5 Tricky Chess Puzzles That'll Stretch Your Brain

[@Afterthoughtbtw]

Position 1: En Passant also stops the queen blocking, which was another reason that simply pushing the pawn couldn't work.

[@samsunguser3148]

yes

[@anitadobi7150]

I have the same answer lol

[@Zxter]

Omg… you are so smart. I didn’t see the queen blocking but then I thought I would just take the queen and checkmate but that’s not one move.

[@sethupaseneviratna]

Wow you are right

[@ronindominikgier5112]

#1 Puzzle i thought whoch move Black played so i can find it i knew and saw En Passant

[@freezer8530]

For puzzle #3, one can deduce the checkmate in one without the ranks being numbered (and the files being lettered) by the mnemonic "Queen on her color"; meaning that at the beginning of the game, the black queen always starts on the black square. In this setup, the black queen is actually on the white square, which means that the king and queen would be in reversed positions from the initial setup if black were to start on that side of the board. Such a position would be impossible to achieve from the correct setup, which could only mean that black had to have started from the other side of the board.

[@chessscape]

correct

[@qwerty-yc]

huh i thought that kings start on their color, the more you know

[@willvo3101]

900 iq

[@willvo3101]

Oh I got a like nice

[@michaeledwards2251]

@@chessscape For puzzle 1 the other possible solution, if the squares were not numbered, was the black and white positions were reversed with the pawns moving in the opposite directions allowing a mate in 1 by the bishop.

[@brawletsgooo]

4:38 That was soooo funny😂😂😂. I didn't even look the board. I was like what the heck is wrong with you, there is not a checkmate in 1 move. But then I start laughing😂😂😂

[@chessscape]

🤣🤣🤣

[@LIMCHUYOUMoe]

me too

[@geekspeed300]

This puzzle is completly crazy !

[@TheDigiWorld]

When I saw this position I was like "bruh how is that a checkmate!!" Then suddenly I looked at the queen and saw the small 7 written, and then it immediately clicked what was going on 😂

[@RedTunder74]

7:41 bishop takes knight on G4 mate

[@Manish3177]

Good puzzles. For the fourth one, I could be wrong but bishop takes knight on g4 may be another solution.

[@netjunkie9]

I thought so too but f5, took me forever to find it.

[@rjohnson8ball]

I was looking for this in the comments. I wish the video mentioned BxN fails by f5.

[@stain_in_life]

yeah pawn f5 prevent checkmate in 1

[@rip_techno134]

i found bishop but not the knight checkmate

[@batavuskoga]

The pawn on f7 can go to f5, preventing the checkmate. I was also wrong about this one

[@DeceptiBot1183]

Look’s like I’m a cheater.😢

[@miltontalen4386]

Same

[@chessscape]

if you consider yourself being a cheater, because you have vision, imagination and you think outside the box, then i believe you're on the right path for success my friend 😍😍

[@averagetowermaker8097]

same

[@ctn219]

I thought a bit in first,then played the holly move EN PASSANT

[@ctn219]

@@chessscape these were hard puzzles,but i found all of them;after watching alphazero and this,my dad will prob get crushed so hard today he will pull the adoption document

[@panos64_07]

8:27 The bishop from another universe:

[@justanleo4800]

A bishop always snipe my rooooooook

[@danielyuan9862]

I saw Bxg4 on the fourth puzzle, and at the last second, I saw N(b)d4. And for the longest time I thought both were checkmate and you made a mistake. But I found out I was wrong! Haha!

[@marktyree8360]

Missed pawn f4 too

[@batavuskoga]

@@marktyree8360 I really thought Bxg4 was the checkmate, but I also missed the pawn on f7

[@crazyrun2024]

it's actually just Nd4 because the other knight that could go to d4 is pinned!

[@MaskOfCinder]

@@marktyree8360 *Pawn f5

[@TênHọ-f8x]

Puzzle 1: dxc6+# Puzzle 2: O-O-O+# Puzzle 3: Nd3+# Puzzle 4: Nd4+# Puzzle 5: Kc5+#

[@ToxicSoul03]

Puzzle 1, not even 3 seconds in I screamed EN PASSANT!!!!

[@basteala525]

Out of curiosity, for that 4th puzzle, is anything stopping Bishop takes G4 from being mate? Edit. Ah. Pawn block. Yeaaaah those are the little things I miss that have kept me from cracking 1000.

[@chessscape]

for some reason we miss the f pawn. its weird i know 😅

[@RealCubeBlitz]

@@chessscape Nf3 to d4 is also mate

[@willvo3101]

Bruh

[@willvo3101]

When u forgor the f pawn

[@willvo3101]

I forgor it too

[@JosephY9910]

3rd puzzle was so frustrating haha. I realized the ranks were swapped, but it did not calculate in my mind the way it affected the pawns

[@chessscape]

these exercises allow you to see deeper in every position. doing more of them increases chances you see a move you wouldn’t have found otherwise 😉

[@waicheng1227]

@@chessscapeAlso king and queen are in wrong position is this intentional

[@MikeNaples]

Yes, intentional for the sake of the puzzle. Doubt you will see this position often in regular play.@@waicheng1227

[@eepmeds]

guys for the fourth puzzle Bxg4 is not mate, because f5

[@YassinStudio.]

Bro Wth

[@Whitexsz]

​@@YassinStudio.Hes right

[@sdgfv-amongus]

1. If that guy move his pawn double step at last step, then it's solvable. 2. If king and rook didn't move, then it's solvable.

[@marcocannavacciuolo4395]

First: dxc e.p.# Second: O-O-O# Third: Nd3# Fourth: Nbd4# Fifth: Kc5#

[@andrewwong6500]

Guess: en passant? Watched 1 second

[@Useless22]

7:40 or you could take the G4 knight with the H3 bishop instead.

[@baldrian22]

pawn would be able to jump f7 to f5 blocking the bishop you moved to G4 and that is stopping the checkmate in 1. the knight is the only possibility for cm in one.

[@WGWP]

“This is the hardest puzzle” me who solved it in one second

[@Shrvmpy]

the 3rd checkmate was so cool, i didnt even think about that

[@chessscape]

😉

[@zacharygabrielsanchez]

1st puzzle: En passant# with the d6 pawn (rarest checkmate btw) 2nd puzzle: Castle queenside/longside castle (another rare checkmate btw) 3rd puzzle: ? 4th puzzle: Bxg4/Bishop takes knight g4 but thats also checkmate right 5th puzzle: King c5/Kc5 (I promise i wrote the answers before seeing the answers from the video i promiseeeeeeee!)

[@TheGamingG810]

I solved all the chess puzzles except the fourth one, I though that Bxg4+ was the correct move, but then I realized that the pawn could block

[@BlackRockExecutive]

Me too, but I didn't realize f5 until I read the comments

[@jovindsouza3407]

1. Dxc6 en passant mate 2. Castles queenside mate 3. Nd3 mate 4. Nbd4 mate 5. Kc5 mate

[@TUNGTZEJUNMoe]

*founds the mate in 1* "YOU BECAME THE THING YOU SWORE TO DESTROY‘

[@fernandoviskygames3242]

I guessed right 4 out of 5, the 3rd one I already knew so it kinda doesn't count. I missed the 4th one, I thought it was Bxg4+, didn't notice that the pawn could block.

[@jackplay3791]

8:27 The bishop: hEllO frOm ThE othEr SiDE

[@advitiya259]

The first puzzle gave me enough enlightment to go on to solve every other puzzle correctly

[@TomKaren94]

Got them all. On the third one, a huge hint is that the black king and queen are on the wrong squares to be in the initial position.

[@MrMagyar5]

Ok, so you didn't tell us the last move black played when you started the video. You said, the only hint I can give you is the last moved played by black, which you then proceed to not tell us. Lol. I was like.. damn.. there's no checkmate in one on this first puzzle. Then after you debunked the checkmate you tell us the last move by black. It helps if you actually give us the full context of the puzzle before asking us to solve it. Was the puzzle to figure out the last move black made as well? Lol. So, the point here is not that you are finding check in one, it's to figure out the silly ways which the puzzle is configured. I would give these a 2/10 for actual puzzle value. It's not outside the box thinking, it's a puzzle meant to be figured out by discarding all the knowledge in chess which you usually have access to. If i were actually trying to solve for mate in 1, I would know black's last move instead of figuring it out before I solve for mate in 1. I would KNOW that the king and rook had not castled, and I would know that someone just set the board up for a puzzle like they did in #4. #3 and #4 were easy. One and 2 were hard, not because you have to think outside the box, but because relevant information you should have known wasn't disclosed to you. Remember, you never said the King and rook had not moved, but you also never said they had remained stationary either. Relevant to the puzzle.

[@justintime2026]

He did say "think of black's last move" and the last played move is never relevant in a tactic puzzle unless it involves en passant. The puzzles were all simple enough that you could use process of elimination to realize they're trick questions and try to solve them accordingly.

[@motelghost477]

7:30 Bishop H3 takes Knight G4 is also checkmate.

[@artificialminer6566]

Checkmate in 2 due to the f pawn blocking. We’re looking for mate in 1 here but you are technically correct on the checkmate idea

[@zeinebouzoubeir8579]

Thank ryad this is very useful (and i solved them all) can you please make more of them.

[@chessscape]

i m posting another one tomorrow 😉

[@Alterr.]

These puzzles do stretched my mind 😅, I almost can't find checkmate in puzzle #3 until you revealed the final and true answer. Impressive puzzles.

[@evgen84]

Chessscape is the best ❤

[@RKGD13]

7:30 doesn't Bxg4 also work in this position?

[@hipposdofly]

Nope pawn can block

[@Banana58123]

Pawn to f5 blocks check

[@paulnewman2000]

That was fun, thank you.

[@ummhi4622]

7:38 doesn't bishop takes knight also work? (bishop takes g4)

[@chessscape]

nope 😅 look at the pawn on f7……

[@infin1te-official]

@@chessscape I got tunnel visioned when I saw the comments talk about Bxg4 but during the video, I actually solved it pretty easily XD

[@ummhi4622]

​@@chessscapelmao I didn't see that...

[@Faleler]

I havent even press video on 1st puzzle and I solved it on thumbnail

[@Jungleali]

7:33 what about bishop g4

[@chessscape]

look at the pawn on f7….

[@justinrodriguez7005]

Love your vids keep up the good work

[@chessscape]

Thank you !

[@Michul3]

7:35 i thought Bishop takes g4

[@radzizhassan5451]

Yeah

[@mariagvasquez2688]

It is bxg4 he just didn’t see that move Edit: Nevermind the f7 pawn can move to f5 and block the check

[@ToyotaRoblox2]

bro these actually tricked my mind

[@inferno4693]

This is one of the most entertaining puzzle videos I have ever seen, Brilliant 🤩

[@chessscape]

Wow, thanks!

[@geekspeed300]

True !

[@Canuovea]

I appreciated this set. Thank you. (Minor spoilers for #3 in my comments, do not click "read more" until done). 1) Got it. (This was my favourite of them, I think) 2) Got it. Very quickly compared to the first, which I think helped put me in a certain frame of mind. 3) Wait a minute. Sneaky! But I might have gotten it. How odd! No, I didn't get it. I almost did though. I noticed that the Black "Queen" was on the wrong coloured space, so I assumed you'd changed the pieces around to where the Queen was a King and the King was a Queen. That would mean the White "King" was a Queen and could checkmate the black "Queen" on C2. But that's not it. Too outside the box, there, and I never played a lot of virtual chess. 4) Yup, got it. Not too bad this one. I agree it is the easiest thus far, save for maybe 2. 5) Got it. Very relaxed. Found it to be the easiest one.

[@Muesst-ihr-wissen]

on the 4 th one you could also mate with bishop g4

[@eepmeds]

no, pawn blocks

[@cloury5150]

no because they play f5

[@twainrocks4771]

Blacks f pawn block

[@chessscape]

look at the f pawn…..

[@Rayan223]

for the knight checkmate, isn't Kf3-d4+ a checkmate too, so there're 2 checkmates

[@chessscape]

its pinned 😅

[@marioprogamer12345]

Hi Chessscape I’m a 700 newbie (started playing on 1 March 2023), this episode is very interesting and I am enjoying your videos (especially the shorts and cHeCkMaTe), keep it going!

[@johndalesalacsacan3695]

On 7:25 you can also but the bishop on g4 because eat the knight no one is protecting the knight checkmate

[@papapandaboy1092]

pawn f5 and there is no mate

[@johndalesalacsacan3695]

Didint see that, thank you

[@papapandaboy1092]

@@johndalesalacsacan3695 no problem ;)

[@morselclash6414]

Tbh for the first one i just looked at the bishop and I saw the pawn and I'm like "oh, that's easy" (btw I'm like 800)

[@KhangMinh-o4p]

At 7:23. The other knight could go to d4 but h well

[@artificialminer6566]

The other knight is actually pinned here but I respect the thinking

[@vgeorge97]

For the 4th one ( one with a lot of knights and queens) Bxg4 is also checkmate

[@NewCaledoniaPremium]

No, there's f5

[@Vladimirtri]

@@NewCaledoniaPremiumthe bishop is controlling the f5 square

[@Vladimirtri]

Btw, Nfd4 is a checkmate to rigth?

[@NewCaledoniaPremium]

@@Vladimirtri yes, but Bxg4+ isn't mate, But Nbd4# is, also Nfd4+ isn't even legal because it's pinned

[@NewCaledoniaPremium]

@@Vladimirtri no, that horsey is pinned by the queen on h8

[@evgen84]

The first checkmate is capturing the pond

[@Ancoraludel]

En passant. I found at 0:34 of the video. By watching the board I didn't understand what was the correct move. The 2nd one at 2:00. It's pretty obvious knowing a trick is needed. I didn't check the letters and numbers in the 3rd: best puzzle ever!

[@GameMonkeh]

I did it in multiple attempts. Does it count as a win?

[@RoniRonkoKovatch]

BRILLIANT VIDEO!! 🙂 What is the music in the background though?

[@chessscape]

cant remember i use so many :)

[@RoniRonkoKovatch]

@@chessscape This is a blunder by you... 😉

[@ElevatorFan1428]

0:16 dxc6# is the answer 2:09 O-O-O# is the answer

[@Zxter]

The second one made me punch myself 😂

[@thewolf9835]

7:28 bishop on h3 could take knight on g4 checkmate

[@artificialminer6566]

To which the pawn blocks it and it’s mate in 2 instead of 1, close though

[@thewolf9835]

​@@artificialminer6566 ohh, thanks didn't saw that

[@artificialminer6566]

@@thewolf9835 I've said the same thing to like 10 other people lol

[@NachatPanoon-ob7tf]

7:37 bishop can take the knight and checkmate too

[@7636kei]

cue the "... f5" (i.e., the pawn block).

[@codyodie]

Castling

[@geekspeed300]

1st puzzle : i seeing imediatly lol 2nd puzzle : chessscape's short so ez 3rd puzzle : the most bieautiful one i think i never seeing a checkmate more bieautiful than this good lesson for thinking "outside the box" completly crazy 4th puzzle : take a time but i get it quickly 5th puzzle : ez I know its hard to find more but @chessscape, can you do other video or position like this ?

[@oreojonn]

7:30 the other knight on f3 goes to d4 is also checkmate

[@lawrencewen1164]

3:20 If the ranks weren't swapped then this would be a possible position. The black knights can jump out and capture the white pieces, then hop back

[@chessscape]

i agree 😉

[@second1387]

but the king and queen are in the wrong squares

[@johnshaw6702]

I actually enjoyed that. The last two were obvious. The en passant in a real game would have been obvious in to an experienced player, actually playing the game. This seems to be from the approach that you just walked into the room and looked at the board. Not a bad way of expanding your view of what may be possible.

[@NSDSboy]

😊These puzzles are amazing 👏

[@SantiagoJoseCastellanosG-bx9jb]

In puzzle # 4, you can also move the bishop to g4 to checkmate

[@Areejfz]

Totally agree, click thumbs up so that everybody sees it

[@qqma4791]

No because the f pawn blocks unfortunately

[@usemyduckie9919]

For the fourth puzzle you can take the knight with your bishop to checkmate

[@beat_aidan]

They can block it with the pawn on f7, so not really

[@usemyduckie9919]

@@beat_aidan oh you’re right but at least it’s mate in two

[@Not_Nation]

En Passant is my favourite play

[@ChrysisMemes]

Welp the checkmate in 1 is forcing your opponent to resign buy telling them there's checkmate in 1

[@thebee_rl1]

I solved the first puzzle in like 10s bro 💀💀💀

[@Shlok-ib6sv]

Position 4- bishop takes knight at g4 is also checkmate

[@resengor1300]

7:23 There is another option for a checkmate: bishop H3-G4

[@skillsoff]

When you touched the king, i saw that you can castle and realized 😅

[@angolahchong5192]

Knight d4

[@ZiggyM777]

When I saw the two pawns next to each other I instantly saw the checkmate.

[@PR-fk5yb]

1st puzzle. A similar position was reached years ago in a tournament. The referee stated the c5 move was illegal... as this is the equivalent for the black king to put itself in check.. there is some argument to be made for this. . The black pawn never indeed reach c5. It was killed before on c6.

[@oakleystactics579]

The clue on puzzle 3 is the queen is on the white square

[@musicalsawpetewentworth6102]

Puzzle number 3: Because queen is on white it is not the initial position. You don't need to see the squares numbered

[@storyarcsg2862]

1.Pawn takes c6 using en passant. 2.Long Castle 3.Kinda difficult, thanks for hint also it is Nd3# Smothered Mate 4.Nb to d4# 5.Kc5# Too easy, my son solved this on my device ez. No cheats, here is an actual hard one. 1 Black king on a8 1 black Bishop on b8 2 black pawns on a7 and b7 1 white pawn on b6 1 white rook on a1 1 white king on c8 White to move, mate in 2

[@yanneldor]

4th puzzle, isn't also ND4 checkmate? (talking about the knight on F4) that's the move I spotted. i am curious if I am correct about it.

[@chessscape]

the knight on f3 is pinned

[@yanneldor]

@@chessscape noticed it now. But at least I had the right idea. Thank you

[@randakarim4431]

Guys I know you all thought Bxg4 is a mate but it’s not because black can block with f5

[@indrajitchaki3791]

You can also capture the g4 knight on the 4th puzzle and checkmate him in 1 move.

[@JohnSmith-ey9xs]

Nope, Black interposes by moving Pawn f7-f5.

[@huseynmcidli3109]

Position 2 castle checkmate👍👍👍

[@WGWP]

En passant is forced 💀

[@srisivasahit723]

For the 4th chess puzzle first i see there are many pieces in the board i see that bishop takes knight and it also covering the square of f5 and it would be a checkmate i experting that he say bishop takes knight but he say knight d4 checkmate i was really confused there are two checkamtes and he didnt say bishop takes knight

[@TeaMilk1]

7:25 you can capture the night w/ the bishop for checkmate

[@vantrinhthe1948]

7:28 you could just also capture the knight on g4 with the bishop, I don't see a problem with that.

[@ayuplaygames]

Black can block with the pawn However in this position I think the knight on Nf3 to Nd4 is also correct

[@vantrinhthe1948]

@@ayuplaygames Oh, didn't see that coming.

[@julienasriel]

@@ayuplaygames The knight on f3 is pinned so impossible :)

[@ayuplaygames]

@@julienasriel I see, I didn't see the queen on corner. Lol

[@jackplay3791]

0:36 You can see the en passant square pop up

[@BruhDOTcam]

Wow, pretty nice puzzles. I solved the first one before entering the video(using the thumbnail of the video), and the only one I didn't get correct was the third one because I thought the numbers I saw were reversed are probably just a mistake or something, so I didn't pay quite attention to them. 😅

[@BruhDOTcam]

Of course I meant the ones I did "By myself". If we include all, I got the third one correct right after you pointed out that the pawns can't capture backward.

[@ekkehartmeyer701]

Your last statement was good: even in real life you can find a solution if you accept in your mind that there always is a solution.

[@Pro_NotSouAnnXD]

7:44 bro I saw bg4 is that correct?

[@DawudGaming123]

Thumbnail Puzzle: Pawn To C6 En Pessant

[@moumouhigi5837]

ur such a wise man

[@chessscape]

everybody is wise is his own way 😉

[@andyh5666]

That Castling scenario messed with my head. But then I'd had a few 😎

[@MyChevySonic]

Lol, troll. I should have known the third puzzle. The black queen is on a white square. Queen always gets her own color square.

[@Lowey681]

There was two mate for the puzzle that had like 7 queens on the bored the first one was night to D4 but the second one was bishops takes night on g4

[@PrakashPrabhu-w2n]

Correct bro i was going to reply the same

[@chessscape]

after Bg4... i push f5 😎

[@chessscape]

@@PrakashPrabhu-w2n and the f pawn? :)

[@Lowey681]

@@chessscape cool

[@cyborgprogemgamer3533]

7:40 why can’t we do bishop g4?

[@artificialminer6566]

Mate in 1 -> Mate in 2 (pawn blocks bishop)

[@cyborgprogemgamer3533]

@ oh

[@artificialminer6566]

@@cyborgprogemgamer3533 Don’t worry about it we all make mistakes, the more you practice the better you get 💪

[@vibhaverma3988]

Omg the first puzzle was literally a genius

[@maddockhenery5770]

I saw the solution as soon as I heard to take into consideration the last move played, immediately thought of: en passant checkmate

[@AarviRana-be8jm]

7:23 In this position can we also play Bxg4? There is no defence

[@heeeraj60]

Chessescape you can also deliver checkmate in the 4th puzzle by taking with the bishop isn’t it correct

[@thedudehimself69420]

3:19 I got to this exact and I mean exact position in 90 moves. Do you know anywhere I can paste the PGN?

[@LilyYe-mq3gr]

I found more then one check mate