How Many Rooks to BEAT Stockfish?

In this video I find out how many extra rooks I need to beat stockfish 17. Like and subscribe for more chess content!

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hey all! Become a channel member to get member-only perks including custom emojis, member-only livestreams, and more! Thank you for you support :)

[@maoistlily1432]

Hearing your thought process honestly helps me improve my own chess so much

[@iwantcheckmate]

I’m glad to hear it :)

[@kingdaximus6423]

same

[@deviouschimp4663]

Right? Recently gotten back into chess and him explaining the strategies in real-time has helped me shake off some of my rust lol. Even becomes a fun game for me to pause and evaluate to see if I can find the same ideas, if not better.

[@chukwuebukaekenedili224]

Same!

[@Galakyllz]

I'm surprised at how possible it becomes with just two extra rooks.

[@iwantcheckmate]

Stockfish is also assuming I’m going to play the absolute best moves (which I don’t) so it plays more reserved than a human might

[@andrewmay1171]

@@iwantcheckmate This is a huge factor. For starters, given the circumstances it would actually be better for it to try to avoid trades at all costs and make the position as complicated as possible... But it would have to know that he's playing a human.

[@ckingpro]

@@iwantcheckmate This is where some engines have contempt factor to be used against weaker engines or humans. There it will make moves knowing it will out-calculate you and make the game much sharper to make you blunder. Higher contempt modes may make some engines play even losing moves that are hard to counter for much weaker engines or humans

[@samuels1123]

@@ckingpro Wonder if this factor could be calculated and adjusted by assessing the previous move accuracy and adjusting the opponent move calculations to match.

[@ckq]

He's good at chess. He beat komodo somewhat easily up a queen. Generally speaking GMs - need a knight Masters - need a rook or 2 minor pieces Strong players - need roughly a queen Amateurs - need more than a queen 1000 rated - need a queen and 2 rooms

[@skylerburke8716]

He sacrifices.... THE ROOKS! ive been binging your content man, i love this channel

[@iwantcheckmate]

THE ROOOOOK and thank you! I appreciate that!

[@PointsPrecision]

"It's not risky if I think it works" are definitely words to live by

[@DawnoftheConquerors]

Even against a 3800+ ELO engine, if you start with only two extra heavy pieces you can just force enough trades so that it has no material left to apply its positional prescience to annihilate you. A fun thought experiment, but not as wildly impossible as one might hope, i.e. that you still couldn't beat it with six extra rooks.

[@veedrac]

Try playing two rooks up against LeelaPieceOdds before declaring what you ‘can just’ do ;).

[@DawnoftheConquerors]

@veedrac I'll wait for this guy to do it, since he's making good content of this sort of thing.

[@ckingpro]

@@veedrac to be fair, that network is trained against grandmasters playing against engines playing odds. That said, it is exciting and I can't wait for the network to be made available. I want to see how it fairs with the Halloween gambit against me

[@thebcwonder4850]

@@ckingpro you’re cooked

[@skycaptain95]

@@ckingpro Engines can win absolutely anything except, possibly, the duras gambit against a human. You would still need heavy odds.

[@TiberiusClarkwastaken]

earlier today I was playing against stockfish. I was in a winning endgame & I was so proud of myself but then I relized I selected stockfish level 6

[@iwantcheckmate]

That’s still good! But not maybe as revolutionary as beating the best bot ever haha

[@chantinghang309]

​@@iwantcheckmateStockfish 6 is 1900😅

[@chantinghang309]

​@@iwantcheckmateAlso your performance last video is insane. Idk if you got lucky or smth but that's like Magnus+ level, I'm not sure even Magnus would be able to hold off stockfish for that long

[@TiberiusClarkwastaken]

@@chantinghang309 but 1900 lichess is like 1600 fide

[@Adamgamer-101]

If it makes you feel any better it took a lot more than two extra rooks for me to beat stockfish

[@Iblamenobody]

Damn you explain your moves nicely (even it loses to stockfish) but still you create videos like these every move and ideas explanations and some stuff

[@iwantcheckmate]

I appreciate that! :)

[@MrDragonChan]

Only 2 extra rooks to beat stockfish is crazy! If it were me all my pawns would have to be rooks for me to win lol

[@iwantcheckmate]

LOL

[@TomARowly]

Yeah I'd need to start with two rooks on each square to have a chance of even drawing.

[@Laezar1]

I actually tried it with 2 extra queens + 1 pawn yesterday and I lost multiple times in a row before I won T.T

[@Barno_32]

Did anyone else think about sacrificing the rook to get a fork between the king and the rook at 22:00 ? It would have been 5 pawns against 6 pawns, a rook and a knight

[@iwantcheckmate]

That’s super creative! Nice find :)

[@YouzerseifYoucef]

Levy would take front seats for this kind of match up

[@thebenevolentsun6575]

I love the way stock fish just constricts you.

[@iwantcheckmate]

It’s always amusing haha

[@tilmanwillms9584]

Easily my favorite chess chanel, love your videos man youre going places with this

[@iwantcheckmate]

I appreciate the kind comment! More to come!

[@LunorGG]

22:11 instead of playing rook takes a7 (I think that’s what that is) couldn’t you have played rook to g8, if king moves you take the rook, if rook takes you fork

[@S_H-R]

Your commentating and explaining is incredible Subscribed and waiting for how many extra knight/bishops to beat stockfish video 😅

[@iwantcheckmate]

Coming soon! :)

[@Matrix-GD]

“Replace 1 pawn with a rook” he probably destroyed his own pawn structure in the opening 😂

[@STJukes]

"I'm up a full rook, there's not much for me to be afraid of here" Me: PTSD from playing LeelaRookOdds

[@iwantcheckmate]

Sigh I should’ve known to worry haha

[@r0bz0rly]

After getting you recommended for a few videos i had to ask why the hell i wasn't subscribed. Love this channel Edit: Christ i sound like a bot lmao

[@iwantcheckmate]

😭 Thanks for subbing and hahahaha

[@snandor]

at 20:17 you said “up the exchange” but you would be up the exchange and up a rook

[@LunorGG]

Thank you for blessing me with a video today Mr checkmate! Keep it up, I love these videos so much

[@iwantcheckmate]

I appreciate the kind comment, certainly more to come :)

[@parsafakhar]

awesome, i bet the real challenge will be with knights and bishops, i have a feeling your knights are gonna find no squares!

[@iwantcheckmate]

Good point!

[@YTGreenlightX]

Another impressive peformance once again. Its like your used to facing stockfish now lol also 5:31 aaaaaaaaa i could feel the pain through the screen when i saw this move

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahaha I don’t think I’m getting stronger but I’m more used to how to play against the engines. And yes holy moly that was such a bad move

[@Gogu_Duru]

Love your videos. Could you put an evaluation bar next time?

[@iwantcheckmate]

This has been requested before, so I’ll consider it for a future video for sure. Thank you for the feedback :)

[@FP-ih1lu]

You’re way better at chess than me but one thing I noticed is at 22:00 you can simplify by checking with the rook and forking with the knight

[@iwantcheckmate]

That’s a great find!

[@SlidingSilva]

All I need is all pawns becoming rooks and another rook

[@Frey-y5c]

Another good video I have never seen a bad video from u thank you for making content

[@iwantcheckmate]

And thank you for the consistent support 🙏

[@copperntz5907]

It's nice to see that at some point we all get hit with the queen and king fork.

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahahaha very true

[@Elias-d3d]

Nice Video (didnt Even watch it)im watching it Right now First Like then watch

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahaha thanks!

[@NikodAnimations]

I real the tile as "How many rocks to beat stockfish" for a second

[@iwantcheckmate]

A good question no less…

[@amyzappa1436]

Hear me out, you play against stockfish but you have a spinner. The spinner can have stuff like extra moves, lost moves, hints from stockfish (for interchangeable amounts of moves) and most importantly.. for Martin to make a move for you

[@iwantcheckmate]

I was liking this idea until I saw I had to side with Martin… now I’m loving this idea. Martin team-up channel arc hahaha

[@marcojacobs5443]

How many extra pawns to beat Stockfish? Might be an idea for a video too Love your vids :)

[@iwantcheckmate]

Great idea! And thank you :)

[@TheBcoolGuy]

@@iwantcheckmate 72 pawn :))

[@josephchaumont]

I'd love to watch extra bishops, but doing extra knights against stockfish would be even more hype

[@iwantcheckmate]

Probably super confusing as well but I’m ready 😎

[@a.j.leclair5426]

Maybe not the "strongest chess player ever" but you definitely got some skills in this game IWC!

[@iwantcheckmate]

Thanks! Road to WCC series soon? 🫣

[@bl-rp]

Replace pawns/etc with queens/etc but you must not lose material compared to starting position, even temporarily. Only exception is during a sequence of uninterrupted captures (e.g. take pawn before recapturing piece).

[@iwantcheckmate]

That’s a great idea!

[@tizivp1048]

A good video would be "how many extra pawns to beat stockfish?" I imagine two entire rows of pawns c:

[@TiberiusClarkwastaken]

That’s definetly not enough

[@TiberiusClarkwastaken]

If you have only pawns probably 6 rows

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahaha yes this and also Magnus

[@AAAZZZ-f2y]

@@iwantcheckmate u need to do a Vedieo of you beating mittens without London not white as black

[@T_Jezus]

ill probably need 20 rooks cuz im so bad

[@SorakaOTP462]

Next time try to play against stockfish without any extra rooks, but you can take back your previous moves at any time as you want as many times as you want over and over and over and try to get a draw. If you manage to lose just by a little bit without getting completely stomped, call it a win.

[@corentinb4894]

Another idea you could try: how many bonus moves do you need to beat Stockfish. Rather than starting with extra material, you start with extra development (1 bonus move would mean you start with your pawn already on d4 instead of d2)

[@mochidomo]

Well, this idea would have to happen in less than 3 moves. If he plays as white, getting the Italian setup = mate in 1

[@turntech4776]

Magnus Carlsen beat other grandmasters whilst spending the first 5 or so moves swapping his king and queen into each others squares. I think Stockfisch would still crush

[@iwantcheckmate]

This is a great idea

[@TheTitanSlayers]

I think it would be interesting to try to beat stock fish replacing your minor pieces with rooks. On paper an advantage, but probably a liability.

[@iwantcheckmate]

Haha that’s a good idea!

[@arafatzahan3697]

Waiting for that Levy collab - I want checkmate against gotham

[@iwantcheckmate]

If I ever played him for real that would be a dream come true. I’d be sure to sac a rook for the memes

[@Little-pluto-behind-neptune]

Idea: how many queens to lose to worstfish

[@markthompson2874]

At 22:13 you had a nice tactic Rg8, after Stockfish plays Rxg8, you have Ne7 forking the King and Rook which leaves you a Rook, Knight, and Pawn up.

[@iwantcheckmate]

Super good find, hadn’t even begun to notice that in the game

[@evinr3231]

Doesn't that just give up a rook to Kb8? If Nxg8 Kxa7 and if you save your rook black's rook escapes?

[@markthompson2874]

​@@evinr3231 I'm wondering if you're looking at the wrong position. If white plays Rg8+, blacks only move to avoid losing a rook is Rxg8. At this point white plays Ne7+ forking the King and Rook.

[@evinr3231]

@@markthompson2874 And then black escapes the knight check by playing Kb8, attacking the rook on a7.

[@markthompson4744]

@@evinr3231 I'm talking Rg8+ instead of Rxa7. Might need to go back a second to see it from where I linked, I used the time I saw for white's move but by that point the position had changed. I wish it would let me post a screenshot here.

[@raulhernandez2010]

New viewer. Love these videos. Can you consider adding the eval bar for the viewers? For that second game, it would be very interesting to see how the eval bar changes each move. Of course, play without it but if its easy to add it in after the match for the viewers benefit, it would be cool

[@iwantcheckmate]

Yes! That’s something that’s been requested so I’ll have to start incorporating it

[@YGuy588]

You better pray Stockfish doesn’t become sentient, none of us are ready for that *endgame*😂

[@iwantcheckmate]

That’s my nightmare… I’ll need the queens to become sentient too to back me up…

[@LuminousXDMC]

Can’t wait for all move types speedrun 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@iwantcheckmate]

Yes!! Good idea

[@SilverYt_Fn]

I love you playing chess as I suck at it and I like people who are better than me

[@iwantcheckmate]

Thank you for watching :)

[@SilverYt_Fn]

@@iwantcheckmateI always blunder my pieces

[@Miko-vb9dc]

did you get a new mic? you sound great

[@iwantcheckmate]

I appreciate that! It’s the same mic but I watched a very long tutorial on how to optimize the settings 😅

[@harrisonmaster5846]

you should play with king odds

[@iwantcheckmate]

I wish I could! But it tells me illegal position :(

[@victorfinberg8595]

5:30 we hope and pray that stockfish does not find ... BOOM

[@victorfinberg8595]

with a bit more care, you should be able to beat stockfish, a rook up

[@OmegaF.]

You should do a vid with the creators bot maybe 🤔

[@iwantcheckmate]

Good idea!

[@ckingpro]

Now, should Stockfish turn sentient and go after you for making it play with Martin against you, keep 2 extra rooks in your pocket.

[@Agriz1210]

THE ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK

[@iwantcheckmate]

THE ROOOOOOOOOOOOK

[@rickshermantal5002]

I would love to see global competition to win against stockfish with the least amount of material advantage

[@iwantcheckmate]

That would be so cool and probably have very unique approaches

[@gromit6036]

An interesting argument could be made that stockfish isn’t actually the best chess “player” in world. In games like this (well generally too but more noticeable in games like this), it takes for granted that its opponent will play the best possible move. But any human rarely ever does so consistently, even Magnus. Therefore, would it be harder to face Magnus in such a game? He would, as humans do, make an assessment of your skill and adjust his moves to predict certain “blunders” or overlooks - something that stockfish can’t yet do! Sorry for the ramble no one is probably reading this but I thought it was interesting lol😃

[@iwantcheckmate]

I agree! I find it more frustrating to play a strong human that plays a gambit than an engine that will play opening lines

[@moskthinks9801]

Seems like you win when you're up 8 points of material

[@jamesschlup2609]

Maybe change other minor pieces to rooks or queens to give stockfish time to develop.

[@madziaobara9723]

How about how many X does stockfish need to beat the magnus bot? not as in additional figures but similarly to what you did with pawns against martin, 1 pawn, 2 pawns, 3 pawns...

[@AAAZZZ-f2y]

You always play best move in this game and vs stokfish and martinfish

[@Those_Weirdos]

I've always suspected Stockfish's openings get thrown off when the player has a non-standard board. It of course has never seen a rook move as the first move in the game..

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahaha that would make perfect sense

[@trentonvalantineenjoyer4033]

How many pawns to beat stockfish next

[@julian7801]

that one's gonna be an hour long

[@GerhardTreibheit]

The arrows go away if you press alt+f4

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahaha troll

[@Empty_Carbon]

23:27 here wouldn't applying check be the best move here? Because there is only 2 moves in response that can be done. Either Ka2 which blunders both a Rook takes rook and a follow up Knight takes pawn. Meaning its only move would be Rook takes which means Rook for rook and knight which is fine at that point in the position since you have so many pawns more pawns than it has. I only got back into chess recently so I could be wrong but that feels worth it with the pawn remaining having no clear path and your rook stopping the king from defending the pawn.

[@iwantcheckmate]

You’re totally right! Sacrificing there works and would probably have simplified more quickly. Good find

[@dadoribaudo6460]

21:21 he had to trade queens otherwise after Qf7 you had an amazing queen sacrifice Qxd8+ and after he recaptures you take the bishop forking the king and the queen so at the end you would have won a bishop. Also at 22:00 you could have played Rg8+ forcing him to take the rook and then after Ne7+ you would have basically forced the rook trade. I'm kinda surprised I saw these two lines since I'm a miserable 1500-1600 lol

[@iwantcheckmate]

Really good insight! Thanks for the analysis :)

[@gromit6036]

22:03 Would rook to g8 be a good move here? If he takes you fork if he moves king you take his rook. Am I missing something?

[@AAAZZZ-f2y]

Play vs a subscriber and play only London opening or Indian opening until you win

[@AAAZZZ-f2y]

I am a subscriber from the 1000 I am so luky

[@iwantcheckmate]

Thanks for being here! :D

[@jamesmccabe3041]

I think it would have been sporting to give stockfish the white pieces after game 1 since it feels a little unfair to start the game with the Rxh7 threat. -2c

[@iwantcheckmate]

That’s fair, thanks for the feedback!

[@JustineHirose]

6.25k subs yoooo that's fast

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahaha thank you!

[@setredid]

21:22 after Qg6 from white Qf7 doesn't work because of Qxd8+ and after Kxd8 Rxf8 wins the queen back. This makes the queen trade forced

[@iwantcheckmate]

Woah I hadn’t seen that line. Great find!

[@Luffy267-p1d]

How to you make these type of videos?seems fun 😅😅

[@dawidwidera1819]

8:51 famous last words

[@iwantcheckmate]

Sigh, I jinxed it

[@datoapriashvili5806]

Hey can you play against bots in bullet because I think that they're much stronger in bullet I'm 1500 in rapid and the 1200 in bullet and I can't even beat 800 in bullet so am I just going crazy or are they much stronger?

[@iwantcheckmate]

That’s a great idea! Esp since I think of myself as a bullet player… future video!!!

[@AndreaArzensek]

Ladders mate 🎉

[@iwantcheckmate]

The best kind of mate

[@aleksihiltunen7063]

One thing that I’m wondering is that whether computer or super GM would be harder to play against in this type of challenge. Computers are obviously stronger by a lot but at least on shorter time formats GM might be able to trick you easier. Computers don’t know such thing as trick or cheesing

[@iwantcheckmate]

Very true, I’d be willing to bet a grandmaster would give me a harder time since they would be playing conceptually just like me, but much stronger than me

[@Aaa93281]

Stockfish vs rocks

[@Nobody-pm4ql]

22:06 rook to g8 forcing it to take then fork with knight and you are up a rook and knight in end game

[@RoyceSecondChannel]

Do how many rooks for Martin to beat Stockfish

[@alikaraman-q5x]

all queens isn't enough

[@AAAZZZ-f2y]

Please do a video and play vs martinfish and replace a pown to a qween until you lose

[@kasparov20]

@22:14 you missed a tactic Rg8+ followed by Ne7+

[@iwantcheckmate]

You’re right, that’s a good find

[@schelße]

I see no issue. Other than fighting an unbeatable engine, but ynkow…

[@iwantcheckmate]

Hahaha yes, a very minor issue 😌

[@ian-lf1cd]

Apology not accepted. I saw it before it moved the knight lol

[@iwantcheckmate]

LOL I knew I was blind

[@kingdaximus6423]

i dare you to play a game with the white pieces and dont play the london.

[@iwantcheckmate]

a4 it is then :D

[@victorfinberg8595]

2:55 e4 fails instantly to NxB

[@kamilwierzbicki3624]

You should try again with one if you failed

[@aercusmazus4276]

18:00 is bishop to H3 cursed here? Defended by the knight and pinned to the king so it should be a free piece? I always miss these things during games, I guess it would be a trade with the queen eventually?

[@iwantcheckmate]

Bh3 would’ve been good here I think!

[@ajmalaj3724]

Should hv let fish play first tbh

[@mostyami]

Stockfish uses checks/captures/attacks pronouns lol

[@khangis]

what a good video

[@iwantcheckmate]

Thanks!

[@joao._FRANÇAmartins]

22:09 rook g8 and horse e7

[@JHashcroft]

22:00 Rg8 forces a rook trade, right?

[@KyatrixxKush]

Every move is a bad move 😂😂

[@probrawlclubepicplay8585]

At 11:03 why did you not play queen d2?

[@floriandauser6263]

because that hangs the queen to the knight.

[@Wachary1]

Now do it as black

[@ChessPuzz-281a]

Yo do u remember my idea

[@iwantcheckmate]

I screenshot future video ideas :D

[@ChessPuzz-281a]

Yo alr W technique

[@unhappysaint]

crazy how like a month ago you had about 2k subscribers and now you have 6k-like wtf is this luck☠️☠️☠️☠️

[@iwantcheckmate]

LOL Thanks for being here :D

[@unhappysaint]

@@iwantcheckmate your content is rlly fun and youre fucking underrated

[@ProocattBs123]

This is crazyyy

[@Axlrad17]

The Rooooook!

[@iwantcheckmate]

THE ROOOOOOOOK

[@baseupp12]

The London is flawed play the superior Kings Gambit 😁

[@iwantcheckmate]

Admittedly much more exciting