A Puzzle That Tells If YOU Have The "Chess Talent"

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Do you have what it takes to become a strong chess player? Do you have the so-called chess talent? In this video lesson, GM Igor Smirnov shows you an interesting chess puzzle which was used by the former Soviet Union chess coaches to determine whether their students have the so-called chess talent or not.
This old Russian chess puzzle (also known as the "Soviet Test of Chess Talent") consists of a White queen and 4 Black pawns. The task for you, as White, is to capture all the Black pawns before or when they get promoted.
By the way, a question that you would probably have is "Is it true or a myth? Can chess puzzles determine if one has the so-called chess talent or not?" Well, watch the video lesson as GM Igor Smirnov has answered that as well with a nice story.
Feel free to pause the video, try to solve this puzzle, and see if you have the "chess talent".
▬▬▬▬▬▬
► Chapters
00:00 Chess Talent Test
00:12 Soviet/Russian Chess Puzzle
01:03 Can you solve this puzzle?
01:39 Is it true or a myth?
03:38 Which pawn should the queen capture?
06:25 If White plays Qxd3
08:04 Did you solve the puzzle?
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#IgorNation #ChessPuzzle #ChessTraining

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

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[@dala4251]

5:56 tou should move queen to a 4 black is forced to play and any move they do u get a pawn and stop them from getting a queen

[@Darthnova-rd9nk]

I solved it as soon as your video section said it was a queen. I thought it was a king for most of the video.

[@Coach_Cecil]

@@dala4251 Qa4, a1(Q), Qxa1, c7

[@dala4251]

@@Coach_Cecil not sure what u mean

[@danielsvoboda7351]

I this legit?

[@blueash7077]

For the longest time I was trying to figure this puzzle and I went through every possible move because when he said our goal was to not let a pawn promote I thought he meant we lost if a pawn promoted at all even if we could capture it immediately afterwards.

[@flixelgato1288]

Exactly, I was really curious to see what genius move I hadn’t seen, and got totally disappointed.

[@MonarchsFactory]

Same, I thought I was losing my mind when he was explaining the solution

[@naelcharvet9928]

If u think a bit, promoting a mon here without the queen able to get them is impossible, since no matter which pon u take black is able to push a pon that is protected so next move u promote it...just some logical reasoning

[@hacker4chn841]

I figured he misspoke because the concern here is black getting equal material to white. This was a fun puzzle.

[@bolson42]

That’s exactly what i thought too. Should’ve been more clear about that.

[@GreenSharder]

The feeling of solving a difficult chess puzzle by calculating the lines and then getting told you calculated right is unbeatable.

[@ionknow253]

Was pretty simple tbh

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Congratulations!

[@Wilkins325]

@@ionknow253 Are you a GM?

[@ionknow253]

@@Wilkins325 nah 😂😂

[@Jack_Westbrook]

Yeah it does feel good except for the fact that my feeling of victory was slightly nullified by the fact that some 12 year olds solve it about 10 times quicker than me😂

[@MidwestJimin]

I’m honestly so happy I was able to quickly figure this puzzle out without moving the pieces. The visualization is the hardest part for me. Props to all those masters out there who have good board visualization and can play blindfolded.

[@z0uLess]

I am good with visualization, but not in conjunction with the language that is needed to convey things while blindfolded, which is why I dont get why leople learn names for things ... they are just there ... I can point to them on a map

[@X74gaming47]

Yeah same I'm also very good at visualization and calculating the next few moves, that's how I started beating my father in chess, who kept beating me for 6 years before I finally started winning I struggled a bit and was confused, but ultimately managed to figure out the puzzle, my solution is: Queen takes d3 if pawn goes c2, Queen goes c3 then best move I believe for black is pawn a2, in that case Queen goes b2 now the only legal move Black has is to promote one of its pawns Whichever promotes, dies; it will be the same result regardless of which one promotes, let's take c1 for example. Then Queen captures c1 If Black plays a1, again capture, if it plays b2, queen takes and now the final pawn remains who will get killed even if it promotes there are other variations as well: Queen takes d3 Pawn goes b2 Queen goes b1 Now one of the pawns has to move, whichever moves dies, let's say pawn goes c2 Queen captures on c2 Pawn goes a2 Queen captures b2 Now the a2 pawn is dead even if it promotes Another variation: Queen takes d3 Pawn goes a2 Queen takes on c3(It guards the promotion square of a1) if pawn goes a1, queen takes a1 if pawn goes b2, queen takes b2 in both those variations, in the end there will be only one pawn left with no protection and his fate being death Also just to avoid any confusions: I've used the word pawn for all a b c d files Also whatever I typed above is my calculation done without having a chessboard beside me, and the video paused at the timestamp 0:00(I saw puzzle in thumbnail so paused instantly upon clicking, to solve on my own) Edit: Just saw the video after writing this comment and glad to find out I was rightr

[@Trixex]

Trying to visualize the board made me realize I have aphantasia

[@johnp7158]

they only play blindfolded because theyve played the moves 10000x for each opening

[@mbharatm]

Happy to say that I managed to solve this within a minute. I've always considered myself very poor at chess, but learning while playing with my son is giving me interest and slowly building my confidence. Chess is slowly becoming my go to for fun!

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Nice work! Excellent

[@bradburns491]

Same saw it almost instantly.

[@rainofkittens]

Good on ya. My father taught me to play at 7 and stopped playing chess with me when I was about 10. By the time I was 13, I didn't have a single friend or family member who would willingly play me in chess anymore. Kind of took all the fun and joy out of it for me. The internet wasn't as polished back then as it is now, so I never saw online play as an option. I could beat all the Highest level computer programs I had access to but they all felt so stale and repetitive so it wasn't the same. Now I'm 27 and still wonder to this day how far I could have actually gone if I had genuine experts to play against who could have helped me develop into a better player.

[@sharpvidtube]

It didn't take me long to get the wrong answer, that sums up my chess abilities😂

[@lonewolf5238]

*Great* comment.

[@HQ4575]

But it was fast wasn't it?

[@ShinYamiZakura]

@@HQ4575 If you can blunder it slowly, you can blunder it quickly!

[@h3lblad3]

Man, I went into this calculating while thinking that was a king rather than a queen. I think that's proof that, after 300 games so far, I still have no talent.

[@baguette3975]

@@ShinYamiZakura twosetter spotted

[@TonkatsuChickenTJ]

A theoretical view on the puzzle: Keep the pieces on the squares that the queen can control at the same time. Even if it means that the pawns are connected, the queen wins.

[@user-rizzwan]

Pretty much what i did

[@VinzentZeppelin]

Qxd3 was the first line I considered, because of the simple but important matter that it reduces the total board area the Queen has to defend--capturing d3 immediately leaves a 3x3 area (from a1 to c3), whereas capturing the pawn at b3 leaves two diagonals open, and therefore requires an extra move to cover properly

[@AndrewH1994]

i think the biggest thing for me was realizing that capturing b3, and the split passed pawns was death, so capturing ok d3 had to be the right move, from there it was about discarding moves that don’t work, but I did eventually figure out all of the variations like you did with Qxd3 to find the answer. but it took me 5 minutes

[@user-bs1zg9nk3g]

The puzzle is simple, it doesn't involve any complex and hard to find ideas, but I think it's really good for measuring ability to calculate effectively, witch is a big part of player's strength

[@YorkyPoo_UAV]

Aside from the fact that he states white's task is to capture whites pawns 1x1. A lot of people thought promotion lost the puzzle.

[@ivanx4337]

Yeah this was litearly a 1 second puzzle xD

[@Zobokolobozo]

For me less then 5 min but also half asleep with low chess rating and lack of general knowledge. But u had to capture with first move and since you had to make ur opponent step into the queen becouse capturing would always lead to either a defended piece promoting or the queen moving away from one square to defend the next. With my low rating i think i did alright.

[@randomguy6909]

For me it took about 5-9 minutes mainly because I thought he meant to not one pawn promote or else I lost so I just kept looking and couldn’t find anything

[@pulseseal4182]

@Dood123 you may have gotten lucky and guessed within a second or seen this position before but from scratch there is literally no way you calculated every possible position in less than a second, get over yourself.

[@nathankeel6667]

I saw QxD3 as seemingly the best move vary quickly but it took a 2-3minutes to double check everything to make sure it worked with every possible move order. Also I see alot of people say they did it in a couple seconds unless you are a titialed playier or have vary good patern your not seeing all possible pawn moves after your queen move in under like minute

[@HungryOwlbear]

You can see it in a few seconds because the other move doesn’t work.

[@nathankeel6667]

@@HungryOwlbear yes but what he means by solving it knowing for fact that it works no matter what moves they make sure in a blitz game you would just play it but in a classical game you would want to sit and calculate it to know it works

[@mole_chance_people]

It should be possible to see it after the first move if you have enough experience and recognize the pattern

[@maapauu4282]

I saw it quickly but had to check for a while also

[@kaps_k8742]

im literally 700ish elo and i figured it out in like 1min 30s, to the point where i knew that it would definitely work

[@Humanlvl]

i cant find the original video i watched but you helped me understand chess a little better. It was wild, i have both forgotten more and learned more about chess just from that video two weeks ago than i can explain. i never cared about rating or anything before but ive been looking at stats more for some reason since watching. Its only been a 200 pt rise and i barely know what i have done to get there. I also do puzzles and game reviews as you suggest, im not sure how but im getting better. its pretty cool. thank you.

[@ashishtiwari2307]

the first puzzle - idk how fast i did it maybe 5 min or less but this puzzle had me for those 5 mins 1.)Qxd3, b2, Qb1, no good moves 2.) Qxd3, c2, Qc3,a2, Qb2, no good moves 3.) Qxd3, a2,Qxc3,no good moves

[@JVEMusic37]

This was a lot easier than I expected. The first thing I thought was that the queen should capture the pawn on the right.

[@lank1889]

Me too…

[@geniegb]

Or maybe it was a lucky guess. Usually two pawn islands is worse than one

[@archigan1]

Me too, then you run through all pawn moves and you further reassure yourself that you guessed right,, I’m only 950 ELO

[@SyedAli-gl7jq]

@@lank1889 what is your iq mine is 132+ I solved it without any difficulty is it true that you don't need a 160 plus iq to become a grandmaster in chess

[@lank1889]

@@SyedAli-gl7jq idk man. a random iq test on the internet said im 138 but i dont believe it. im also not "good" at chess. i dont know any grandmasters personally either or their iqs so ye

[@JohnnyV83]

Got it reasonably quick. Felt satisfying. As for the apparently common misunderstanding of a fail-state, I worked out that at least 1 would be promoted but immediately captured so I just rolled with it.

[@christmastv6058]

Both lines can work he's an idiot

[@joetroy2904]

Same lol

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Congrats!

[@umangsheel7819]

also same

[@lifeamazing9203]

This puzzle is not really hard. But intresting. You will need some little calculation skill for 3 moves ahead.

[@Poppy_AndFriends]

So I didn't pass but it gave me some insight on what's holding me back. I dismissed my own ideas because I expected counter-play, and was so sure there would be counter-play no matter what I did that I interpreted "no counter-play in sight" as "no counter-play that I am able to see, but is still there." I've only played about 3 chess games in my adult life so maybe that's a factor. Either way, this was really nice to watch.

[@ExplosiveBrohoof]

Took me a couple minutes but I think I got it. I assume white can allow black to promote if the piece gets captured immediately upon promotion. My solution starts with 1. Qxd3. If 1...a2, 2. Qxc3 guards a1 and prevents promotion. If 1...b2, then 2. Qb1, a2 3. Qxa2, and the b pawn can't safely promote. 2...c2 is the same story with Qxc2. If 1...c2, then 2. Qc3. The trickiest continuation is 2...a2, to which the response is 3. Qb2, and black is in Zugzwang. Hope I'm right...

[@russeshe001]

Ah, I see where I was getting confused. I misunderstood the failure condition and thought that allowing any pawn to promote was a failstate, so until near the end of your explanation I thought you'd made a mistake somehow but didn't want to be too assured of that, incase there was some other rule I was missing. It makes a lot more sense after seeing that the only condition was preventing your queen from being taken though, and it makes me feel a little better knowing I wasn't quite as oblivious as I thought.

[@TomiTheSmhGuy]

Yes

[@sergioaguis]

No, you’re bad

[@dosebuss]

if youve ever played chess you would obviously know that was not. the case

[@mecha-streisand676]

Well they’re completely right though, at no point did he clarify. He said white isn’t allowed to let a black pawn queen. Therefore the puzzle becomes really complicated.

[@sergioaguis]

@@mecha-streisand676 It´s not about clarifyng anything, its common sense. If it was the case, you don't need over analyze to come to a concluson. You just need 1 second to notice that if black move twice the same pawn the puzzle would just become STUPID because its impossible and you will lose everytime in the second move regardes what you do. So its not complicated, its a simple puzzle that need common sense, if you don't have it no coach will ever train you to become a GM. Its the case for all of us most likely so take the L. Damn.

[@richardbarbaros5868]

I assumed the goal was to not let them promote at all, as opposed to letting them promote to be immediately taken. Needless to say I was scratching my head for some time lol

[@redgaarden8101]

Yeah. There were some puzzles in chess school that made me think like that. There was an example of how do you get check mate in two and i couldnt do it. Teacher just moved the black pieces to help white mate the king. Never considered to play sub optimally for my opponent.

[@thecousindeci1103]

@@redgaarden8101 That's weird as he'll usually you'll assume your opponent plays the best or most tricky move.

[@redgaarden8101]

@@thecousindeci1103 think it was more to highlight that some tasks are impossible to achieve if youre playing against competent people.

[@goodvibez598]

Yeah they weren't supposed to be promoted....because you eating them before they are promoted. They reached the promotion line...and that's it. But I get what you meant.

[@SpecterNeverSpectator]

@@goodvibez598 I mean yeah, but how is some chess newbie supposed to know that, he says they promote when they move twice down, that is literally telling you if ONE piece moves TWICE downwards you lose, it doesn't say multiple have to do so or that even after moving twice you wouldn't lose if you eat it after, after moving twice you must be unable to eat it to lose, is not just moving twice.

[@gky7170]

I enjoy Smirnov's accessible approach to this fascinating game! He is an affable and efficient teacher and I would like to play him in person!

[@ebashford5334]

I didn't calculate everything but relied a little on intuition once I calculated a couple of variations where it worked. Took me about a minute. Reminds me of maths tests where I would intuit the answer without completing all the calculations and I'd get the "show ALL of your work" remark from the teacher.

[@July-gj1st]

The middle pawn one leads to a configuration where the queen won’t be able to immediately capture a prompting pawn. Whereas the diagonal one doesn’t, you can always position yourself in a way that after a pawn promotes you can immediately capture it without losing the queen.

[@kja6336]

if you capture b3 you can capture all. pawn a2 then qc3, if you move pawn a1 queen captures both, if they move pawn d2 then you move queen a1, which forces d1 then you capture both. similar idea with the other pawns moving forward. If you capture d3, pawn c2 wins

[@Ace_Amaj]

@@kja6336 no. Queen B3, pawn a2, you capture pawn a2, pawn c2 or D2, doesn't matter. U can't capture from a2. U get in row 1, either pawn can promote and will be supported.

[@sbbillusionist]

@@Ace_Amaj why do you want to capture pawn a2. Capture pawn c3

[@nipahhhhh]

@@kja6336Pawn D2 after first move, and you're done for...

[@rheyn8356]

qc3 after c2 should be able to win no? If they promote you just capture, if they move b2 you capture qc2, if they move a2 you move qb2 and capture whichever promotes

[@kallemon]

I absolutely DON'T have a chess talent, but I solved it a couple of seconds. However, he says that the puzzle is to STOP the pawn from upgrading, so iot seemed impossible to stop all 4 pawns from reaching the edge. But I very quickly figured out how to take every pawn and every "upgrade". Super simple puzzle if you get the CORRECT INSTRUCTIONS.

[@mikegamerguy4776]

I mean he was pretty clear you are playing for a win. No reason at all to assume anything other than you should take all their pieces. Overthinking is just as big of a trap as anything ,I guess.

[@kallemon]

@@mikegamerguy4776 He was pretty damn clear that you should stop the pawns from upgrading. If it upgrades, you haven't stoped it.

[@meanmutton]

The original explanation was that white needed to prevent promotion but then in the solutions they included solutions where black was promoted. Those were failures according to the rules set at the beginning.

[@neilroques2442]

Qxd3 - If black advances a then we take c3, covering a1 and the game is ours - If black advances b then we move to b1, forcing a or c to move. Whichever does we take, still covering b1, and the game is ours. - If black advances c then Q-c3. + If black advances b or c we take c, and the game is ours. + If black advances a then Q-b2. Black must advance a or c (as b is blocked). Whichever he does, we take, covering the other. The game is ours.

[@tomassousa3104]

Thank you so much for this, I kept getting this position every single game and didn’t know what to do. Now I do! Thank you!

[@sohump7904]

I know, right? I always get this position and it’s very annoying in game!

[@maxxh]

But I still don't know how to checkmate in this position

[@maxxh]

Actually it might help to know this, since similar positions with kings placed far away and distracted by other pawns might actually come up.

[@oenrn]

2010 called, they want their joke back.

[@Otzkar]

@@maxxh it's kinda hard considering there are no kings

[@yanuarsumarlan]

I had only two choices either to take b3 or d3. quickly in a few seconds I see that keeping the hordes of pawns in three adjacent files would be easier for the queen to handle than to split the horde into two groups (a-pawn and c- and d-pawns). 1. Qxd3 and every pawn move of black wouldn't work for black. Variation A: 1. ... a2 2. Qxc3 and all black squares are guarded. Variation B: 1. ... b2 2. Qb1 and all light squares are blocked. Variation C: 1. ... c2 2. Qc3 to stop c-pawn. The only good move for black is 2. ... b2. Then Queen take c-pawn and no more pawn move is possible without Queen watching it.

[@master_ace]

Bad rules explanation - i thought the challange failed and ended as soon as a black pawn got promoted, but apparenlty you can keep moving after that. Specifically, you stated at 0:40 that "black's task... to promote one of their pawns" and at 0:59 that "white's task is to stop that and to capture all black's pawns". This emplies that a black pawn being promoted is a failure condition, so in a situation such as 6:39, after the queen takes the pawn at c3, black moves pawn from a2 to a1, promoting it and ending the challange. Similarly at 7:03 - pawn a2 to a1 ends the challange in victory for black, given the conditions you described at the start.

[@MC-rs5tx]

You certainly have what it takes to teach people. I watched your video on the London system opening and I loved it… Thank you for sharing your talent and passion for chess! 🤩☺

[@Triggernyar]

Heeeeyyy I did it! My logic was a bit different, but the answer was essentially the same. My logic was "It's not so much blocking them from promoting, it's blocking them from having the advantage of promotion." After the first move, there were enough safe spaces for queen to take without even taking a pawn that would punish a promotion attempt, as well as punish any sort of guard or multiple advance.

[@j.lahtinen7525]

I solved it in about three minutes. Figured out what the first right move must be pretty quickly (on account of the other capture not working), but spent some time working out all the variations. This was an interesting morning brain workout! 😊👍

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Well done!

[@kitkatisveryfat4086]

I managed in 5 minutes but it's currently 2:30 am

[@wobushini709]

Also 3-4 minutes

[@linow3421]

Same

[@viswajithKrishna]

Q into d3

[@SixPieceSuits]

I thought that was the King, so I went about it all wrong to start. Then I didn't know the pawns get upgraded if they reach the other side, so I had again solved off of faulty premises. Once I understood the rules, it seemed fairly straight forward.

[@AzureKyle]

I thought it was the King too, so I was wracking my brain to find a move that wouldn't put me in check, but also stop and capture the pawns before they were promoted.

[@hariman7727]

It's a really shitty explanation for the puzzle. I thought we were playing as 4 pawns against the King.

[@vyor8837]

But the piece is clearly a queen and... Why wouldn't the pawns promote? That's a basic mechanic.

[@SixPieceSuits]

@@vyor8837 I've only played one game of chess my whole life.

[@vyor8837]

@@SixPieceSuits then why try to solve a puzzle involving chess?

[@kurozawa6]

1. Qxd3 c2 (...b2 2. Qb1 then take all, ...a2 2. Qxc3) 2. Qc3 a2 (...b2 2. Qxc2) 3. Qb2.

[@Ivaneus27]

Took a while but I think I have the solution: You must attack the outside pawn (QxD3) first, if you attack inside Black will promote because you cannot get in position to threaten all pieces simultanously. Depending on which pawn Black then moves you then mop up the board in a total of 4 moves if they move the A pawn, 5 for the B pawn, and 6 for the C pawn.

[@laxrox5264]

That's what I got as well

[@Fiberglass_Insulation]

Same

[@Mayanksingh-ij4yl]

1:15 1.Qxd3 2.if a2 then Qxc3, if b2 then Qb1 and if c2 then Qc3. Rest of the moves can be followed by anyone. It took maybe around 3 minutes, was little confused between Qxb3 and Qxd3.

[@wa1ufo]

Excellent Boris and thanks!

[@felixmerz6229]

My intuition told me to take on d3 immediately, took me a couple seconds to logically justify it by realizing there is a "box" where the queen can control every necessary square. But to calculate through all possible iterations to be sure took me about two minutes, not least because I included all the disregarded lines just to make sure I didn't hope my way into the solution. Great puzzle.

[@donbello1039]

I'm happy I found the solution w/o moving pieces on the board. Great video GM Smirnov

[@ttsookoo]

Same tbh

[@Night_Hawk_475]

Took under a minute, ~45-50 seconds. I never checked B3 at all because D3 ended up working and was a guaranteed win. There's a symmetry that comes up in some of the endings for each of the three optional responses, so you don't have to check each of them all the way down. If B3 had been correct or if D3 hadn't been what I chose to start with, then it probably would've taken closer to two minutes, that was maybe a bit lucky?

[@gela-sj7uk]

For me about 15 sec

[@z0uLess]

My intuition went with taking the D pawn within only seconds, but when I started calculating I figured I could take the B pawn and then go back to the starting position on the next move, so thats what I did after maybe 2-3 minutes. Somehow, I concluded in my mind that no pawn could promote if the queen was on the first row. Now, the real question is if I am fooling myself with hindsight bias, but most of the time in chess I just go to my first idea after thinking for some minutes because I dont trust my rationalizations.

[@jeffreystenquist]

Qd3-Pc2 Qd2 will also lead to a win. If they push the pawn on a3 then Qc1 stops the pawns. If they push the pawn on b3 then Qc2 puts white in position to finish them. Pushing pawn c1 leads to Qc1 and an eventual victory for white.

[@maxilol2345]

rumor has it that kasparov managed to get 4 queens with the white pieces while doing this puzzle

[@magnusmarvik5540]

After queen takes either B3 or D3, I was struggling a lot to see what white could do after C2, completely missing Qc3. I was only able to eliminate taking on B2 because after C2, Qxa3, D2 you have to sacrifice the queen. After taking on D3 instead of A3 in the same variation, you can't stop promotion, and it even protects A3 in the end. Same would happen if Qxd3, C2, Qxb3, you can't stop promotion, and A3 is protected. Very nice puzzle

[@jerishjohnvelarde8115]

My reply was Qd2. Still works

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

@@jerishjohnvelarde8115 Indeed, this wins as well.

[@SandSeven]

@@jerishjohnvelarde8115 Thank you good sir! I came to the comment section to make sure I wasn't missing something since the solution I found was playing Qd2 on the 2nd move. Turns out they both win in 6 moves, so weeeeeee!!! I actually solved it.

[@SandSeven]

@Edgars Absolutely click bait title considering I solved it. I have no chess talent lol

[@Tooterbooter]

Paused the video before watching. My guess is Qxd3 1.) If A pawn pushes, Qxc3 Capture whichever piece moves next twice and win 2.) If B pawn pushes, Qb1 to block, they have to push A or C pawn, Queen takes whichever pawn moves next, then capture B, then take the last piece 3.) If C pawn pushes, Qc3 3.1) If A pushes, Qb2 to block the protecting pawn and fork the back line. A or C has to push, and for the next 3 turns queen captures whichever piece moves and wins. 3.2) If B pushes, Qxc2, Qxb, Qxa, win. 3.3) If C pushes, Qxc1, block whichever pawn pushes next, then capture in any order and win.

[@Tooterbooter]

Eyyyy got it My elo is 850

[@icy4739]

*Before knowing the answer* My guess is: Qxd3 •After c2, Qc3 >Prevents c pawn to promote and guards the b2 square. If b2, Qxc2. If a2, Qb2 •After b2, Qb1 >Stops the b pawn, and threatens a2 and c2. •After a2, Qxc3 >Prevents the a pawn from promoting, and controls the b2 square. Dunno if it's right, I'm 400 ELO and fucking dumb in chess, lol

[@icy4739]

Yay, I was right, finally UwU

[@Lillith.]

I misunderstood the assignment at first, so thought it was impossible. Capturing right after promoting was the best I could do. Still got the answer by figuring out straight ahead was worse. First instinct was corner, but straight ahead gives the illusion of control.

[@trentonrothan9724]

I see Qxd3. My calculations for this include pushing each pawn. If c2, I answer Qc3. If b2, I answer Qb1 with zugzwang If a2, I answer Qxc3, covering the a1 square. I hope I'm not missing anything because this is a very important puzzle.

[@trentonrothan9724]

I calculated Qxb3, but after c2 black will further support the promotion with d2.

[@noobmasteryoyo5136]

Same calculations except I saw Qc4 after c2, which also seems to work? Didn’t see anyone else mentioning it

[@painyt4878]

queen takes pawn b3 c3 pawn push queen to c4 if a3 pawn push, take if d3 pawn push, take c3 pawn, block paths then take a promoted pawn

[@BlueOutline]

Thank you, I've had this position before this really helped

[@adithyaps3606]

I got it in about 5 minutes The hint is simple make sure the queen can always see all the pawns

[@daleleisenring4275]

Adithya P S - Exactly. I knew it had to be starting with the d pawn. Otherwise the Q cannot surveil all possible move squares. See my other comment.

[@DrZygote214]

I partially solved it. I could calculate that Qxb3 is losing if black plays perfectly. I tried to calculate Qxd3 and saw it appeared to be winning in several variations, but halfway thru your talk i realized i missed one, then you showed a 4th variation i also missed but im pretty sure i would play Qxd3 in a game and then figure out the rest as he moves. Btw it is cool that test puzzles do not have kings on the board. That way ppl can't cheat with an engine lol.

[@spitalhelles3380]

I found a way to place the kings inside a cage of pawns 😂

[@ManWhoKnewTooLittle]

I am new to chess, taking D3 was my first thougt and took me half a minute to calculate the moves. I am glad I found you chanel.

[@mystery5906]

okay, so, looking at the board, queen can move to a total of 12 different spaces; all around her (5), capturing a pawn ahead or diagonally (2), or moving far to the right (5). lets also number the pawns; from the left, we have pawns 1, 2, 3, and 4. moving one space towards the enemy pawns is an automatic loss, so those three moves are out. capturing pawn 2 lets black move pawn 3 forward one space, at which point we have lost: if we capture it, pawn 4 will take the queen, and if we instead capture pawn 1 or 4, pawn 3 will promote and we will lose. so, this move looks like a dead end. taking pawn 4 seems to have a similar problem; black can advance pawn 3, and we can either capture it, letting pawn 2 capture our queen, or capture pawn 2, letting pawn 3 promote. so, maybe the solution is to move to the sides? if we move one space left, black can advance pawn 1, which we cant capture because of pawn 2 behind it, forcing us to then either move back to the sides or take pawn 3 diagonally... taking pawn 3 would allow us to capture either pawn 2 or 4 if they try to advance, or pawn 1 if it tries to promote. however, black could advance pawn 4, forcing us to take it in fear of it promoting, which leaves pawn 1 free to promote. moving the queen horizontally after already moving it one space left seems redundant. the problem seems to repeat itself if we choose to move one or two spaces to the right on our first move; wherever we move, black can advance a pawn directly in front of us, and we cannot capture it. maybe moving three spaces right would do something? somehow? if black advances pawn 1 or 2, we could capture pawn 3, but advancing pawn 3 or 4 would leave us unable to capture anything. supposing they advance pawn 4, we could move three spaces back to the left, and then they couldnt promote pawn 4 without being captured. but advancing pawn 3 again leaves us unable to do anything, because pawn 2 threatens us with capture if we take 3. it seems like black always has a move that will force us to move out of the way of a pawn in fear of getting captured after we take it, which allows more pawns to advance until theyre all ready to promote, at which point the process repeats itself. if our queen could jump like a knight, i think this would be easy, but without that, i dont see how its possible. i dont have the chess talent :(

[@darrylkassle361]

This is certainly one of the best channels for learning chess. Really this channel should have a million subs as good as Gotham chess instruction wise if not as entertaining. Smirnov really gets to the core the heart of what to do and what to learn to improve

[@Etherglide]

Gotham chess is awful.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Thanks! Darryl.

[@ndog0639]

@@Etherglide why

[@sneakyjohn5847]

I played chess a lot when I was younger from 6 to 16. Now im 28 playing casualy online, I drift around 1800 elo on Lichess. It took me 2 min 30 sec to solve. I immiediately look for capturing one of the pawns but i started from analyzing capture on B3 cause I thought spliting pawns into 2 groups will be surely better than leaving them in 1 what usually happens in endgames but this turned to be the other way around, unluko for me :(

[@pero13258]

I am 1100 online, play for fun aswell, took me 5-10min WITH a board though

[@florianberlin6319]

Haha are we the same person?

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

It's a good result anyway!

[@JocquesThrills]

Qxd3 - b2 - Qb1 c2 - Qxc2 - a2 - Qxb2 - a1 - Qxa1? or Qxd3 - a2 - Qxc3 and then either a1 or b2 will just lead to you eating whichever one without consequences... There's also Qxd3 - c2 - Qd2 - a2 -Qc1 - b2 - Qxb2 and then you can just take whichever one goes first (within 30 sec to solve but 2 minutes to write the moves out cause I'm not familiar with the board xD) - Edit, completely missed Qc3 if pawn goes c2

[@kaushikdr]

Qxd3 b2 Qb1 (if there was a king, you would move it here instead) a2 Qxa2 c2 Qxc2

[@frankbeerbaum5593]

I managed it, at first I thought Qx3 would work, but I realized the problem, calculated the other line (Qxd3) and did not find a way for black‘s pawns not to be captured.

[@flixelgato1288]

Oh wow. This problem isn’t that hard, I guess the time is the determining factor. I spent ages checking every possible option and became convinced there was no solution because I assumed that if black could push a pawn and promote it, you lose, even if that square was guarded and you’ll immediately take the promoted pawn.

[@remilebrouster1027]

I think I solved it with a needlessly complicated approach after 1. Qd3 a2, by moving the queen far away : 1. Qd3 a2 2. Qa6 c2 3. Qa3 Unless my sequence is wrong of course

[@jonfaughn9575]

I can happily say I got it within maybe 15 seconds or so. Though my pawn capture sequence was slightly different. My immediate thought was Qxd3. Black responds with a3-a2. White responds Qxc3. Black responds by promoting the pawn from a2-a1. White responds with Qxa1. Black has no other option but to push the pawn from b3-b2 and white takes the last pawn and wins. I was surprisingly happy with how quickly I got it. After your setup, I thought, "Boy I'll never figure this out." Lol

[@bubbageee]

That is one of three lines.

[@GEM4sta]

@@bubbageee And the easiest one to deal with!

[@stevenrenfro5064]

This is definitely for young players, because even though I started late in life and am not rated very high, I've been playing chess for long enough that this was a pretty easy puzzle for me to solve. I'm not bragging I swear 😂, I've just noticed that kids learn new things quickly, but usually only on a surface level, while older people learn new things slower but at a deeper level. That is why prodigies are a big deal, because it is rare for a young person to understand things on that deeper level. I know this is a random ramble, but I like to put these kinds of thoughts out into the world, and anyone who disagrees is welcome to give me their perspective.

[@gijsdevisser4226]

I checked all my mail, read every book i have in my home about chess but i can’t seem to find out who asked..

[@favoriteipod4210]

@@gijsdevisser4226 look harder next time

[@Hellcat-to3yh]

@@gijsdevisser4226 I asked. Should’ve been the first envelope in your mailbox.

[@sarcasticdragon8673]

@@gijsdevisser4226 what a strange reply on a chess video

[@brunorodriguez1671]

Bro you look 19 wym

[@rppakpak8194]

It is a very good puzzle, thank you. I think it was inspired by a very old puzzle, which I saw in a book called "Шахматы до Стейница". The puzzle was created by Pietro Carrera, an italian maestro, in 1617. It was an endgame puzzle with 3 pawns and a king, that had to stop them from promotion and make a draw by stalemate.

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

[@Chesswalk570]

​@@GMIgorSmirnov I get it after thinking 5-6 min

[@pivo_jpeg]

@@GMIgorSmirnov друг, слава Україні!!

[@AbouTaim-Lille]

7:40 at this point you may not be able to take the pawns coz there is no zugzwang rule as the black can move his king . (Supposing that both kings are too far away). But the white can also move his king and the black king can't support the 2 pawns at c2 and B3 together. And the white king can come to support the b1 square or take the b3 pawn.

[@bvbvf]

I am at 1:22 Minutes in the video right now. I paused to try to solve it and I have figured one way out, however I don't know if it counts since 1 of the pawns has to promote to do it. Moves I came up with: Queen=Q; Pawn=P1-P4 (Numbered left to right) Q: Moves from B1 to B3 (takes P2) P3: Moves from C3 to C2 Q: Moves from B3 to A3 (takes P1) P3: Moves from C2 to C1 (Promotes to a Queen) Q: Moves from A3 to C1 (takes enemy Queen) P4: Moves from D3 to D2 Q: Moves from C1 to D2 (takes P4) Queen wins. Took me ~10 Minutes to figure out, since I don't know if promotion is allowed or not. I'll watch the rest of the video now and will see if I was correct. EDIT: Well apparently it's Q to D3 to win, but with those moves one of the Pawns will still promote, so I guess promotion is allowed? And that means my way of solving works too, right?

[@teffgq4362]

In your scenario, instead of P3 moving from C2 to C1, P4 could've moved from D3 to D2 which makes a promotion inevitable.

[@danser_theplayer01]

I solved it in 10 seconds. And I'm sure I'm not a chess prodigy, this puzzle is kinda weak.

[@crucifiedthief]

I failed. My "solution" was that the position was lost. I needed the first move or two to see the rest of the solution.

[@rayen1722]

Same here

[@stefansavic9833]

That means you are not talented for chess…go play baseball, snooker or something like that 😁

[@luka2549]

@@stefansavic9833 i didn't see it either and im 1700

[@stefansavic9833]

@@luka2549 You can play poker with that rating 😎😁

[@luka2549]

@@stefansavic9833 koj si ti rating?

[@NatchathiraOviya]

The satisfaction I felt after finding the solution within 40 seconds made me very happy. But the hardest part is I'm 42.😁

[@damirfux2265]

Funny but true, I've found the solution within a minute, but I'm also 43.

[@NatchathiraOviya]

@@damirfux2265 ☺🙌

[@Goremachine]

I thought the solution required that a pawn not be promoted in any scenario whatsoever, even if your queen could safely take it the next turn. Glad to find out this is impossible.

[@genostellar]

Yeah, I got it. It becomes obvious once you work through each scenario and find that it's tougher to stop Black when you attack the B3 pawn.

[@dalfgan817]

My intuition said after about 30 seconds thinking that eating the D pawn is best option but I couldnt figure out all of the variations for future moves. The last variation that you showed with black moving C pawn forward after white opening was the one I couldnt figure out even without time limit.

[@Alekhine01]

I did it in about 20 seconds, but I have done a lot of pawn studies and such and played for many years. So I understood without thinking about blockades of triangular configurations if pawns. I know I have weak points in other areas.

[@Enruler]

Figured it out with the last variance you showed. Took me about a minute lol

[@holtkids2665]

After you take on d3, you could also move the queen to d2 after they play c2 to defend all other pawn moves

[@donkbonktj5773]

@Prierè Tsumerai Ame Both Qc3 and Qd2 work.

[@Redfork2000]

It took me about 2 minutes to solve this one. At first I wanted to capture the pawn right in front of the queen, but after calculating what would happen next, I quickly realized that would not work, as it was impossible to stop all the pawns before it was too late if black plays correctly. So after taking about 30-45 seconds to calculate that, I tried with the capture of the pawn on the right, and the remaining time I used was to calculate all the different lines that could play out depending on what black does, just making sure there's no way for black to win. It was a very interesting puzzle, and I was so glad when you then explained the solution, and it was exactly what I came up with!

[@raphu2272]

"calculate"

[@T-Spoon2319]

I almost immediately went to the answer.. but i did not have it thought out as completely as you explained on the video.

[@stylerHUN]

After queen D3, the queen D2 is a solution as well. In the pawn go to C2 case. After D2 if A pawn go to A2 , we can move to C3

[@ethanstewartstevenson7309]

I feel really good right now, because I was able to get it in just a few minutes in my head, without a board in front of me. Then rushed down to my board to confirm. I'm just starting out, so this was a confidence booster, lol. 🙏🏻😊

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

💪👍

[@ivanbranisavljevic21]

Right now, I'm just an average 800 elo, so solving this puzzle in under 3 minutes did give me a big confidence boost.

[@splitz856]

Same

[@kousakabeans]

Damn I got a massive confidence boost from this one, I'm around 500 Elo and I got it just by looking at the thumbnail, took no more than five seconds for me

[@DonPasquale_]

First instinct was the winning move, then another 1.5-2 mins of calculating/visualizing to make sure it was right. I also spent a couple mins afterwards checking other moves to make sure there wasn’t more than one solution. I don’t really play chess, but this was a fun beginner puzzle, thanks for sharing

[@matteovrizzi]

i thought it wasnt possible to solve - i misundestood the description. Thought you said "if black promotes they win"

[@brianfox6044]

It took me a couple minutes but you have to go Qd3 to start. Then it all changes from there depending on which pawn moves. If a3 goes a2 then you take the c3 pawn so if a1 is played you can take the promoted piece. If b3 to b2 is played you move Qb1 blocking the b2 pawn forcing one of the other pawns to move. You can capture the pawn that moves and then it’s easy from there. If c3 to c2 is played you move Qc3 since you can’t take the pawn on c2. This then likely forces a3-a2 where you’d have to follow up with Qb2. It blocks the c3 pawn from moving and forces a promotion which you can capture and it leaves you in a position to take the remaining pawns with ease regardless if the other pawn promotes. Edit: I got it right. I feel good for a 700 lol

[@nobody7295]

5:35 in this position queen goes to c2 If the d3 pawn advances you take it then if the c3 or a2 pawns advance you go a1 in witch case he goes to c2 you go to b2 next move either c1 or a1 move is a capture after that the second move capture aswel Ps: I might be wrong but I tried to make middle pawn capture work

[@vornamenachname989]

I had the same thought, I tried to win without blocking the pawns (partially because I was too stupid to even realize I could block them lmao) and even that worked with the middle pawn capture...I don't know if the youtuber missed this or we both missed something else Edit: Yeah I missed something and we both are stupid. If A3 moves and you capture it, D2 moves and converts to a queen, and you are unable to take it. Also what you said about pawn to C2 is impossible since rhe queen is on C2.

[@bruceokelo5587]

It's not d3. Get your annotations right. A1 is white side edge from left to right. Where are we sitting when black is promoting on the right side. 678

[@Zamiroh]

I think I roughly figured it out. A lot of it is body blocking with the queen and reacting to what is moved. Start with qd3. Then the rest depends on what black moves first. In some cases you'll go back to b1. Doing it this way will end in black promoting a piece but immediately losing it.

[@kimgss1]

Found it quite quickly. I first calculated taking the middle pawn immediately to break the structure and saw it lead to a losing position. Taking the d3 pawn first allows the Queen to cover all critical squares from a1.

[@KeithDCanada]

I only ever played up to about a 900 rating..... but after my first instinct of splitting the pawns into two groups, I decided to work out the D3 move quickly, and determined that it was a win in about 20 seconds. Maybe I should have stuck with it harder into chess when I was younger. 😕

[@MichaelGrundler]

I solved it, but it took me more than five minutes (even though it didn't feel that long) to make sure there isn't still a way for black to make it through. I also lost quite some time calculating Qxb3 first. I'm sure it would have been way faster, to actually move the pieces or to represent the movements in another visual way. Calculating moves while mentally keeping track of the changing state of the board requires considerably more effort than simply outsourcing the latter to the physical world.

[@KayOScode]

I calculated the heck out of qb3 thinking there was no way I could stop triple connected pawns on the third rank. I think I spent 10 minutes on that calculating moves like Qc3 and Qc4. I got baited too. I solved it in like 2 mins once I gave up and calculated the other cap

[@philosophyandhappiness2001]

Which is why it's a testament to your chess skill. Regardless of the rationale you have, if you had a difficult time, took you longer, and you spent a good bit of time on the wrong sequence, you don't have it. Saying that as someone who doesn't either 🤣

[@davidgardener86]

I got Qxd3, but it took me a few minutes. I started with Qxb3, but after some calculation, it didn't seem to be working. The next move to look at was Qxd3, and after some calculation, it seemed the queen could position herself to pick off any pawn that moved forward. I dont know if that means im talented. The puzzle only uses 5 pieces and 16 squares. Real chess puzzles are much harder.

[@richardsmith9615]

Same, Kramnik got it in 45 seconds :(

[@howboutdis3908]

@@richardsmith9615 I think the difference with a player like Kramnik is that they see immediately without calculating much that taking on b3 is not the solution because the queen can't guard everything. If you realise that after let's say 5 seconds, then i can totally see how you can see all the variations following Qxd3 in 40 seconds as a talented kid.

[@SevenTheJester]

I love these puzzles. I solved it almost immediately, but it's super fun.

[@DescartesRenegade]

It was quite easy to figure out capturing the pawn straight ahead would result in a quick loss. So that only leaves the diagonal capture. Everything else quickly falls into place.

[@93kingu]

30 seconds! I was glad to hear that it was a "high level " puzzle as I consider myself a low end club player. Thanks!

[@donkbonktj5773]

Many people might solve this puzzle, but I think the main factor is how much time you use.

[@pineappleoncookies5087]

I got the answer but instead of Qc3 after Qxd3 c2, thought of Qd2 it still works I'm pretty sure :)

[@maximeD34]

Same here, it works

[@johanvanaelst8976]

Yep, did it the same way.Works as far as I can tell.

[@DanielElicker]

Stubbled upon this video. I did manage to solve it on my own, but nowhere near a time that I'd be proud to share.

[@traver1965]

I flunked it. I took the b3 pawn believing breaking up the pawnstructure would be the way. Great video :)

[@lucaedwards6537]

I'm happy and surprised that I solved it, what a cool puzzle. Finding Qc3 after Qxd3 and c2 was the main challenge for me

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

Congrats!

[@cynicanal111]

I got it right, but it took me a few minutes. After ruling out Qxb3, I somewhat foolishly thought "wait, is black in zugzwang here, and should I just play a waiting move for him to self destruct? That would actually make a really interesting puzzle idea...", and had to convince myself that taking was correct before I calculated through all of the Qxd3 variations.

[@robinthomsoncomposer]

Oh my I am so relieved that I managed to solve that in my head

[@mohamedbilal9527]

I love how i just found the sulation with instinct. I'm like capturing b3 is 2 easy of a solution so its capture d3 and from there its fairly easy to find the line xD

[@SimpleAmadeus]

My first instinct was to move the queen straight ahead because being in the middle of them felt more flexible. Turns out it just made it impossible to cover both flanks. Took me a while to realize that after taking the right-most pawn first, you can control all three pawns completely, and force them to stop defending each other.

[@theyumblat5420]

Am I missing something? It’s not impossible tho if you go forwards. You eat the middle one, black moves any random pawn forwards one, you go back to starting position, black is forced to move a different pawn, you go all the way to the right, black is forced to either move the last pawn forwards one space or promote, if they promote you just take and then rinse and repeat until they’re all gone, and if they move the other one you just move one space to the left, force black to promote, and then rinse and repeat taking them one at a time. Even the solution he gave involved black promoting, so I don’t see how this one is any different

[@SimpleAmadeus]

@@theyumblat5420 If he moves the A or C pawn, and you go back to the starting position, the pawn can simply take your queen.

[@fayezmusharbash6548]

@@SimpleAmadeus then you eat the A or C pawn I don't really see why going straight was wrong solved in like 20 sec by going straight. The point is if the queen goes straight D pawn will have to move forward otherwise they lose the other pieces they decide to move

[@SimpleAmadeus]

@@fayezmusharbash6548 If you take B3, then they move C2, you can't capture C2 because it's defended by D3. If you take A3, he can go D2 and you can no longer prevent the opponent from queening. If you then go C1, you get captured by D2. If you go A1, he can now push either pawn to become a queen and the other will be defending it. If you do anything else, you're not covering both squares and he gets to promote one of the pawns on a safe square.

[@nobodynobody7452]

Thanks for posting this. I really enjoyed it. I'm 44 yrs old and haven't played chess since I was 15 yrs old. I picked Queen to D3 in about 15 seconds. Made me feel great!!

[@sdhomeguide6343]

Happy to say that I figured it out within ten milliseconds. My chess skills are unmatched.