AMAZING Chess Puzzle From Reddit

Reddit post is here: / gwdn4fudxp
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n1QBq1k1/5p1p/5KP1/p7/8/8/8/8 w - - 0 1
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[@nickcellino1503]

I've seen thousands of chess puzzles but this one may be the most amazing of all. Nelson's perfect commentary enhances the beauty of the composition.

[@JohnDoe-ti2np]

In 1995, John Nunn shortened a study by Matous to produce this position, as an engine-stumper. It's interesting that it continues to stump engines today, almost 30 years later.

[@wickedpawn5437]

This is perhaps the most insane puzzle I've ever seen.

[@Grayback1973]

Until you see the next "most insane" one you've ever seen.....lol

[@johnathanpatrick6118]

2:30 -- Cue Eric Rosen: gxf7+, a pin and a fork, a pork!! 🤣🤣

[@luqmaanhay4957]

Also from Gauri chess

[@damyankuzmic5605]

2:08 ""Stock fish suddenly gets smart"" 😏🤗🤔 Laugh On Loud 😆😂🤣 That is for cheaters who do NoT use brain. ✋👌👍

[@JustAnotherCommenter]

@@damyankuzmic5605That's not how you spell "lol". Do you live inside a cave or something?

[@damyankuzmic5605]

@@JustAnotherCommenter What? Do I live in cave or some thing? Can YoU firstly ask that self and then try to answer. 😆😂🤣 Laugh On Loud 😆😂🤣 That is NoT how YoU spell "lol". If YoU so patronizo insulto smart. Teach Me how I can use my sociopathic poison snake tongue? Just move that bordering line, very pretty please!

[@damyankuzmic5605]

@@JustAnotherCommenter Laugh On Loud. Are YoU living in cave or some thing similar? 😆😂🤣 That is NoT how spell "lol". Are YoU living in cave or some thing similar? 😆😂🤣

[@Autrone]

Really crazy how Stockfish does not focus on "wayward" moves (like the move that it does not detect) but rather "direct" moves that are straight to the point but creates a draw in this instance! This is for Stockfish to be resourceful on memory by eliminating "wayward" moves that have less chance to generate a win and giving more depth to the moves that seem more "winning". Good to see you back after disappearing from my recommendations for 3+ years! Time flies so fast!

[@luckydust4375]

Yeah there is still some flaws with Stockfish there Maybe it would need to stop calculating drawing lines further and further when it's obviously a draw to focus on analysing previously discarded moves Like "ok this is a draw, now do I have a better option?" Especially when it have infinite time to think

[@damyankuzmic5605]

2:11 ""Stock fish suddenly gets smart"" 😏🤗🤔 Laugh On Loud 😆😂🤣 That is for cheaters who do NoT use brain. ✋👌👍

[@Rocky64]

Contrary to what the video claimed, Stockfish actually finds the long forced-mate instantly. Chess Vibes keeps using the bad default Chesscom setting that limits Stockfish's depth to 22 - an artificial handicap that weakens the engine considerably.

[@tuxedobob2]

@@Rocky64 Does a depth of 22 count both white and black moves toward the depth? If that's the case, I feel like it shouldn't find forced mate in anything above M11, but it does, doesn't it? It's more likely that moving the bishop is a "weird" move that Stockfish discards early on.

[@jameswang7362]

No, Stockfish (and Komodo) run alpha-beta searches, which evaluate the position for every possible (winning) move. It has nothing to do with intuition. If there is a mate in 12 and you let it search up to 24 ply Stockfish WILL find it - it's mathematically guaranteed. The depth was just artificially handicapped to 22 ply in this puzzle. You could say the same about a Stockfish limited to 1 ply and entirely relying on its NNUE heuristic.

[@Joao72]

Mario Mattous was the composer... he made a lot of problems like this one

[@QDWhite]

I love how stockfish offers the draw and then afterwards is all like, “of course this is winning for white. Wasn’t it obvious?”

[@userac-xpg]

Chess was so much better before engines. Now every 1200 player acts like they know every solution

[@singularityphoenixx]

The internet was so much better before eternal September. Now every poster is a bot or troll.

[@userac-xpg]

@@1happystone166 puzzles like this have been created for hundreds of years.

[@SomaChatterjee-kd6hd]

I saw this puzzle in gauri chess before....

[@davidjames149]

i knew i'd seen before it but couldn't remember where, Gauri is an absolute legend

[@damyankuzmic5605]

Is that puzzle from Real Game? Or is that puzzle invented? 😏🤗🤔

[@eemihelisten3137]

@@damyankuzmic5605 This is an invented puzzle

[@honestloz]

Brilliant 👏 👏

[@andrewgoldfarb3431]

I saw this it last week on puzzles engine can’t solve

[@cougar2013]

I wish wish wish wish wish that Nelson would run through the full puzzle once quickly at the end of the video, just so we can see the wonderful solution in full motion. Love the channel!!

[@midnighttrain-jz2my]

I like how Stockfish suddenly realizes: "Oh yeah!... there is a checkmate there" 😅So sad, poor Stockfish cant talk to us, he would have so much to say.

[@damyankuzmic5605]

2:09 ""Stock fish suddenly gets smart"" 😏🤗🤔 Laugh On Loud 😆😂🤣 That is for cheaters who do NoT use brain. ✋👌👍

[@arifbagusprakoso2308]

Well, the stockfish depth is only 22. That means it can only find M11 at max. The puzzle is M12. Change depth setting and you'll see stockfish true power.

[@tandrimadasgupta1222]

2:09 stockfish suddenly gets smart 🤓🤓🤓😂😂😂

[@Ozasuke]

One of the coolest puzzles I have ever seen! Thank you for sharing and breaking this down!

[@reubenmanzo2054]

To answer the question at 4:52, I once checkmated by castling.

[@Fronzel41]

Elaborate

[@reubenmanzo2054]

@@Fronzel41 I castled and where the rook was positioned lined up with the enemy king and it was checkmate.

[@ounalan]

I suggest you should have continued analyzing. In the last position after Bxa1 if Qf8, Kf5+! Qg7, f8=R/Q+ and mate.

[@justinjja2]

Thanks, saw that and was thinking bishop takes queen is just losing. Didn’t realize you just promote.

[@christopherlperezcruz1507]

Damn I saw the same thing forgot they don't have to take. Can you imagine playing Magnus and when you sac your queen, Magnus just concedes cuz he figured the rest out!?

[@wesleydeng71]

He also missed Qf8 in previous positions, so.

[@ericvangent1302]

I wanted to react , then I saw you came up with the same as me. Beautiful, isn't it! 😂

[@dmitripogosian5084]

@@wesleydeng71 That was not critical, indeed, on some moves from zhugzwang, you just promote with a mate, rather than move your king

[@harikumars1487]

This is THE best chess puzzle I've ever seen 🤩🤩 Thank you very Nelson for bringing this up!

[@adityachk2002]

The power of Reddit and communities.

[@owenbell852]

Absolutely fantastic, thank you for showing this

[@luckydust4375]

Try analysing positions with Stockfish 16 instead of Stockfish 16 lite. The lite version is often a bit off. Stockfish 16 will find this mate before reaching depth 30. It's always frustrating to me to hear "Stockfish can't find it" and see "Stockfish 16 lite depth 22" in the corner. Amazing puzzle btw

[@damyankuzmic5605]

2:13 ""Stock fish suddenly gets smart"" 😏🤗🤔 Laugh On Loud 😆😂🤣 That is for cheaters who do NoT use brain. ✋👌👍

[@thomasr2472]

I tried with Stockfish 16 up to depth >50, it does not work. Note that if you show Stockfish the solution, and then undo and analyze the same position as before, it will indeed find the right move! This is because it caches previous results.

[@luckydust4375]

@@thomasr2472 Yes that's why I got it to find it at depth 30 Still, if I have to check by myself to make sure that the true Stockfish doesn't find it it's a bit annoying. If you want to say that Stockfish doesn't find it, fine, but show us the true Stockfish and without the depth cap otherwise what you show is useless cause unrelated to what you say

[@anonym5160]

I let the puzzle analyse with Stockfish 15.1 and he can‘t find the winning move doesn‘t matter how long it think.

[@luckydust4375]

@@anonym5160 doesn't change my point. Sometimes Stockfish 16 lite will miss what Stockfish 16 would find. Therefore, everytime you Say "Stockfish doesn't see it" with an image of Stockfish 16 lite not finding it, what you show is unrelated with what you're saying. He should show us the Real Stockfish 16 no depth cap analysis, that would really illustrate his comments.

[@458tha2]

First time you would see Kxy#

[@BlckJack123]

Hats off to whoever developed this puzzle! Can you imagine how much effort had to go into figuring something like this out?

[@TomBarrister]

Stockfish also finds the move if you expand the search until Bc7 comes onto the analysis screen as one of the candidates.

[@wayneyadams]

This is a phenomenal puzzle, and I would never have figured it out within the time constraints of an actual game. I'm not even sure I could have firgured it out given unlimited time. Thanks for showing this to us, especially the part about delivering the checkmate by moving the King.

[@Astrobrant2]

This was truly amazing. You never fail to deliver.

[@zsombororovec645]

10:57 the position looks cool after Qf8, the only winning move is Kf5+, because the Qg7 is not check and then White must promote to a queen or even coller: a rook. Thanks for the video it was really mindblowing.

[@ifer1280]

That moment when the king was in a mating net with barely any adjacent pieces, preventing him from delivering checkmate, was magnificent

[@Phixersor]

Me, a 900 rated player, after hearing stockfish see no win, still pauses to have a look.

[@joshualemmon5806]

4:53 I have. I've even delivered checkmate by castling.

[@PaulFurber]

You're right, I've never seen a mechanism like that. Amazing.

[@goku_naruto_rubber]

Well, in the end, when white captures the pawn in a1, black still can avoid a humiliating checkmate by the white moving his king, by 1) sacrificing the queen in e5, bishop takes, Ne8 check, fxe8=Q checkmate 2) directly go with Ne8 check, fxe8=Q check, Qf8, Qxf8 checkmate. And the second case is also a nice trick for black, because if white doesn't capture the knight directly with the pawn, but still want to checkmate by moving the king to e6, then Ng7 with check, BxNg7, KxBg7 and black now has a winning position since white cannot promote to f8.

[@kzkaa.]

This doesn't stop checkmate, but it does stop a humilating one.

[@yellowphoenix9803]

Nelson, this is one of the most popular puzzles ever. I know the solution before watching the video since I have and many others have seen it

[@josephcoble9681]

The knight is not too far away

[@gillesbouthenot7696]

Incredible puzzle, Thank you Nelson !

[@fraer111]

I saw this 'checkmate battery' at once, but it's really OUT OF THIS WORLD Incredible!

[@golux-57]

There's another interesting line where white has to be very careful -- if, when the queen and knight are keeping the white king from moving black can play Nd5+, and if white moves anywhere except Ke6, Nc3 blocks the bishop *and* delivers a check on white's king. Black can then perpetually check until a 3-fold draw is reached.

[@fantomghost6213]

What a great puzzle. I can't think that far ahead

[@ppmendonca1]

From the last position both knight to g8 and queen to f8 prolong the defence...

[@ffj57]

This is by far the most fascinating puzzle I have ever seen!

[@user-uv1uf6pm8x]

Bishop B2 is the only winning move because black can push the pawn and you can position the bishop between a1 and b2 without being attacked. If bishop goes to a1 you will get attacked by the pawn and black can deflect the bishop

[@simens8646]

At 10:00 you are going through many of black's variations, but there is one important variation that you don't show. Black could play Qf8 intending both to block promotion and also to block the white bishop with Qg7 if the king moves. This also loses, but in a slightly different way than other moves. White doesn't capture the pinned queen on g7, but simply delivers mates by promoting on f8.

[@msolec2000]

Yes. A check and a pin. A chin.

[@IchMagZwiebel]

5:04 crosscheckmate 😂

[@dudono1744]

The first move is pretty hard to see, then it's ez since you threaten mate in 1.

[@DonaldRoy-nr9xe]

5:11 move queen to f8. There is options after this to checkmate white.

[@osgubben]

This is the only puzzle I have saved on my hard disc for years, since no comps could find the solution for me. Still the most impressive and hard puzzle I have seen. What a genius puzzle!!

[@hiros5386]

Black Queen: CHECK! You won't be running for long this time, white king! White King: You know, that might be the first time you and me were ever in agreement. White King: *steps aside* The white Bishop behind him: 👉👉

[@PAVANZYL]

This is the most amazing puzzle I have ever seen!

[@tiagohello]

Amazing puzzle! Thank you so much! 🤍

[@jeythegrey]

Imagine getting this in puzzle rush

[@fuglbird]

I've played chess since 1966. It's common courtesy to refer to the composer of a study when you present it. You don't just write "local newspaper", " a bloke in the pub", "reddit" or something like that. This study was originally presented by Mário Matouš in Szachy 1975. You are showing a shortened version, where the first moves by white and black have already been played.

[@yyyy-uv3po]

I feel like I've just watched a 2 hours action movie. Very unique puzzle.

[@astro_ash]

5:56 what about q f2

[@scion.]

Same, king moves and bishop delivers discovered check. After Qxb2 promote the pawn

[@ykirank]

Too good, thanks for sharing

[@DonaldRoy-nr9xe]

7:48 again queen to f8 leads checkmate options for black.

[@mrnobody1546]

That was some mindfook, just beauty

[@vasilijechess2631]

I tried on 2 very engines (Stockfish an Lc0)on supercomputers, they are both blind for 1 minutes, but eventually Lc0 find mate in 12.

[@TheEthikos]

This puzzle is absolutely beautiful.

[@tottenvillelegend826]

Truly a mind-blowing and life-changing puzzle!

[@jamesknapp64]

Nelson this one was amazing. Though the one where the oppenenets king was forced to move to one of 3 squares was my favorite and better than this one. There it looked like a real endgame AND which of the 3 squares lead to a different underpromotion, one with each of knight, bishop, rook to win and prevent perpetual checks or stalemates

[@israelorris9925]

10:05 queen to f8 king to g5 queen to g7 no more checkmate

[@chbrown]

After the final zugzwang, when the Q or the N have to move, there's one last mind-blowing variation, which is Qf8, looking to block the bishop's check, let's say White plays Kf5+, then Qg7 blocking the bishop's check... but at the same time the Q's pinning herself so f8Q boom! beautiful mate.

[@kukytranza9922]

Best lines for black after Bxa1 are either ...Qc3+ or ...Nd5+ (delays mate the most)

[@Tassaczek]

Stockfish does not calculate all moves. He chooses a few and checks them. So an algorithm for choosing candidate moves has some problems :D

[@damyankuzmic5605]

2:10 ""Stock fish suddenly gets smart"" 😏🤗🤔 Laugh On Loud 😆😂🤣 That is for cheaters who do NoT use brain. ✋👌👍

[@marluxia8832]

Somewhere, Lelouch vi Britannia smiled and thought: "That's my school! After all, if the king doesn't move, then his subjects won't follow".

[@she22i]

what i am hopeing for when i blundered all my pieces

[@dovahkiin2259]

I would have lost, thought that Ba1 was the winning move. Totally misded the knight move trapping the king. Wonderful puzzle.

[@kyanbayas7443]

Queen to f8 to avoid checkmate

[@giannisnikitakis4983]

Would magnus Carlsen see bishop c7?

[@virt1one]

very elegant win

[@christopherlperezcruz1507]

Why doesn't black move Q to f8? When the K moves for the check he has to move away from the pawn. The Q steps in and sacs but the king can retake and move to f8

[@dormitivevirtue]

If queen blocks bishop doesn't have to take it. White promotes the pawn then its checkmate because the queen is pinned.

[@CheckmateSurvivor]

Please check out Scramble, the best random chess variant ever invented.

[@brownwarrior007]

This is not "from reddit" please credit the original composer when showcasing studies, this one is by Mario Matous from 1975. Also it is missing a move, being (with the white queen on a6 and the black king on f8) Qc8 Kg8, reaching the position showcased here

[@JohnDoe-ti2np]

Yes. In 1995, John Nunn shortened Matous's study to create a puzzle for a Batsford Chess Competition. Nunn specifically selected this position (and two others) to be difficult for computers.

[@minzhang1413]

Can you do a video of the hector gambit?

[@pnachtwey]

I plugged this puzzle into Stockfish 16, It took it 92 plies and a few hours to solve. Stockfish had to look past a lot of forced moves find the solution. I was using a AMD 3.3Ghz 32 GB CPU on stockfish 16 with Arena UI.

[@seanberquist106]

At 7:07 why not black queen to F2 check? The check again prevents pawn advance, and the queen can take the bishop if the king moves to expose the pin. Thanks for sharing a great puzzle.

[@wickedpawn5437]

Qf2+ Ke6+ Qxb2 f8=Q++

[@epichunter3488]

​@@wickedpawn5437ke6 ? Sacrificing the king😂😂

[@robertsabharwal9787]

What happened to the bot rating climb?

[@RoboSantasRevenge]

Wonderful puzzle and video. Easily equals if not surpasses your underpromotion videos. I’m a beginner but can still appreciate how mind-blowing this puzzle is on some level.

[@Grayback1973]

Brilliant puzzle, wow. It just seems that the amount of chess puzzle possibilities is infinite!

[@grandpa_legend]

Qf8 still looks promising for me since pawn and horsie blocks both squares where white's king could move to side.

[@justinjja2]

He left it out since it’s not king mate :) Qf8, king moves, queen has to block, pawn promotes is mate because queen is pinned.

[@drfump]

Amazing puzzle, demonstrates how intricate chess is. Fantastic teacher too

[@458tha2]

Levy the nerd: playing the Caro Kann 🤓 Nelson Sigma: Mating with the king 🗿 Edit: I am not hater of GothamChess, i am a subscriber and I have learned so much from him, so don't take it seriously 👍

[@Chomta]

🗿🗿🗿

[@papadkumar2669]

so many things wrong with this single comment lol

[@luqmaanhay4957]

Bro how tf is Levy Rozman a nerd

[@yellowphoenix9803]

You aren’t funny bro…

[@458tha2]

@@yellowphoenix9803 I am the rooks

[@MichaelHarrisIreland]

I have no idea how anyone could make a puzzle like this. Unless they are crazy and a lot of people are.

[@lingtao969]

this puzzle was covered in a daniel naroditsky video a while while back, title of video is "how to study chess" or something

[@unformedvoid2223]

Just wow, that's incredible!

[@christopherheckman7957]

2:14 If Stockfish can see a mate in 11 from the position after White's move, then why can't it see a mate in 12 from the original position? 7:56 and now I think I see why Ba1 at first loses; it's because of a parity condition (due to Black pushing the a-pawn). Holy **** this is a good one. 8:56 Well, Black doesn't HAVE to promote to a queen ... but it doesn't make a difference. 10:10 Hats off should be even more so to the composer (who has been identified in another comment).

[@iamadooddood4331]

Huh, my first thought was 1.gxh7+ Kh8 2.Qc3 threatening a discovered check. I'm still wondering why that doesn't work.

[@Polymeron]

Absolutely brain-breaking puzzle.

[@Blablablabla1ify]

When you first move bishop to b2, what’s stopping queen to f2 check, then take the bishop?

[@RushikeshSahasrabudhe]

@10:00 ...What if black queen moves to f8 to prevent check from white bishop?

[@FuturePast2019]

KE6 and KE7 and the pawn...

[@2True2BGood]

Mind-blowing

[@giovannitomasoni7990]

At 10:10 i was wondering is black play Qf8; kf5+, Qg7; Bg7+,Kxg7; and it’s a draw. What i’m missing?

[@giovannitomasoni7990]

Ok, i understood what i was missing, after Qg7; f8=Q#

[@KY-qy3kn]

I saw this recently on some compilation of positions where Stockfish broke, I think the Reddit guy got it from that.

[@pakasokoste]

This is a well known study, not a puzzle, by Matous. Very difficult and fascinating study.

[@danielmadden9691]

Thanks,an unusually gifted piece of chess to enjoy and mull over

[@ytmndman]

I actually saw the Bc7 idea (I tried Be7 first but quickly saw that it didn't work) but I didn't find the whole solution.

[@MSW780]

For the first one I thought about Qc4

[@w3g619]

9:55 What about Qf8? White king moves, but black queen can block the check with Qg7.

[@Grimlock1979]

Then white promotes the pawn. Black Q is then pinned, so it's checkmate.

[@hoangvu9352]

I seen this through coach daniel greiner

[@GregEarl-eb5zy]

Nice. Brain broken on that one. Very well thought out

[@AbouTaim-Lille]

That is a puzzle of a different league. Or a different tier ! OMG

[@SagarVishwanath]

What happens if black checks with f2 and take the bishop?

[@LuizHenrique-qo9xp]

I don't see this option. If it was before knight preventing king to e6. After that bishop will be at a1. Before the knight movement king to e6 is checkmate.

[@screamer22222]

What about black queen to f8 as last move? So when the bishop does checl the queen can interrupt the check, no?