotamusPencil]

Yesterday I successfully completed my first 1k+ puzzle. When I inevitably become a GM and write a book, it will be dedicated to Daniel.

[@Hummabubba]

That's huge progress man, you should be proud

[@anomad6314]

update!

[@jasonclark9194]

@@anomad6314 he is now known as GothamChess

[@Nicholas5c]

How you doing now

[@HippopotamusPencil]

Alas, life comes at you fast. At least, it does for me. I took some time off playing chess to focus on my writing (the chess book turned into more of a philosophy book, which was fun, but not as productive as I'd hoped.) Then I got these little reminders that I do, in fact, really like chess. I didn't capitalise on it fully, but today, to follow the update, I completed my first 1200 puzzle. That's a very slow pace compared to last year (hence why I was too embarrassed to give an update.) But who cares how slow it is, if the number keeps going up! Thank you to a Nomad and to Nick for reminding me to have some fun. I honestly can't describe how helpful it's been.

[@XfactorXsup]

This series is just the best. This is the closest you can get to GM thought process and daniel does a wonderful job of eloquently explaining and deconstructing these complicated ideas better than anybody in the chess community. Love the series daniel, and can’t wait for more.

[@GolfTube]

absolutely agree

[@EvilFerret55]

I'll just add my own enjoyment of this series to the pile. Glad to see everyone else loving these as much as I do.

[@Koliflower]

Daniel is like, "It's okay to take as much time as you need, make sure that you fully explore every move and every line. As long as you think logically it doesn't matter how long it takes." and then comes up with an ingenious line in LITERALLY 10 SECONDS. Bruh Grandmasters are just built different.

[@wisebluehillwarrior6411]

You're the best. These videos are both entertaining and helpful, I watch every single one.

[@thundera05]

This is the greatest puzzle rush of all time

[@ilyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

of All Time*

[@obbyultra3806]

Cr1tikal type description

[@serdnasocram]

@Vesyal r/whoosh

[@Merione]

I didn't solve the last problem, but I DID see the idea of sacrificing the bishop to lure the black pawn into the pin. I just couldn't see how to go on from there. These videos are truly amazing!

[@nat-moody]

pedagogically speaking, this the best chess content on yt hands down. thanks danya

[@sinify6676]

WOOHOO WE LOVE DANIEL YEAH HACK YEAH

[@jackhatch4504]

facts

[@dhalomeme5268]

Fax machine?

[@DerangedAussieMan]

This is exactly the kind of video I love to watch. Solving DIFFICULT tactics puzzles SLOWLY whilst EXPLAINING the thought process behind it all. Looking forward to part 4!

[@ianfischerschilling9779]

I have been loving this series, it's very instructive! With your help I was able to beat my record and solve 45 problems in puzzle rush survival! Keep up with the good work!!

[@venom8064]

I am impressed keep going mate 😄

[@Hummabubba]

Wow, 45! Great job!

[@shmooper]

I've gone from 800 to 900 since I started watching this series. I really underestimated the patterns that puzzles help you learn and you breaking these puzzles down has really helped me understand chess more. Thank you Daniel you the best :)

[@DasUberCow]

The last puzzle was beautiful, i managed to find it with a board editor after trying to make a checkmate with the black-squared bishop on f2. Very inspiring series Daniel, keep them coming!

[@trialaccount2091]

This is awesome that we can all watch a GM explain us chess puzzles while eating cereal at 10:16 on a Tuesday night. Gotta love the internet. Also, thank you Daniel!

[@mattcassie5095]

I’m not somebody who ever makes comments on KZbin videos, but I couldn’t help myself. These videos are SO awesome. Thank you so much. As a beginning-to-intermediate player, these are invaluable. I love the explanation and it is helping me to become a better player. Good for you! Thanks for giving back to the community.

[@rayredondo8160]

Note: Most chess engines nowadays do check every move once, but quickly ignore bad-looking moves in search of better ones. The method most commonly used is "alpha-beta pruning", which keeps looking at a line until it is hopelessly unrecoverable or provably worse than another line. The reason they do this is to get more time to check deeper into more promising lines and only come back to the seemingly-dubious lines later. Otherwise, they'll spend too much time trying to see the benefit of hanging their queen instead of finding a forced mate. Great videos, you have earned my subscription!

[@codyheiner3636]

I'm sure you know this, but remember alpha beta pruning is mathematically equivalent to checking every move, so while it may not involve walking down every path in the game tree, it is actually still checking every move logically.

[@rayredondo8160]

@@codyheiner3636 While AB pruning is theoretically equivalent to a complete depth-first search, the reason some engines don't see good moves is because perfect pruning doesn't work well with chess. As you've likely seen, sometimes sacrificing a queen, rook, and more is actually the best move, but that gets pruned by many engines. So yes, you're completely right that in a game ideal for AB pruning, it'd work like checking every move. In reality, that doesn't happen though. Thanks for the comment though, great insight!

[@Wtahc]

@@codyheiner3636 lots of misinfo here guys

[@psuecondude]

Daniel just churns out gold. Clarity of thought is so impressive in his lessons and analyses.

[@aarosilvo66]

You have a true talent to explicitly state the inner workings of your mind. This kind of meta-analytic chess teaching is incredibly useful. Giving this blueprint of thought to the uninitiated is a treasure no expression of gratitude can match! Loving the series so far, keep it up Danny!

[@ShinMadero]

You have a serious gift for chess explanation. I am only a beginner, but you helped me engage with some pretty high level problems. You are very descriptive and methodical when it comes to seeing all the relevant aspects of a position. Thanks for this series.

[@matthewfurnish7597]

Love how you always share your thought process and explain everything, you’re the best bro don’t stop !

[@mattkim96]

32:15 I literally gasped as you explained the construction, because my first thought when you pointed out the knight was that it’s pinned (which is why I was trying to mate with the dark square bishop) but as soon as you pointed out the knight mate construction I saw how the dark square bishop isn’t needed and can be sacrificed to allow the knight freedom. I haven’t finished watching the solution but I’m guessing it’s Bc3+, bxc3 so the unpinned knight can travel to g2#, which is beautiful. Love how you were able to explain your “lightbulb” moment so well that we’re able to have lightbulb moments too haha.

[@VirenMohindra]

One of the most insightful tactic videos I’ve seen on KZbin. Thanks

[@mattkim96]

6:40 I didn’t know you could change the arrow colors! And to answer your question, the different color arrows definitely helped with visualization, at least for me, you’re really making full use of all the tools at your disposal to teach!

[@enzogorlomi5726]

It is honestly an art form how he breaks down these concepts

[@Zexhall]

Absolutely brilliant, thank you for the ongoing content Daniel

[@JR-jz4ts]

This is my favorite video of yours this far. Well done 👍

[@joep3857]

I solved #45 before you did it!! I’m so happy rn (:

[@eiichirooda4128]

You learn this from grandmaster turbofisto? Not surprise at all

[@eiichirooda4128]

@XLuthfi No jokes on you, im planning to do hiatus.

[@shashlik7959]

Surprised that joke is still alive

[@eiichirooda4128]

@Immanuel Kant bruh, im not milking it. All of these people read my manga online including you, stop whining. You probably never bought my merch either. you're the one that gets free entertainment.

[@hoshii.8533]

I wonder why people feel like they need to comment the same joke in every video Imagine farming for karma on youtube

[@craigferge4702]

imagine reading manga lmao freaks

[@thaddeevaldelievre895]

hahahahaha "give myself 15-20 seconds of thought" Oh man. If only that's how much time I would need to spend. Thanks for the video. You make this look way too easy. Woof.

[@dollystein]

Dude that last puzzle was amazing

[@ilyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

спасибо, Даня, очень интересно слушать ваши комментарии, действительно помогает лучше разобраться в своих мыслях во время игры

[@evanbelcher]

That last puzzle is something else. Really cool solution.

[@AnkhArcRod]

The last puzzle was awesome. Was able to get the answer but I am 100% sure that I will NEVER EVER see it in a real game and Daniel would probably see it every single time.

[@TruthAndReconciliation]

Thanks Daniel, loving the KZbin content. Your passion is contagious 👍🏻

[@Xplayer007]

The last puzzle in this section was the first one I couldn't solve. An unusual an beautiful checkmate indeed! I'm looking forward to even harder problems and learning from your thought process.

[@richarddelaney4803]

Thank you, Daniel. You are truly a great teacher. Very much appreciated.

[@marufhasan9365]

00:00 - 41 02:31 - 42 07:38 - 43 10:52 - 44 17:21 - 45 22:37 - 46

[@barker573]

Amazing!!!! Keep up the good work!!! Love your content!

[@hughp5646]

Very helpful to watch your thought process. Thanks!

[@queenmashupsgaming4259]

I managed to solve puzzle 46, mainly doing what you have suggested, but with one more factor of thinking. I realized that all the moves that try threatening checkmate with the bishop or with the other knights threat only one kind of move, and in this kind of position, black can promote every kind of piece, so likely he would be able to block a check, black has 2 rooks when the position is open, so he would be able to block a lot of squares, and lastly he can sacrifice his rooks with checks on my king. These realizations made me understand that there are only two ways this puzzle will be solved. 1, there is a square which is hidden from the rooks and all of black's other pieces, from which I will be able to deliver the checkmate. (after a careful observation, c3 for a bishop and c2 for a knight are the only options). 2, there is a move in this position that threatens 2 things or more at once, which is the kind of move that very often, 1 move isn't enough to stop. thinking about it, I realized that in such a position only checkmates can be a threat, so after another careful observation, only the moves nf4 (ng2# and nd3#) and ne3 (ng2# and nc2#) are optional. nf4 I quickly disqualified, because in order for nd3# the happen, the bishop will have to move somewhere which still keeps an eye over e2 and f1, and that square doesn't exist. So ne3 was the only option. Now, I was left with an a lot easier question to answer: how do you get the knight to e3? I break the pin and play it. How do you break the pin? I put a piece in between the knight and the king. what piece can you put on a square between the king and the knight? the bishop! with a check! it has to be captured (only move) and then black's own pawn will break the pin! so ne3 is now available! that was my thinking process, I hope it was helpful for you to see another perspective, and maybe danya can use some of my thinking to explain more methods... Hopefully I was helpful! thanks a lot for these series! As a 2050 FIDE, Im very excited about the next videos in this amazing series. Keep up the great work!

[@valec9186]

Amazing video Daniel! These videos are very helpful and intructive keep up the good work

[@aleksapopovic9704]

i have very found memory of thath second to last problem.it was daily problem in chess.com someo 3 months ago.me and my friend(who was just getting started with chess) were solving it some 15 minutes,decomposing it step by step, fell of joy when we solved is one of my best memories related to chess

[@GTOfishh]

Very informal series, great content! Never learned so much from chess videos.. Thx

[@YellowSpaceMarine]

you mean informative

[@amaarquadri]

That last puzzle was beautiful!

[@codyheiner3636]

I actually got the 30:00 puzzle, maybe lucky hehe! Really cool video sir!

[@FT029]

7:36 after Kg2 Rg1+ Kh3 Rxg3+, white's knight on c3 is hanging. So white isn't really a piece up, and it looks difficult for white to win there. I might be evaluating the position wrong though. Last puzzle is absolutely beautiful!

[@Neltharak]

This is an incredible series, super useful to learn problems and the game in general, thanks Daniel :)

[@NOT_NativeEN_Speaker]

Mr. Daniel, this is absolutely flawless job! Thx a million for it.

[@Coq7]

Incredibly good stuff thx for the share Daniel !!

[@evalaviniabucur1789]

Very instructive and I appreciate your content. I just think you got it before closing your eyes and saying "I got it" :) Your "I got it" moment didn't feel like really being glad for solving a problem, you just added some fake joy to it, 'cause the real joy you felt seconds ago when you really "got it". Closing your eyes and pretending you got it while not really looking at the board just made it more dramatic :P

[@michaelwhinnery164]

Please change your puzzle settings so the next puzzle doesn't pop up immediately after you solve it. So we students can view the final position. I love these videos...keep them coming and I'll keep watching.

[@YellowSpaceMarine]

What a great puzzle at the end. All the good stuff in one.

[@harshrajsinghrathore2812]

That last problem was beautiful and eye opening and how you handled it gave me incredible insights! Keep up these high quality videos Daniel we love it 😁

[@vincentaugustus2748]

Just in the short time you’ve been making these videos my chess.com rating went up 60 points. I really feel like this is the reason, puzzles always eluded, me but I am finding myself solving them and actually using tactics as opposed to stumbling into them if I’m lucky.

[@BencLin]

Great videos man. Appreciate your instructions

[@Furiac.]

Keep this series going LOVEE ITTT

[@alxgzz]

Crazy how much more confident daniel got making videos in the span of a year

[@michelefanelli8330]

Always helpful videos Danya :) Love from Italy

[@dregaus]

I love this series! My favorite yet!

[@spark5010]

I am so proud that I found the solution for the last puzzle... I paused my video when danya told he has to think

[@osteouk]

Brilliant series, thanks Daniel.

[@Alexander_rekaX]

The last one was a BEAST. I thought about King D2, which in the end leaves white with a pawn to promote, but this is much cleaner solution!

[@chrisk1180]

Thanks for this video Danya! My record literally went from 23 to 32 after I watched this

[@bazs7669]

Really instructive video to improve chess ability and creativity. Thanks Daniel!

[@mo_ar]

Daniel, thank you for a truly great video! I am wondering, what is your opinion on how the puzzle rating relates to actual player rating (i.e. on chess com) / player skill. I saw one article studying the correlation between the two and it seems to be very strong. If a persons works their way up to, say, being able to reliably solve 2300-ish rated puzzles (without a board, but possibly with serious thinking), is it reasonable to assume that calculation-wise, they would be comparable to a 2300-ish rated player? Or is it more like if one can almost instantly solve a 2300-ish rated puzzle, then they are 2300-ish rated, calculation-wise? Or, maybe, something else (e.g. puzzle rating is not representative of anything). I'd really appreciate your opinion.

[@shivampant]

Very helpful series. Thank you for the help:)

[@tincuptan]

Great video gm, really helpful please keep them coming.

[@garrysdeathye6301]

On puzzle 34:00 I thought of 1.bd3+ ke1 2.bd4... there is no way to stop mate anymore because the knight on h3 has been replaced by the bishop. If for example, rd7 trying to chase the bishop, bf2#, if g1q, nxg1... Nf3#

[@Siacourage]

Now this is real chess. Thanks Danya. Now I understand why I've never gotten past 40 (yet). I would never have thought of some of these moves.

[@Fafuchess]

Reeeally instructive and entertaining contend thank you Daniel!!

[@kamion2008]

love the video, thanks! on the sidenote, it's a bit quiet, had to crank up the volume and next video almost gave me a heart attack. if ya'd get some quality microphone it would improve your content even further. lots of love from central europe

[@freedomdiev3353]

Yeah I had to max my volume for this, even while wearing earphones. Would love some better quality audio in future videos.

[@ncurran29]

Especially since there are full volume ads every 30 seconds

[@TheMegadomino]

that puzzle 44 really did a number on me

[@jebbush3130]

that last one was tough seems like it should be rated higher than 2397

[@Kirisame312]

I just went for perpet on 46. I was happy with settling for a draw given the material difference... until I saw that beautiful checkmate. Very difficult sacrifice idea to find!

[@georgerotariu3221]

U are a magician at chess, teaching and entartaining. Great content, keep it up!

[@yellowsubmarinegirl1583]

I failed to solve my 46th problem in puzzle rush today after spending about 20 minutes looking at it. Nice to know even Danya has to think a bit at that level.

[@yellowsubmarinegirl1583]

Excited for the next 6 or 7 videos

[@macnolds4145]

The last one was insane. I could not figure out the key idea of sac'ng the bishop in order to block up that file. I think it's because I didn't expect the difficulty to ramp up so much, so I was only looking for more obvious lines.

[@TheTiltedOne]

Explain to me at 36:02 why black cant take a bad exchange with Rc7 x Nc4? White can take with b3 or Bd3...rc8 x Bd3 or b3. Sure black promotes, Kh3 x Qg1 while king moseys on over to f1? This would give a bad exchange however would allow the game to continue? Am i missing something? I feel like white forces themselves to lose very quick here when it could at least be dragged out further down the line to possibly see more mistakes

[@brianingle799]

This man took a early 2000’s sitcom approach to the amount of commercials placed in a 30 minute show

[@piotrzuchowski6884]

Hi, I truly appreciate this serie and love your way of teaching chess. You are a true blessing for such piece of 1000's crap as me. But could you please increse the volume in your videos? I have hard time hearing what you say on some devices... Thank you for your work!

[@mislav8141]

Love ur videos bro

[@Finallz]

The last one is so hard, I completely did not see the sequence before Danya explains

[@Barbakoa]

So does the rank on puzzle rush reflect the rank one might need to solve the puzzle or is it a separate ranking system showing how good of a run you did? Like if I see a puzzle ranked 2000 does that mean 2000 players should be able to solve it or is it a separate system entirely?

[@davidelbison]

that last puzzle was beautiful

[@A_Hard_Carry_OSRS]

I want to know the chess coach's face when he finds his student's black king on f1 at 23:25. Must have tried promoting it or something and then realized "Oh it's just the pawns that do that let me get my G pawn down the board".

[@TheMarksT]

Thanks Daniel! That was fun and educational!

[@seanrobinson2270]

Best chess teacher on KZbin

[@peterevans3310]

Good video, enjoyed it very much.

[@schrodingershat3240]

way better than last video!

[@krzysztofq7420]

7:33 Qxd7 Re1+ Kg2 Rg1+ Kh3 Rxg3+ hxg3 Qxc3 white is not up a piece.

[@BlackRockkk]

nicely spoted. but position should still be winning after Qxd6

[@hiimjosh868]

at 7:21 you say black can take the rook with check, after white recaptures can't black take the now undefended knight and make the position almost equal?

[@Noah-qx4kf]

the rook, defends the knight, doesn‘t it?

[@hiimjosh868]

@@Noah-qx4kf yeah but at the end of the puzzle the black trades rooks which removes the defender

[@rediz5557]

I've never been more proud of myself than pausing and solving puzzle 45 on my own 😭

[@joshrava4635]

The last problem was unbelievable

[@JustK4fun]

This is really great!

[@WetWading]

This is great. What happened to the rest of the series?

[@TreatSpin]

So proud of myself when I saw Bc3!! on number 46

[@MicroYeti]

At 7:25 you don’t really end the puzzle a piece up, after the calculation you’d started Rxg3 hxg3 there’s Qxc3 and white is up only a pawn. Fortunately after Qe8+ you can walk closer to the black king until a queen trade is forced to avoid checkmate, and your extra pawn is a winning endgame. Was a lot harder to see than you made out though, as Qxd7 is just a trade of bishop for Knight