An "Easy" Checkmate Challenge?

[@lordtony8276]

The only reason I solved 9 and 10 is because I see those positions so often in Sicilian opening games.

[@shalekthewise]

Especially the last 2

[@jayrussell3796]

Yes...that would happen alot, especially when you raise under the gun, preflop.

[@ItsMika-Dang]

wut

[@viniciusamancio8009]

Especially when you have 10 Bishops from another universe on L9

[@TomBarrister]

Are you sure you're commenting on the correct video?

[@Real_Potato_Man]

"In front of you is a plate with the most delicious food ever. Will you eat it? Well, of course, you'd eat it. *_However, if you look up, you can see a dying neutron star willing to detonate once you touch the food."_*

[@EpicsPurple]

this got me good af

[@Hi_i_am_from_jupiter]

what the fuk

[@Jgm101music]

This is certainly a... "Wait why is it not check mate? The bishop 1000km away" moment.

[@xuanlangzheng5529]

Checkmate is one word

[@7axol]

7:15 when en passant is forced 😂

[@StephenKnox92]

9/10 Can't believe I let en passant get me .Should have been paying attention to the actual move instead of just positions. Good one!

[@nishantbhardwajofficial]

Same 😅

[@broeycubing]

@@nishantbhardwajofficial same lol

[@PuchimonExtreme]

Me too.

[@randakarim4431]

All of them were except number 2 and the en passant one

[@Lordmewtwo151]

6:29 It's still checkmate next turn (either Qxb6 or xb6). In the position before you made the move, it was M2

[@stevenfisher7828]

The one immediately after is mate in two more moves hxg7+ Qh7 Rxh7#

[@0638]

This is looking at mate in 1 or not

[@zanti4132]

This is a good idea for teaching new players. I would expand on it slightly: make the move, and then ask the student if the position is (a) checkmate, (b) stalemate, or (c) neither. ("Neither" would mean there is still a legal move available.) A lot of students have trouble recognizing stalemate positions, so a set of puzzles that include some stalemates or near stalemates would be a good training tool. (I think I'd also make all the positions legal - like, the last two positions in your quiz are obviously not legal - but maybe that is quibbling.)

[@zzzaphod8507]

You could even make the last couple positions in the set even more difficult with 4 options. (a) checkmate, (b) stalemate, (c) checkmate is possible in one move for the opponent (the player who didn't just move), or (d) none of the above (play continues). (Not sure how easy it is to set a position where a player is in check but he can checkmate the opponent right away while getting out of check--maybe that's not practical.)

[@TechnoMageB5]

I like this. I can't tell you how frustrating it is when you're bearing down on an opponent and all of a sudden you miss a stalemate trap and fall in. On the flip side, I've surprised my opponents a few times with setting up perpetual checks while a piece down. 😏

[@TheLostArchangel666]

6:31 I got that one right, but I think a more accurate way of putting it is that it isn't checkmate yet. Once that move is made, black can take with the pawn and then I believe it IS checkmate.

[@S2Pot_Gaming]

With the timer, I got 8/10; I missed number 2 and 9. I did get 4 right for the wrong reasons, though, so maybe my score is properly 7/10. Fun challenge! I’d watch more videos like this.

[@iluxa-4000]

Almost exactly the same, but I did evaluate #4 correctly. That sneaky rook in number 2 tho

[@lolzor_live]

I got 9/10. I also missed number 2. The rook was really sneaky.

[@lokolb]

I missed the exact same two answers, So 8/10 with the timer. And that took in #2 was really sneaky

[@alpacino5466]

Literally the same for me

[@crazyrun2024]

I actaully got them all in time. It was pretty easy.

[@blacklight683]

Totally not clickbait

[@DaddyRules-b3w]

Lost a suscriber

[@aweebthatlovesmath4220]

​@@DaddyRules-b3w didn't need that anyway

[@wasntwas]

@@DaddyRules-b3w he has 500k more subscribers bro, if you dont like channels you should really just leave, this comment is probably more useful to him than 1 subscriber because of the algorithm.

[@gergaplayz8584]

10/10, I thought it would be much harder, but it was fun and that last puzzle kinda tricked my brain for a second since I didn’t see the queen pinning the knight. Thanks!

[@crazyrun2024]

yeah it was really easy for me too.

[@gamergamingdarshss1103]

Me three

[@VOLTIC_XZ]

me four got all right and found all the reasons why except the one you said didn't even realize that knight existed

[@BopSlap-oh3ui]

Same

[@shoopi1234]

Yeah honestly I'm all for easier puzzles but I think the difficulty could have been slightly higher. Though that might be difficult to do with mate in 1's haha. By the way, the last two positions are very, very illegal. Just a side note :)

[@ITz_Tahmid]

I got 9/10. Failed the en passant one. Completly forgot en passant exist.

[@snowyandwispa3890]

Had a position just like level 10 last week😂

[@burrenwaffet7742]

😂😂

[@luisllamas9959]

Well number 10 is an impossible position. It's not chess

[@saharvahabzadeh]

It s Ohio chess ♟️ 💀💀

[@luchsi4566]

these puzzles always get me with en passent

[@Zygnity]

Since Martin never misses mate in 1, you should make the hardest ever checkmate in one puzzles ever! I got a 8/10. I missed number 7 because I forgot about en passant. And number 9 because I for some reason just assumed that D4 square would somehow be controlled. That was a fun challenge. Hopefully we will see more Martin videos in the future ❤

[@peytonkirchhoff6335]

I missed the same ones for the same exact reasons lol

[@christopherheckman7957]

That's the reason why I missed #9. Of course, that position would never occur in a game.

[@rhyderwu4897]

Martin actually missed m1 for me lol

[@nischalpavan1150]

U are right

[@xuanlangzheng5529]

I love Martin stuff

[@SageTheDoodle]

6:36 Not checkmate right away, but I think it it does lead up to checkmate after queen takes rook since king cannot take because of the knight and the pawn, no other piece can take the queen, and all squares for the white king are blocked. *< unless i’m blind and missed something >* You were probably just doing mates in 1, but I feel like you could’ve at least mentioned the mate followed shortly after. 10 out of 10 I got correct.

[@KanprapaRattanatewamart]

Me too!

[@flyurs1675]

first, let's cook some rice

[@Jothamvw]

No 11th nor Arsenal player Declan, sadge.

[@redknight07_]

​@@Jothamvwah yes a fellow football fan

[@danielely7437]

I like rice

[@come.inside.me.join.now.]

You mean the cheater who caused Nelsi's first lose in cilimbing the elo?

[@Scrolte6174]

@@danielely7437 Śàmè

[@manishenglishgamingmeg2123]

Bro gave us the easiest puzzles and asking us if its easy😂

[@Keldor314]

I missed problem 2 (because apparently I couldn't see that the rook could move that far! Mind blown! 😂), and the en passent one since I didn't even register that the move in question was a 2 space pawn move. I also missed the potential knight move to block on the last puzzle, so if the queen hadn't been back there pinning it, I would have missed that one too.

[@christopherheckman7957]

What would have been interesting is that position without the White pawn on h2. Then, en passant is illegal, because the pawn is pinned!

[@RedGallardo]

The king looks vulnerable until you zoom out and see the rest 15 figures.

[@n0bl3hunt3r]

9/10 because of the en passant. But I relied mostly on vibes so it probably should have been lower. This was nicely interactive so makes a good change from more complex chess puzzles which I am not at all tempted to try and solve.

[@solararias]

I missed # 2 and the rest I focused 🤣

[@realteamwall]

Level 1 - Correct Level 2 - Incorrect, i missed the rook Level 3 - Correct Level 4 - Correct Level 5 - Correct Level 6 - Correct Level 7 - Correct Level 8 - Correct Level 9 - Correct Level 10 - Correct

[@flyurs1675]

same

[@stevencrabbe]

same

[@RickSpeck]

I almost didn't get the last one but I managed to solve all ten correctly in the time length.

[@davidjames149]

9/10! i only missed number 2 because i'd literally just woken up and assumed level 2 would be super basic so i didn't even look at the rook 🤣somehow i knew that en passant was gonna be the move before you even pushed that pawn. Cool idea, would love a part 2 with a higher degree of difficulty

[@footballninja77]

same haha

[@SSS_T]

Same

[@sgwa11]

Same here! I was so ashamed of myself. But I have to say, if I didn't get that one wrong I would have gotten a later one wrong with a long ranged sniper b/c I am quite blind to those. It made me sit up and pay attention to the rest.

[@DanksterPaws]

Literally same… I didnt even wanna admit it

[@DanksterPaws]

Literally same… i didnt even wanna admit it

[@locrianphantom3547]

Wow, even with the timer I got 10/10 and I’m only 500-600 ELO for rapid, blitz, and bullet, but 1400 on puzzles currently. These would be way too easy for a better player.

[@snowyandwispa3890]

Solved 7 out of 10 while sticking to time limit

[@FermisAxiom]

It may look like you're about to score with the girl of dreams... but when you zoom out you will find that you are being cockblocked by 5 hairy dudes with machetes

[@zzolie]

Great video! I noticed the escape square on puzzle 9 in the last moment, but missed the rook on the 2nd puzzle

[@chickenghost8023]

Same 🤣🤣

[@-chess_player-]

I also got 10/10 and noticed the escape square on puzzle 9 with 5 seconds remaining. Everything else I got right in

[@RoundShades]

It's weird, they were all easy except sniper rook,

[@zzolie]

@@RoundShades Sniper bishop must be very proud of sniper rook :D

[@tontonbeber4555]

5:40 #6 It is checkmate, as a double check the king has to move, but in your explanation you forgot one element : you didn't say that the king could take the bishop, escaping the rook, but actually cannot because it is defended by the pawn c2. So that pawn is part of the checkmate too.

[@HeDoMo3r]

Well, that was easier than I thought it to be. Got 9/10, missing the 2nd one. In these simple positions I tend to miss these easy-to-spot ways to turn the game around.

[@Elomordoo1]

0:54 i saw checkmate after 4 seconds just move the rook.

[@liternix]

00:40 This position is why I don't play Sicilian

[@jpc812]

Great stuff. Learning a lot from you. I still have blind spots for some reason. Maybe it's my impatience, but I overlook obvious things all the time. Puzzle#2 when I was just warming up my brain, I completely missed the rook on G2. I make mistakes like this all the time and it overall hinders my game. I can't figure out how to train these blind spots out of my mind. Hope you are healing up well!

[@SpinyBadger]

10/10. Quite a nice workout, combining basics and positional familiarity with rapid assessment of some crazy positions later on. I wonder how many were suckered by the a2 rook in the second puzzle. That was probably the one I was most likely to fail on, because the position looked simple apart from that oddly placed rook.

[@semplar2007]

6:33 - important note: it's a check mate in 2 moves, after white rook blocks for white king, the black pawn nearby can capture the rook, still making a checkmate

[@jageshwarnathgupta9186]

Which number

[@semplar2007]

@@jageshwarnathgupta9186 i dunno but it's on 6 minutes 33 seconds on the video

[@jessefunk2763]

7 out of 10, I am beginner too but after watching so many of your videos and playing games with my missus, I am improving :) Thanks Nelson

[@gillesbouthenot7696]

Really great challenge ! Thank you Nelson !

[@ilqfuture7029]

9/10, the 8th one was very surprising because of the un passant in a checkmate pattern. But all of others are pretty basic in my opinion, only beginners probably won’t solve them.

[@HamzaZaid-n2n]

Aggre

[@sumsumwong498]

Heartbroken because of my 2 hour game that I lost and I used 100% of my brain

[@MarcosVinicius-jf5jz]

Great video! Seeing checkmate isn’t always an easy thing, so the first step is to know what is and what isn’t checkmate instead. By the way, from the 11 puzzles (also counting the one from the intro), I’ve got 10 correctly. The only one I missed was, of course, the one in the intro, which means I still need to practice more. And, obviously, your videos are good for practicing and learning. Great content!

[@KanprapaRattanatewamart]

M

[@jameshogge]

I got 9/10 with the timer and without any guessing. Messed up the 3rd one because in my head the black pawn could take diagonally... Backwards 😂

[@Gadolinium64]

I'm very surprised that I got all 10! I almost missed one because yeah it's still checkmate but checkmate in two, I corrected myself before you said anything so I'll take it as a 1100 lol

[@christopherheckman7957]

Maybe one of the videos in the future should be: a player makes a move, is it mate on their next move? (Basically a Mate-in-2 puzzle where the first move is shown.)

[@Gadolinium64]

​@@christopherheckman7957I like that idea

[@Ryan-The-Super-Lion]

I got 10/10 as I am a beginner I paused timer. for full disclosure, I actually git 9/9 on #2-10. started the video and forgot to pause it at start, so I could get a drink before I stated it. I heard you say yes on the first one before I looked at it. I backed it up and know that there was no way I was going to get it wrong.

[@dr.sergei4175]

Good job, Nelson! 10 out of 10

[@holymeto9981]

Yeah the puzzle was easy

[@Smiling_Pooper]

At 4:14 I got an Nitendo Ad

[@Random_Geography]

8/10 I got it wrong at number 4 and 8 because I didnt see the queen pinning the pawn and I forgot about en-passant

[@TweetyFam]

Got 9/10 along with the time. En passant always catches me off-guard.

[@cbloxxx523]

2nd last puzzle answer: kd4 nf5 kd3 qc3 checkmate

[@cbloxxx523]

Number 7 is mate in 2 ways

[@egyptian20091]

My 600 Elo ass somehow got all correct except 6 and 7, didn't pause btw

[@qownson4410]

What a fun and engaging video format. Very rare concept to test the audience on a 10 part pop quiz.

[@h-noonyt9741]

10/10 really fun challenge tbh, no pause needed, would like to see more of these type of video 😊

[@chessstar6157]

9/10 , only because I forgot about en-passent in the 8th position 😅

[@swagmuffin9000]

For 9 and 10 "is it checkmate?". Bro it took me a second to even find the king 😂

[@drivers99]

This is really eye opening because I keep forgetting to check basic things.

[@mimikyoo]

This looks like a fun chess variant, where a scramble of pieces are set up before a game such that the position is equal, and players have to play each game by ear

[@quitlongtimeago]

Only got the 8th position wrong and that is because I didnt even look at what move nelson played lmao

[@manishkejriwal5146]

8/10 solved ,with timer. Miss 7 and 8😀

[@ziziorens348]

I only missed the en passant, but I had to pause for the last two. I love these kinds of videos, not only are they fun, but I also feel like I'm learning something little by little!

[@tsuruo1203]

I was half way expecting something like… “No, this is an illegal move… i moved a piece while your king was already in check…”

[@gregshonle2072]

The issue I had with 8 is that he hadn't indicated if the pawn had moved two squares (allowing the en passant capture), or if it had been advanced in two moves, which would eliminate the en passant capture.

[@Lordmewtwo151]

If you look at the board before he made the move, the pawn was on its home rank. The starting square of the move (g2) was even highlighted in yellow for a second after the pawn was placed on g4.

[@thegerbilswilly]

Only missed number 2... the hubris of thinking it was easy so I got tunnel vision

[@justinjoselim1343]

I got 2 and 3 wrong because im blind

[@JohnJesus]

Takes me 3 second just to find the king in the last 2 examples 😅

[@bitzibaerlie]

Spotted the safe square on #9 too late but got all the others. Loved this, particularly #7. Was hoping to see even more traps thrown in there.

[@TimEssDub]

I've been doing puzzles over the past year and am looking to increase my rating in the ~500 range to 1000 by the end of this year. This weekend, I went on a puzzle binge. That practice helped me here in spotting if a certain checkmate pattern was going to be a checkmate.

[@Sesquipedalian3]

7:14, I forgot about en passant. I got everything else!

[@austinbobo1344]

I dont really play chess and somehow i only got the en passent question wring because i looked exclusively at board state and presence whilst not paying much attention to which piece move how much.

[@jesus3268]

I got 8 out of 10 in the time,in the last one I missed the bishop in the lefthand corner . This was good fun, cheers Nelson.

[@thelosts9940]

More interesting for more advanced players is trying to find the amount of moves checkmate would take in the ones where its not checkmate or find the actual checkmate when there is one thats not played.

[@alvossozaandronito6]

I prefer my own definition of checkmate which is “no matter what you do, I’m capturing your king next move”

[@-7-man]

9 and 10 are when the Arcadians join the Spartans.

[@Ox1326]

I got all of them, except I saw the knight can’t block at the last moment.

[@33LB]

nelson: "is this checkmate?" me: "... yes... i think"

[@mirrorportal1587]

6:35 this puzzle is checkmate. Queen takes rook, both diagonals are controlled by the 2 bishops. I don’t know what you’re on about, it’s obviously checkmate

[@chuckmanion1128]

9/10 I missed number 2. 1 was so easy, that I didn't put much thought into 2. Once my brain was warmed up though, I found them all easy enough.

[@MatthewCampbell765]

Yes, a situation might look like a checkmate if you zoom in to obscure information that leads to a solution.

[@anuradharedij9482]

Man this is tooooooooo EZ for a 1442 FIDE RATED player I got all of’em correct

[@yaroy5660]

For a 200-300 elo player (I don’t know exactly because I don’t play blitz or rapids or any of those and I can barely beat martin, I got 10/10. I got en passant correct because I was googling it before hand because my friend checkmated me around an hour ago

[@LonyEditzz]

The only reason i had one mistake at 9 is bc i thought that pawn was controlling that last square 💀💀💀

[@welcometoparacosm926]

6:30 so, am i crazy? yeah thats not m1 but it is m2 with axb right?

[@thatsmylineouhahouououohouh]

1. 1:37 Queenhelpermate 2. 2:15 rook takes queen 3. 2:56 checkmate 4. ❌ 5. Smuthered mate 6. 5:17 double checkmate 7.❌ 8.❌ 9.not checkmate 10 checkmate

[@Frok.Studios]

8:24 i believe Nxf5 is mate afterwards. correct me if im wrong

[@AlphaPrimus2013]

10 / 10 a short , activity to do , eanertaining . Thanks , keep up the work .

[@klasstenbeg._.]

9/10. I forgot that pawn can take in 7:23 Pretty cool

[@rednassie1101]

I can imagine the very first position pulls some random "Pawns go the other way, so it can also block or capture" kinda stuff

[@grantfraser5430]

I missed the timer on #9 by one second because it took me 4 seconds to find the white king. Kind of fun. I like that the video is aimed at newer players, hope you do that from time to time. Maybe a rating system can be established for future videos saying what level of player is the target audience.

[@Ch40T1cX]

6:50 made me say holy hell

[@samiiflopped5728]

Isnt on 6:36 axb6# (Queen taks rook in b6) is mate?

[@gallicadlair81]

I got all of them correct, but I nearly got the en passant one wrong.

[@KatarsisWorkshop]

its always the bishop 300km away that i fail to see every single time

[@giuliosf]

"Is this chackmate?" "Wait... where is the king? 🤔"

[@CebGIN]

9/10, the second one is a canon event

[@chiepah2]

This was fun, I missed 8 and 9, the timer really made it challenging, but that is the sort of constraint you would face in a real game, even if they may not have been real positions.

[@sadashivbhaskar2427]

I got 9/10 because I missed the last one 😢😅😅

[@ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗΣΣΙΔΕΡΗΣ-δ9γ]

i saw em all besides the an passant one... completely forgot that pawn in the corner...

[@WafleEnterprises]

When playing with actual pieces, I’m almost always playing against people who don’t even like the idea of allowing castling, much less En Passant. So I always forget that tricky pawn tactic.

[@idenaidek7136]

When you get 9 and 10 but miss 2

[@lindawilckens5817]

Number 7 was a mate in 2 though

[@SageTheDoodle]

Yep. When the queen takes the rook, it’s the same winning idea.

[@phen-themoogle7651]

Funny troll, I was thinking the black pawns were just going up lol