I Tried To Beat Stockfish With Only Pawns

[@jonrussell739]

"As long as I don't get checkmated, I should be just fine." Impressive chess analysis.

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Years of practice 😉

[@user-dc5il2ce1h]

Proceed to stalemate

[@Sneeit]

Every time he moves, my heart jumps. Every time he offers a trade, my brain hurts.

[@goofblox-is-a-goofy-ahh-name]

@@ChessVibesOfficial xd

[@RandomMusik]

But in the end it was wrong, he Drew

[@leonpaelinck]

Plot Twist: You were winning each time and stockfish lied about the mate in 7 to trick you

[@kmonyt]

4d baby.

[@suprabhatkumar1608]

😂😂😂

[@donovancrader7530]

AI supreme

[@mubaraksenju7521]

Except that the fish gonna prove it right after and you just lose "later"

[@donsmith3857]

your comment had me in stitches lol

[@jerrywu9962]

Nelsi: Our pawns will block out the sun! Stockfish: Then we will fight in the shade!

[@svenske71]

Underrated comment xD

[@Bushwakbill]

Best comment award 🥇

[@Sneeit]

Stockfish is very scary. But I modified the game a bit to bully it and that's cool :D

[@TheNotableSircheese]

Nice I like the Spartans reference

[@godwincornelius201]

nelsi: *pushes a pawn* the fish: mate in 32. nelsi: *pushes another pawn* the fish: mate in 18

[@gavinavilucea1876]

At minute 15:26 his missed check mate in one 😂

[@CCLitterer]

​@@gavinavilucea1876Kxh6

[@craiglist6580]

@@gavinavilucea1876no, you missed Kxh6 lol

[@waynecolosi5892]

@@gavinavilucea1876Kxh6

[@KamiUiD]

@@gavinavilucea1876he has king xh6

[@exist0142]

Idea for similar type challenge: Reverse the situation so you are playing as the pieces and Stockfish as the mass pawns, and take away a pawn from Stockfish each time you lose.

[@Sneeit]

I modified this game a bit and that's awesome. I am collecting ideas for the next games, so thanks for the suggestion.

[@newpgaston6891]

Love this! I wonder how many pawns are beatable

[@Sneeit]

@@newpgaston6891 30 pawns I think though I need 38 pawns to win the game. I recorded a video about that.

[@taufiqusman6655]

Great idea

[@chess]

🤖 tricky with the stalemate trap!

[@zinnixxxx1234]

chess stop banning all my accounts coolmath chess is better

[@moneyman6227]

@@zinnixxxx1234 how do u even get banned😂

[@zinnixxxx1234]

@@moneyman6227 uhh coolmath chess is better

[@ziyueguan3430]

@@moneyman6227 he prob either cheats or throws bad words after getting beat to 1 digit elo

[@Gabriel_JudgeofHell]

@@ziyueguan3430 lol

[@thenextgeneration9030]

16:36 that bassline hits hard

[@puppergump4117]

*wasted*

[@1dgram]

That was an awesome move by Stockfish.

[@tianlecheng2656]

WwWaAAasStEeEEeeeeEdDdd

[@mateuszpawowski8139]

"As long as I don't get checkmated (...) we should be fine" That's the chess insight that keeps us coming back😉

[@Sneeit]

Every move Stockfish makes, every time I worry.

[@voidstarq]

And yet it turned out not to be true!

[@ishzarkklyon9590]

"if the king had been a knight we would have won" -Tushar Anand, 2024

[@gg-igoyulo8657]

7:52 Bro be like “20 point advantage!” Forgot to remove other stuff lol

[@RemyWillard]

7:25 Let's add the pawns, then forget to remove the pieces, then be amazed at the +22 evaluation. 😆 Honestly, I'd have forgotten to remove the pieces too if I was trying to recover from a browser crash. It's just funny that this is how the ensuing game played out.

[@guillaumelagueyte1019]

I kept wondering when he'd realize :D

[@Sneeit]

:D I saw that for the first time and kept waiting for his realization.

[@danielyuan9862]

Every pawn you add, the evaluation increases by about 2.5, so a pawn is worth about 2.5 pawns.

[@Sol4rOnYt]

stockfish is doing meth instead of math

[@royisabau5]

It’s because they’re 3 moves from promotion

[@MeteBala-bq9ih]

The arrangment of the pieces matters

[@michaeledmunds7056]

Positioning. Napoleon once said "One spy in the right place is worth 20,000 men in the field."

[@Zanayx]

Crazy paradox

[@KataisTrash]

I'm only half-way in, but I feel like your first move should be moving the king instead of pawns. That forces your opponent to play into your pawn line and gives you material without leaving pawns hanging so much? Besides, it makes it far better for later in the game, as your King can be on the safe side of the board while you attack with the other side.

[@AJVenom123]

This video deserves a redo or something, I think he could've find a way to win with less pawns.

[@JR-gh5gc]

@@AJVenom123*fewer*

[@attackofthejiggli]

@@JR-gh5gc This comment gave me fewer brain cells

[@arstino]

@@JR-gh5gc same thing bruh

[@fractality9676]

@@JR-gh5gc it's a fucking synonym

[@maef829]

I love the point were Nelson realizes that he left the back row pieces in the 3rd game 🤣

[@TibiaOTarena]

The evaluation bar is such an help, but it makes the video more entertaining as well so it's hard to complain

[@Sneeit]

It's like a random bar sometimes :D I played this game again and that bar freaked me all the time.

[@NoFontNL]

I would have liked to see what the mate in 7 would have looked like instead of immediately skipping to the next game, because it is kinda fascinating that there is a forced checkmate in such a large number of moves

[@ShoShieeeee]

@@djdoc06 is it free or you need to pay for you to set up stockfish

[@_Tao__]

@@ShoShieeeee stockfish is free but you should watch a tutorial if you wanna use it

[@purplefishies]

Watch computer chess...they announce mate in 40+ moves

[@Sneeit]

@@ShoShieeeee It's free and I tried that on my own. My set up is a bit unfair but who cares. I do it for entertainment only.

[@icea47]

17:25 why is it stale mate??

[@seraph_a]

That is not stockfish. You are playing the top level of komodo dragon.

[@yashthegreat]

True

[@rdragon7408]

Yes because the analysis keeps getting lower it’s stockfishs analysis but Komodo is playing

[@Jacob-og3jd]

Came here to comment this.

[@julsluzanes5209]

no its not "dragon" its only komodo, weak engine compared to dragon with nnue

[@robertjusic9097]

How do I set this up to play home? I never used stockfish nor komodo dragon

[@ianmilliken123]

15:24 I believe you could’ve moved to g6 and won if you just hadn’t tried to get a queen

[@Sc4rlet_555]

that's what I was thinking. it was mate 😭

[@mrblisterpiece9111]

I can't believe both of you thinks that a checkmate. Its not

[@wizardcat5220]

If he tried that the king would have taken the pawn at H6

[@noobgaming-cf4jd]

EXACTLY HOW IS THAT A MATE

[@ZafriMalayTDS]

@@wizardcat5220 oh now that makes sense

[@xCrysT4L1]

I'd like to see you do more of these challenges in the future! They are really entertaining.

[@Sneeit]

Agree. I do this game again by myself and I am collecting ideas for my next videos.

[@ranchoabilities7928]

8:40 Made me laugh hysterically for hours...

[@onlyapawn4371]

8:43 lmao just watching you and waiting for you to notice all your pieces at the bottom really cracked me up.

[@TheNameOfJesus]

@16:57 - I've never heard it said before that "King takes Queen" is a blunder. I've also never heard the phrase "checkbait me" @17:13.

[@felixpoldermans8373]

Stockfish speaks for itself

[@Sneeit]

Haha. You should be careful because "Nake man" can sue you :D

[@perryjohnson6461]

@@Sneeit not for that he can’t

[@Jartran72]

Its not Stockfish, it is Komodo.

[@GrantValdes]

This is absurd. Love it. I'm new to chess at 37 and yours has been my favorite channel.

[@Sneeit]

I am even not good at chess, but I love to see and play custom boards all the time.

[@Deez-wk1]

8:42 he was gonna swear 😂😂

[@the_furf_of_july4652]

I’d love to see the reverse, stockfish playing pawns and seeing how many you can handle

[@skakdosmer]

Yeah, remove one pawn every time you lose.

[@BatuhanDere]

9:07 i think at least a few of us didnt see it too

[@floof6896]

wth it's super easy to see though

[@perfectionbox]

I see it as a war of attrition, just advance the pawns, never let gaps occur, keep the fighting at the front

[@veschii_nevstrui]

7:53 Nelsi: Lets not mess this one up Me: KEKW

[@imalphegano]

Can you use 16 knights to win stockfish? It will definitely be crazy

[@jacobymatthews3898]

What about 2 rows of bishops vs 5 queens? Or how every many you need to beat stockfish

[@gh3meister]

@15:19 wouldn't G6 have been a checkmate for the pawns?

[@manuelalmeida111]

No because the king can go h6

[@mlvluu9836]

g8 would be.

[@newpgaston6891]

Would love to see you try some more with 36 pawns, until you get it! Or as another person commented, doing the reverse, you with a normal board and stockfish with the pawn army, and you remove 1 of his pawn everytime you lose!

[@speedyboi88]

do knight vs bishops! ive always wondered which is better in mass

[@thegreenman8216]

Ive always thought that because knights can defend more pieces at a time they have an advantage, plus they can target both light and dark squares

[@HTen-sh1nc]

They look equal to me

[@drunkengaming20]

Bishops are stronger ig, i cant even find a video on youtube where bishops lose in such setup

[@BlurryXenon]

@@drunkengaming20 autochess meta on chess was knights for a while stockfish vs stockfish

[@dusknt]

Bishops

[@bhgtree]

That was neat how SF got the queen into the game each time, waiting for a pawn move that leaves another pawn undefended..

[@vex17]

Technically all you need is 2 pawns, one at e6, and the other at either c6 or g6, for a mate in one. The only reason adding more pawns helped is because they are placed right in front of black's pieces in a way that causes an instant mate. Filling the 1st rank with 7 pawns does not even increase white's advantage.

[@admiralthrawn7754]

The g6 pawn makes sense to get a mate in 1, but the c6 pawn? The queen is right there...

[@danielyuan9862]

@@admiralthrawn7754 not just the queen... lmao

[@jason-stern]

Stockfish is like having a younger sister who’s 100x smarter than you. Pretty sneaky, sis!

[@angryman_]

...Oddly specific

[@alyssondasilva4484]

what are you doing, step-engine?😳😳

[@almightyturtle8085]

@@angryman_ I have no idea what this man was thinking when he posted this on main

[@decafcoffee0935]

so basically shiro from no game no life

[@danielyuan9862]

@@angryman_ somehow sis is more specific than bro

[@smallpseudonym2844]

Pretty sure you could just win by maintaining a better Phalanx structure and moving everything up together. You keep losing Pawns 2x1 in the early going because you leave a secondary pawn undefended after an initial capture. After 2-3 instances of that, you wind up with too much of a hole to defend easily. You exacerbate the problem by not switching sides as well. A & H file pawns also suffer from the same problem, as they're harder to defend. You're better off pushing B/C & F/G. EDIT: You learned the Phalanx issue in the game @ 6:30, but kept pushing A/H & committing to your ragged side. ~ 8:30 You stopped pushing A/H, but are still allowing too many 2x1 and tunneling on your weak files.

[@YAMIKNIGHT000]

Yo Nelson how do you make those red things while playing

[@mrblisterpiece9111]

I just wanted to say if you're playing with maximum bot. That's not stockfish its komodo. But the evaluation is definetly stockfish.

[@uroblaze]

what’s Komodo?

[@nikolateodorovic9306]

​@@uroblaze A chess engine

[@uroblaze]

@@nikolateodorovic9306 ikkk but where to play it

[@navyanshsharma5336]

​@@uroblazeKomodo is the "engine" of the bot menu. Stockfish is the default controller of the eval bar, who is stronger than Komodo 25 (max engine). Though you can change the engine from stockfish to others like torch, who is even more powerful

[@Chunda8]

Thanks Nelson this was really helpful for Horde players. You backfill to close weak squares, shut down the rooks and get the King moving. Attack more in the center.

[@johnpayne7873]

I saw Space Invaders on the chess board - steady advancement of the pawn line to grind away Stockfish's pieces. Did you try moving your King side to side on the last rank and let Stockfish come at you?

[@phagelife8312]

15:21 didn’t you have checkmate if you moved pawn from g5 to g6?

[@cykablyat1942]

kxh6

[@deputyvillageidiot]

You should make Stockfish play with all those pawns. That would,also be interesting to see how it would try to do this.

[@Cwg.]

Would be far too easy for stockfiah , human would blunder way too much

[@Durzo1259]

How do you set up custom games like this? I was told to use the Lichess editor, then "continue from here", choose "computer".... and when I try to start a game there's a circle with a red line through it not letting me play.

[@roblodocus2539]

You could try experimenting with the number of kings. Slowly replacing stockfish’s pieces with kings. They’re powerful pieces, but you’d have more mating opportunities.

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

That would be fun but I don't think chess.com will let me do that!

[@astros7242]

Chess vibes I actually tried independent of seeing this video or comment and it started the game and allowed me to go through with 2 kings but then froze after a few moves. I was going to see how I fared against stockfish if I replaced his queen wjth another king. I assumed I would win but wasn’t sure. I am not nearly the player you are. My rating is less than half yours is.

[@arber6969]

''Today im playing against stockfish'' *the bottom right corner saying the maximum 25*

[@Stillminator]

This isn't actually a Stockfish engine, it's a Komodo engine

[@MKGamers123]

Ya you are right but its actually kind of equivalent to older stockfish bots

[@rrrw.01]

Me: uncomfortable playing with doubled pawns. This guy:

[@danielmdubois]

Surely you don't need all those pawns in that last scenario that was mate in four. What's the minimum number of pawns to force that end?

[@danielyuan9862]

For that specific mate, you needed 6 pawns, one to break in to f7, one to play g6, one to take on g6, one more to defend g6 after the other pawn takes, one to defend the pawn on f6, and the f6 pawn to play the final mating move. But in reality, you only need two pawns: one on e6 and one on g6.

[@jehonthecasual1990]

At 15:27, wouldn't pawn to g6 be checkmate?

[@mrblisterpiece9111]

Of course not.

[@jontongames]

Am i dumb or could you play if you have a pawn on a6 c7 then you get a free queen and you can take his rock

[@erikbongnilsson246]

In what way does the king "help" when he advances it? Is it just to prepare the king to cover more of empty spaces when pawns get captured?

[@LetsPlayCrazy]

how do you play like this? I want to play against stockfish while seeing the evaluation as well. That would be SO helpful! Please someone explain :) Google won't give me anything here.

[@Andres.Duran.J]

You have to go to the learn section, then analysis and there will be a button saying "set up position" there you will be able to create a random position and play against stockfish

[@LetsPlayCrazy]

@@Andres.Duran.J But only without the eval bar. I want to play against stockfish with an eval bar. So I see every move and its evaluation, so I can learn real time.

[@Andres.Duran.J]

@@LetsPlayCrazy what do you mean the evaluation bar is there

[@Andres.Duran.J]

@@LetsPlayCrazy maybe you forgot to put the Evaluation bar,after you set up the position, there is a settings button where you can activate the evaluation bar.

[@AlexzeproYt]

Me when I mess up my pawn structure: “oh CMON.” Nelson when there are 6 pawns stacked: “this should be easy.”

[@hamster8706]

Well, he has alot of pawns and they are doing a good job defending eachother

[@xgyomeix6624]

1:34 Pawn F7 Checkmate

[@showup_0]

cant pawn 2 move

[@JohnDoe-JohnDoe]

@@showup_0even. If you could, en passant is there

[@ВладимировичВиталий]

Only the pawns that are at the 2nd rank can move 2 squares+ pawn on g7 can en passant

[@ВладимировичВиталий]

And the pawn on e7 can en passant

[@oashky]

even his mic was flabbergasted lmao

[@95sandipan]

When the game start Stock fish - I'm winning

[@jasmint6703]

You remember the chess scene in the film 2001? I keep imagining that this is what happens when a guy is on an interplanetary journey for years on end, alone with a computer trying to keep from going completely crazy. I feel you man ...

[@juzujuzu4555]

I would check how many pawns stockfish needs to beat you. That way you could checkmate stockfish many times and get some happy feelings. For example start with stockfish having only 16 pawns, then add the amount you think makes sense based on how easy it was to win.

[@Sneeit]

I think 32 is at least. I realized that 2 pawns can be traded for a piece in my vid so 32+ is the only way to win. But we will try the reverse game next time.

[@derpycat6941]

For everyone On Last one It's not check mate on G6, he can just take the pawn under him, but he could have defended from the queen attack by moving up pawn to blocking it then making queen after the engine will sack there's.

[@RikMaxSpeed]

Very enjoyable game! I’d give the computer lots of knights and see how you fare with a full set of pieces on your side.

[@danielyuan9862]

The sound effect at 16:37 perfectly encapsulates how insane the idea is.

[@Coocoocrazy3]

The fact he doesn’t just have a few pawns rush in the king or queen is infuriating

[@j-jackquinn5540]

he is 2300 rating so i’m sure he has his reasons

[@gabrielnieves9974]

@@j-jackquinn5540no way this dude is 2300. He plays like a 1000 elo player

[@j-jackquinn5540]

@@gabrielnieves9974 as someone that is 1000 rating myself i can confirm he is playing a lot better than anyone at my level

[@MartZilka]

How could i set up games like this? When i go and try to make a custom setup, i just get a error saying invalid position

[@trentonrothan9724]

At the end of the video I realized that I could beat stockfish with five pawns. Give black the starting position and place white pawns on g6, g5, f6, f5 and e5. I could even mate stockfish with two pawns. One on e6 and the other on g6.

[@captainphoenix]

"The killbots had a built-in kill limit, so I sent wave after wave of my own pawns..."

[@readyyes9451]

15:20 - I think he missed the chance to checkmate here.

[@ciekce]

Kxh6

[@samotrayler1372]

G5 to G6 won him the game right?

[@ciekce]

@@samotrayler1372 Kxh6, because g6 removed the defender

[@Jartran72]

Nope. King takes h6 was always an escape. There was no win.

[@VodShod]

why didn't you add the pawns the the bottom row? are pawns not allowed there due to it counting as a place for them to upgrade?

[@Slothptimal]

Do II-II-II for pawns instead of the guaranteed, so you don't have 3 beside each other

[@musclechicken9036]

16:35 he was in such utter shock it came with cartoon sound effects. “OH it’s a st-*BWEWEWEWEW*”

[@petergeldof4958]

Me thinking I'm the only one who saw the mate in 1 at 15:30😂😂

[@SeannPlayz]

broo you hate to see it

[@abandonedhhhv]

What checkmate?

[@Fishin_brother]

There is no mate in one?? What are u guys on?

[@ThaBeardedVet]

@@Fishin_brothertroll

[@Fishin_brother]

@@ThaBeardedVet what do u mean troll?

[@Xeroxia]

8:37? You kept the regular pieces too???

[@phen-themoogle7651]

Pro tip: You could also easily get a draw at the start if you just move your king, and don’t need to take anything until Stockfish takes a pawn. If you wanna say you got a draw with Stockfish try this strat.

[@raul5081]

But this bot isn't actually Stockfish. Stockfish is just analyzing their game.

[@phen-themoogle7651]

@@raul5081 True

[@Astrobrant2]

Fun to watch. So glad you left in the part where you forgot to take off all your pieces. I kept wondering how long it would take you to notice. You're a good sport. That's ENTERTAINMENT!

[@victorfinberg8595]

I think you should be able to win with just the 32 pawns, if you are careful. In any case, you have a guaranteed draw if you want it. I believe Hikaru showed that there is a bug in the program. if it thinks it is winning, it may sacrifice material before allowing 3-fold repetition, or the 50 move draw.

[@JorgeLopez-lw9zj]

😂😂😂😂😂 I laughed watching his towers going back and forth. And your response: I guess that's a good sign. Lol 😂

[@Shadow-hm3uq]

They are actually called rooks, just fyi 😉

[@Jartran72]

@@Shadow-hm3uq Right, except in other languages they use towers as the word, some people translate that into english and there we go. Smarty pants.

[@Shadow-hm3uq]

@@Jartran72 I am aware of this. This does not change the fact that they are called rooks in english, and I was only mentioning this to OP in a friendly way. No need to get rude over a comment that is not even yours.

[@igeniusyounot6187]

15:28 just move pawn G6 and its checkmate...

[@zwelgje4798]

Just wanted to comment it but he can take h6 than

[@gabrielnieves9974]

Not it isn’t. KH6

[@Jartran72]

I wonder what the elo is of the people thinking that g6 was checkmate in that position. Kinda self snitching as a noob there.

[@Wixvhen]

'How is it a draw?' 'I know, you have had mate so many times.'

[@Wolfsspinne]

12:37 back rank mate on the 6th rank 😋

[@sonnit8223]

Its not called backrank mate if the king isnt on the 8th rank

[@thebman02]

How do you set up with whatever pieces you want?

[@1kirby2]

17:22 umm you could have checkmated him with the g5 pawn

[@Fishin_brother]

Nope, King gets H5 pawn since it’s no longer protected

[@VoidRift]

16:38 forgive me if this is obvious to people who know the game better but how is this a stalemate? Does taking the queen there not count or something? It looks like it'd be pretty easy to just take the queen, advance the pawn army, and win

[@dingo137]

After white takes the queen, black has no legal moves.

[@dingo137]

@Loki If Black doesn't have any legal moves and is in check, it's checkmate and Black loses. If he has no legal moves but isn't in check, it's stalemate and a draw. It's White's responsibility to avoid that if he wants to win.

[@xMarissaB]

If you can't win with 32 pawns, then you shouldn't be playing chess.

[@Leparfumdesmots]

Did you try to win with 32 pawns ?

[@mtaur4113]

What if the 37th pawn was somewhere else, like d6, or if you had ranks 1-5 full instead of adding to the 7th?

[@gabrielandradeferraz386]

5:30 did stockfish just casually bongcloud you just for the style points?

[@davew4304]

On the normal set up , can u beat stockfish if it’s missing it’s queen at the start pos?

[@ol1337i]

Nice video thanks. One question about your last game: Just before stockfish played queen E3, have you considered pawn C5?

[@thor930610]

I just started chess few weeks ago, I'm a newbie so I have a question, why was that stalemate? Couldn't the white king just took the black queen ? Also, stalemate is not when the king can't move but it's not in check? That king was in check wasn't it?? I'm so confused 🤔🤔

[@ciekce]

after Kxc3 (taking the queen) black has no moves

[@thor930610]

@@ciekce aaaah okay I see! Makes sense now thank you!

[@coltonmiller6136]

You really shouldn’t be taking that way since it doubles your pawns.

[@KingAfrica4]

16:40 why is it a stalemate for the king to take the queen there? It's there some rule i don't know?

[@StevenBrandt-l9b]

My ego lets me think I would win first time

[@alexquinones9239]

Where can I go to set up the board and play Stockfish like this?

[@AaronJones711]

Wondering the same thing. Did you ever figure this out?

[@FantomMind]

15:19 why not the pawn at g5 up for check instead?

[@Lasertoast.22]

1:06 Am I missing something or would pawn to g6 been mate here

[@hassanjawaid]

how Can I use custom setups like this ? chess app says its invalid position.

[@archboy3218]

Him: let’s beat stock fish with only pawns Engine do I look like a fish to you

[@rogerremus6053]

what site allows you to set up these games and what does it cost? Thank you

[@thedustydoge7473]

At 15:18 wouldn't pawn G6 not be a win for him? Why / why not? Very new to chess so I'm not sure...

[@justkidding7054]

Look closely

[@briansrandomstuff411]

7:27, Nelson did not realize he still had all his pieces.

[@Epidombe]

Honestly the mic vibration when you got stalemate added dramatic effect