Find Your Chess Rating Level With This Puzzle!

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🔹 A Puzzle That Tells YOUR Chess Level - • A Puzzle That Tells YO...
In this video lesson, GM Igor Smirnov challenges you with a special chess puzzle that will help you find out your chess rating level.
Your task is to find the best move for Black and calculate all the supporting variations. Feel free to pause the video, take your time to calculate necessary variations, and then continue watching the video.
Finally, let us know in the comments your solution to this puzzle and your actual chess rating level.
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► Chapters
00:00 Find Your Chess Rating Level With This Puzzle
00:24 Your Rating Level is 800 IF...
00:53 Your Rating Level is 1200 IF...
01:38 Your Rating Level is 1600 IF...
03:14 Your Level is Hikaru Nakamura IF...
03:37 Your Rating Level is 1800 IF...
05:33 Your Rating Level is 1900 IF...
06:41 Your Rating Level is 2200 IF...
07:17 Your Rating Level is 2500 IF...
08:53 Your Rating Level is 2700 IF...
10:18 Comment your solution & rating below
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[@GMIgorSmirnov]

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[@cranexe9035]

Hello

[@darrylkassle361]

Can you do one of these regularly please . These are very educational and really show where your thinking - calculation is lacking. I am sure everybody agrees that you should make this a series or common feature of the channel. Sure you have many more

[@BobChess]

Bro using puzzle video to roast Hikaru 😂

[@dennisdennisdennis7]

?

[@Yuni.05]

@@dennisdennisdennis7 3:14

[@dennisdennisdennis7]

@@Yuni.05 t

[@premshah7685]

I really love these know your elo puzzles. They give me false hope that I am higher rated than I actually am ! 😂😂 Btw jokes apart, I really love this content

[@simoncharles6664]

me too, i love being called grand master even if i'm 2000 :D

[@robertwilken9542]

I hope that you continue with puzzles like this!

[@albertdeckel9429]

Thanks for the video! I really enjoy these videos that include a puzzle and/or a way to gauge how we are progressing in our chess, and hope you will include them every so often in your lessons! Thanks again!

[@apiolxi]

Very educational. Yes please analyze more puzzles like this. Thank you.

[@cranexe9035]

I'm a 1530 rapid and I saw Bb4. It has a similar idea as Ba3, but it's more forcing. I saw Nd2(But I simply have Bxd2 because I don't want his knight to come defend the king and also to give up the bishop for the most I can and then I saw Rg2 and stuff) and axb4 Rg2 Bxg2 Rg8(Bxb7+ Qxb7#) Ng3 (Nh5 I thought was winning on the spot but missed that the queen is attacking too so they don't have to take with the knight) and calculated a lot in Rxg3 but stopped when I found no way. Edit: I just saw Qc6 after Bxg2 and it's completely winning

[@chittadash8702]

Bb4 Ng3??

[@user-ep1sq2pw1k]

Thanks Igor. I did pursue a number of the options you mentioned and some others which would've failed in light of your explanations. I would rate myself on this puzzle somewhere between 1200 & 1600. I very much enjoyed the attempts and your way of analysing the problem. Yes, I think these videos are very helpful in training me to think more broadly.

[@Polish_internet_troll]

these puzzles are working, I'm on 1600 and I've seen exactly everything for 1600

[@sus9331]

İ love this videos pls make a series of find your elo

[@tylerlowrey7718]

Yes, great video and I would like to see more like this. Thx.

[@elasticharmony]

Interesting; one of best kinds of problems for chess, these level solutions. Good job

[@JaSoNZ16]

I love these videos so much keep them coming. Super accurate!!!

[@peterbago4574]

Yes we like this content, please keep it coming.

[@mustaphakassab3943]

Thanks our great Coach , please make more videos like this

[@ptj1ptj172]

I saw upto what 1600 level saw, but actually got a bit deeper into that calculating various king responses. Never saw Qc3 before the light sqaure bishop exchange.Iam 1600-1625 rated, and that pretty much tells where I belong to.

[@venus00413]

Around 1100-1200 rating and I saw the chaos on G2 square with a sacrifice but didn’t see past Kh3 what is next, so seems pretty accurate to me 👍🏻

[@robbob7923]

Lots of fun. You were spot on!

[@jpc812]

This pegged me perfectly. Only been playing seriously for a few months and I am around 1000. I saw almost exactly what you said i would at that level. Rook takes, bishop takes, etc. expose king, check with the queen. I stopped there. I have such a hard time visualizing beyond that many moves and my brain stops, makes the move and then hopes for the best. Keep up the test puzzles like this. Great stuff!

[@sonnit8223]

Im around 1000 rating too. I got to the 2200 in the puzzle 😅

[@GMIgorSmirnov]

► Chapters 00:00 Find Your Chess Rating Level With This Puzzle 00:24 Your Rating Level is 800 IF... 00:53 Your Rating Level is 1200 IF... 01:38 Your Rating Level is 1600 IF... 03:14 Your Level is Hikaru Nakamura IF... 03:37 Your Rating Level is 1800 IF... 05:33 Your Rating Level is 1900 IF... 06:41 Your Rating Level is 2200 IF... 07:17 Your Rating Level is 2500 IF... 08:53 Your Rating Level is 2700 IF... 10:18 Comment your solution & rating below

[@alexeyrb1807]

Qc6 after Bxg2 (that long range bishop checkmate) is a beautiful line, missed that one (within a minute) unfortunately. But in your Kh3 line (2:26), Qf3+ is not the only option. I also looked at stuff like Ne4 (to then jump to Ng5 if Ng3 if played). The king can't just go back to g2 yet (then a move like Nc3 wins the white queen), nor g3, which is blocked by the knight. If white plays Ng3, blacks responds with Ng5, drawing the white king even further out, without an easy and immediate way back. If white plays slow, black gets some time to activate more pieces (the other rook, the other knight) against the king. I did not evaluate to the end here, but I think that this line maybe deserves a bit more attention.

[@29_sakshamsrivastava11]

I'm 1450, and got 2500. I found the queen sac pretty fast, but the knight f4 line took me a little while. I wouldn't pride myself a lot as I've watched your other chess rating puzzles and knew EXACTLY how I needed to approach it to get a high elo level P.S :- Please make more of these!

[@29_sakshamsrivastava11]

Edit : 1500 now. I don’t play that often so that took some time :)

[@29_sakshamsrivastava11]

Edit : 1600 BABY

[@sayyedfehan6695]

this is very unique and usefull content keep it up

[@mikeanderson9278]

These are very helpful yeah I really like these kinds of problems keep publishing them❤😂

[@proschach_de]

Nice - Pls. just some more of them (Puzzles) to climbing up the ladder. ;-D

[@pieterjdekooker3123]

There will be a lot of chaos (trades) on g2. White will have 3 moves after Qc6 check. He will have Kf1, Kh3 and Kg3... Kf1 and Kh3 will lose to Qf3 check... Kf3 is the only line that give some hope to White when Black must coordinate the Queen and the Knights in order to check mate his king .. The White king is effectively in a cage... One can play Nf4 check on g3. The King cannot go to f3 because of the discovered check by moving the Knight to d2. The king will have to move up to the Black camp. Moves Qh6 can be important in some of these variations... The White king is trapped on g and h files...

[@mysteriouseid9310]

Keep going! 👏

[@_______v]

I really like this type of content!

[@marckraemer6919]

please more of that

[@wurzelausc]

I m around 2100 but I have seen the variations until fxg2. But I have missed Ng3 as defensive resource in the earlier variation. So I m 2500 and 1600 at the same time. It feels like a GM playing like a patzer.

[@brunosanguigni6478]

Hard puzzle,Qc6 and Bxa3 were insane !

[@shivamchouhan5077]

Omg I can't believe I found the 2200 variation while I am at 1400 elo!

[@stardust4001]

This is my fav series of yours

[@alanhowe]

I could clearly determine my rating is between 1255 and 1911 with a side of stockfish, and this correlates to my bullet and rapid ratings and explains my correspondence performance too.

[@Riker-ER]

👍Your puzzles are the best!

[@actiniumrogue]

I’m around 1200 elo online, I did consider Qc6 by instinct knowing Na5 couldn’t stop it, but I knew that there were knight sac thoughts in the way. Getting the white king out and about usually isn’t the right way to checkmate with only a queen as the king’s pieces can help defend or block (like opening up space for the white queen to move). Honestly I missed Ng3 but found the Nf4 blocking tech. I guess my instincts are good but not refined so I’ll put myself at 1600 because I would likely see the boogeyman and end up missing Ng3 in a real match.

[@ElBoutre]

Damn, Igor, i moved from 1600 on your last puzzle to 1800 on this one. Even saw the 1900 idea of connecting the rooks. Your puzzles do me well, since my lichess rating ist about 1000. To be fair, last time i actually played a stranger and not my amateur friends is more than a year ago. My tactics rating base on lichess is 2000 though, because thats what i mainly do. A few puzzles here and there.

[@LokangoFreewar15]

My move wasn't Ba3 but Bb4 so it threats to win the exchange and it's more forcing, funny thing is that I saw Ng3 to avoid the sacs, but didn't see it when Kxg2

[@salamon9114]

Does bishop d6 work as an initial move with sacking ideas on h2 after e4 followed by ng5?

[@sohampandharpatte3700]

No, white then could have time to protect his king.... You could go for bishop b4 attacking the rool

[@alansauran8767]

I like this "puzzle from real play" format (and all your formats). My guess was 1...Nh5 to prevent 2Ng3 and threatening 2...Qc6. ELO about 1300

[@DESTA.]

My rating is 1050, I took a break from chess after reaching that (about 2 months), and I got the 1800 rating as you said. Got stuck at the NG3 move. Now I'm motivated to get back into it! 😁

[@gmecho34]

I get the answer haha.. I hope you post more puzzles like this.

[@matthewrippingsby5384]

I got to the very edge of the queen sac for the bishop checkmate. 2200 thinking piercing the 1450 fog of my current 'developmental' stage... Good video, thanks

[@Shrimptje]

I saw Queen C6, but i did not see Knight to A5, but did see Knight to G3 so i suppose i am somewhat below 1800. My club rating is ~1300. I did take around 6 minutes to calculate though, and came across all the lower rated solutions as well

[@dalkapur]

What a beautiful checkmate.

[@jamesshepherd7727]

I wish my rating was as good as I solve your puzzles.

[@Arthas30000]

~1800, though IRL I'm ~1600. I was quite happy with the Qc6 idea. Went through all those low level ideas as candidates but refuted them the way you described. Didn't see how whit could survive the Qc6 idea and not be worse and thought that was sufficient lol

[@a.k.7840]

I first saw Bxg2 Bxg2 Rxg2 Kxg2 Qc6+ and it wasn't clear that I would get enough advantage. I might play that in blitz though. I saw Qc6 (a mate threat) and that Ng3 prevents the idea. I only glanced at Bxa3 and didn't calculate it at all. Oddly, I never considered starting with Rxg2 in any of my lines simply because a move that produces check is more forcing. This is probably because I knew it's a puzzle.

[@ronshaw635]

My best calculated variation commenced with Bxa3 to link my rooks, then aligning my queen and bishop on the diagonal, however I saw white's knight could play interference. However, I did not satisfactorily solve the dilemma. My Daily rating is 1642, and puzzles 1807.

[@joshuaadamstithakayoutubel2490]

I was thinking e4 to open up the dark diagonal for the queen. I got the lowest rating. I noticed the rook and bishop’s attack on that pawn near the king, but I assumed that it wouldn’t work out.

[@ianwands3111]

I enjoyed the puzzle and your explanation. I don't think I could identify and analyse all the lines that you did but came to think that this was the solution 1. ..... Qc6 2. Nc4 dxc4 3. Qc3 Qxc3 4. bxc3 Bxc3 5. Bb2 Bxb2

[@garysturgess6757]

lol. I saw the sacrifice but I didn't think it led anywhere concrete (evidently didn't calculate far enough). I then evaluated that I had an extra pawn, and that White didn't seem to have any immedate threats, so I just decided to play h5 with the intention of breaking through with a pawn storm. (I'm not claiming that I saw the "Magnus variation" or anything close - merely that it seemed to me that I was already winning, and that I didn't need to wager a rook on breaking through).

[@officialcoollord]

After Qc6 other variations from white Kg3 Rg8/Kh3 Qg2/Kh4/#Qg4

[@firstaccount888]

Cool. I’m somewhere between 800 and 2200! LOL. This was an interesting one. The other puzzle videos I’ve seen him do were more straightforward. In this one I got some of the advanced concepts but missed a couple of the simpler comments. I got all the way to the queen/bishop attack but didn’t see the pawn solution as the final step.

[@radical8311]

1300. I saw the potential setups with Rxg2 or Bxg2 or Qc6, I didnt really like Rxg2 because white doesnt have to take the rook straight away, so I was looking at lines like Rxg2, h3 etc. Curious to know if anyone else looked at this and knows why its bad for white given Bxg2 was best.

[@MartinV1]

Happy to learn that I'm a (puzzle) GM 🥳🥳 with only 1800 elo online

[@user-hp6vi8ho4s]

Trying to bring my game to another level 😊

[@MindfulMusings-fy2fx]

Bb4 threatening rook on e1 as a distraction to open up my rooks on back rank. he has to deal with bishop otherwise he loess the rook on e1. he can take bishop with pawn or block with pawn onc2 to c3, or ignore the threat, either way rooks are now connected. that was my first initial thought.

[@KevinWood44]

Can u post the PGN please?

[@Zamiroh]

I'm not going to spend a lot of time. I am eyeing qc6, then sacking my rook on g2. If bishop takes its mate. If not, then push the rook to g1 and force king to recapture. Then qh1 mate. Obviously there could be some counter play, but I looked for less then a min!

[@xy2319]

I’m 1100 and I saw the queen sac and then nf4, but I didn’t realize my pawn would be on f4 after the capture so I just gave up on it after I realized the rook and queen could move

[@ht3beartom330]

1.Qc6.Bf2. QXP -checkmate.

[@misharatkevich9808]

Not so good rating in general (around 1400-1600ish? I don't recall) and the last time I played was ages ago, but I somehow shot _way_ above my regular skill level on this one. Fairly quickly realized that just sac'ing everything on g2 is not likely to work out, and tried to search for something more forcing, after which I found the Qc6 move. Gave it some thought, didn't see any good response and started watching... and a few minutes later, before you even got there, I suddenly realized white has the Nf4/Qe2 combo. I did _not_ see f3 in advance, at all. It did look obvious when the position was on the board, but I didn't consider how impactful f3 and f2 would actually be.

[@chaflegrand9401]

This one I stopped at 2500 level 😅, after f3 and I saw rook e2 to defend the bishop g2 and I stopped, I didn't See stockfish defensive moves BIshop take d4 or even the h3 move. By the way still I am a FM with elo rating at 2300 / 2250 +

[@KKKand45]

White is not forced to take rook on G2 . White should move pawn on H 2 instead and move the king when rook moves to deliver a check with the bishop. My first move as black I would move queen to c3 and sac the queen on h2 after

[@23fyrebird]

No rating here, I'm a casual. My response was Qc6. What I did not see was Ng3 to block the rook. I figured maybe white would try to go on offense after Qc6, not seeing the setup or even welcoming a queen sac.

[@caissa222]

I stopped analysed after ...f3 as that line is clearly best. Saw Rxg2 and Qc6 Nf4 and f3 etc. in a few seconds, though surprising given years of tactics practice.

[@lelaihoang8722]

that's Nakamura part is really cool

[@dougm5699]

I was able to solve the whole sequence, but, it is complex enough and took me a long enough time that the reality is I would have not been able to work it out in a real game and not made the rook sacrifice. It was only because I knew black had a winning line that I continued to work through the line. I did immediately look at the winning line, so my guess is the rating given for me is correct. I have a uscf rating of 1750, no idea how that translates to an online rating.

[@markjleonard]

I made the mistake of ruling out Na5 permanently instead of just for one move. So I analysed 1...Qc6 2. Ng3 h5 3. c3 h4 4. cxd4 hxg3 5. Rc1 Nc5 6. Rxe5

[@dmitryweinstein315]

I found 1. ...Rxg2 and 2 ...Qc6 rather quickly, which, according to your scale, would give me 2200, however in practice I can't get above 1200-1300 in a chess training app :)

[@shilpasalunke760]

Can you make these types of videos frequently 🥺🥺

[@vickymalviya5363]

I am able to solve the puzzle but at the time of matches I am not able to perform that much why and how can I improve

[@mdavy1]

Queen to c6 and unless black doesn't do somehing to defend immediately queen takes pawn leads to checkmate. No need to sacrifice the rook

[@rich842]

Found the brilliant queen sac but by pure "i think this is good", so id say im a bit less than 2200 lol since my rapid is 700 💀

[@jaisuryasathyanarayanan3870]

It's a Lil bothersome for me , as I ended up with a completely different result, however it was not very efficient, and I definetly did not see that "bishop alone" checkmate at all , so I'll just go with my rating that I received before which was 1200.

[@JoeyFknD]

I am much better in a puzzle setting when I know there is a "right" answer. I regularly get the 1800-2200 answer on these videos, but my rating is like 1300 lol. In-game not so much. Should I start playing slower time formats so I can sit and look at the position I guess?

[@officialcoollord]

It’s ideal…Ba3/a3 Bg2/Bxg2 Rg2/Kxg2 Qc6/Kf7 NG4/Kf8 Nh2/Kf7 #Qf3

[@lenlewis4855]

not sure about white's replies, but I like: PE4, QH2+,BxQ, NG4,NF2 ++ Thanks for these puzzles, please keep them coming

[@Hallowi]

I think like 1600 but I am pretty good in sacrificing and Forking and draw-ed a losing game with 2000 chess bot and also won with my friend who is 1700 multiple times and also did a brilliant move- rook sacrifice for luring queen and Forking it with knight and a great move- bishop sac for luring king + rook fork with queen in 2 consecutive days idk my rating honestly can anyone guess I'll take the average one in replies

[@user-tm1qt5zq4f]

igor i had e5 and then sac the queen in the future

[@abdumamed6602]

I saw the queen battery and analyzed 4 variations all end with me knocking the brother out but did not see the knight to g3 block so i will give myself 1400 for the good try (am 1300) in reality😊

[@freedom88lol]

I was thinking of forking the queen and king by sacrificing the rook

[@curtisw0234]

I’m 2000 and decided and saw all the obvious attempts and didn’t bother to calculate because I’m lazy and nothing looked forcing enough. Certainly didn’t see rxg2 bxg2 qc6. I probably would have pulled a nakamura 😉 maybe I’m too blitz minded

[@Alexedits0913]

I have a different solution I wanted to push my h pawn So that i create some weaknesses

[@finesseandstyle]

300 elo and i saw Bd5 Qc6 and then Rxg2, but i have no idea if that works

[@animeepicbattle4006]

Im not sure if this is accurate because my max rating in blitz is just 1700 but I was able to see the solution within 5 mins. Does this mean I have a potential to improve more like a GM? Haha

[@mb59621]

I chose to switch off my phone and study . 3000 elo response.

[@user-dh1pv9dj8j]

My peak elo is 1807 and but i solved the 2500 variation

[@bluenightptbnpt5889]

Im 1200 and I did see rook takes g2, bishop takes then queen c6. I saw that the opponent can defend g2 with the knight, and when pawn takes, the queen defends. But then I didnt see anything. This puzzle gives me 2500 but I am actually not even close, I blunder my queen a lot.

[@bluenightptbnpt5889]

2200 tbh, becaus i didnt see anything after knigh to f4

[@vowkix9003]

I calculated rxg2 bxg2 qc6, i am 14 years old and 1600

[@iankemp1131]

Well, an interesting puzzle, but not clear-cut. I don't see that the final position at 10:27 is an obvious win for Black. He just has B+N for a R. The attack has almost ground to a halt and White could play Qc3 next forcing the Queen exchange and stopping it altogether. Black's King is also quite exposed and White's minor pieces are well placed. After the promising looking Ne4 White can simply play Qg2 maintaining the guard on c2. Other moves like Nc5 and Bd6 seem to be met by Qc3. Yes, Black stands better, but it looks as if it could be a long grind. Come on, Igor, show me a clear winning line!

[@CoreggonOfficial]

i dont have prblem with calculating but if I play 10 min rapid there is no time to calculate 😄

[@screamingmute8256]

3 times i got 1800 i am 1400 and i still dont know how to improve calculations although i should focus on my openings and endgames since i never ever studied them

[@walkerb392]

Elo rating of 2500 👍👍👏

[@dragontamer4x994]

This position makes me wonder what the players were thinking.

[@iainbozfelt]

Hardly a puzzle - more like a mate in 20 ( which it is) !!

[@haiyamaster]

1800 and 2500

[@dhinsch933]

These puzzles are great! 🧩♟️🤔