The 22-move (NO CAPTURE) win that made Hans Niemann a Grandmaster

America has a new Grandmaster! In this video, I analyze the epic game between IM Hans Niemann and GM Sebastien Maze played in Round 9 of the 2020 Sunway Sitges chess tournament. Hans won in crushing fashion from the white side of a Nimzo Indian Defense. With this victory, Hans secured just enough points to boost his live rating over 2500, the final requirement to secure the Grandmaster Title. He already earned the necessary 3 GM norms and his title will be approved by FIDE in the near future.
Analyze the game: lichess.org/study/XYTW4FLp
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[@tiberiu_nicolae]

Eric: "This was probably the most important game in Hans' life." Narrator: "It wasn't"

[@EPE444]

Was looking for this. 😂

[@threethrushes]

Comment speaks for itself.

[@geraldhaffner]

@@threethrushes 🤣

[@Kickerzgoal]

@@threethrushes 😂😂😂

[@MyBiPolarBearMax]

Its funny, I remember watching this and being so impressed with the game at the time. Oh what a difference a year makes 🙄

[@Dorf274]

Getting to GM with a pacifist run is the only way to get the good ending

[@Kneem]

What about getting to GM with a bongcloud only? Which ending is that?

[@Dorf274]

@@Kneem The secret ending.

[@Marcoose81]

It's the Ghandi gambit

[@gxtmfa]

Is that why Nezhmedinov never got the Gm title?

[@ryanbell3704]

Underchess

[@daneshwarteta]

Disclaimer: No pieces were harmed during whole game.

[@skrobie]

his king tho

[@saben.]

@@skrobie didn’t get taken

[@Mona-.-]

@@saben. but every king is taken in a win.. u just don’t see it Edit: Nvm circles raised a good point below

[@populationkid]

Made me think of another chess like game, Paco Sako. Pretty cool chess variant.

[@kristiansyren3917]

no pieces were harmed during the making of this movie

[@kingjensen8091]

No captures *Sad agadmator noises*

[@cressidalia2582]

:( no captures captures

[@whateveryu]

Sorry about that

[@happybluecat7175]

And it was in this position that Sebastien Maze resigned the game.

[@anturanggatantra2137]

I still hope he covers this. The game itself is awesome

[@ndgoliberty]

CAPTURES CAPTURES CAPTURES CAPTURES

[@andresquilis2144]

Not a single piece was taken in the whole game, and yet white is +4 in the final position. Cool game!

[@ryaniturralde7437]

Watch Magnus and Sebinhoo hand and brain, where Magnus checkmated a 2900~ elo player with no captured piece, using his knights to perfection

[@josh5819]

@@ryaniturralde7437 do you have a link to this or where it is posted?

[@franciscoflores2403]

Well it’s +4 after his knight captures the pawn and is different than the original game

[@crazypomp927]

You should see the the game Antonia Medina Garcia vs Svetozar Gligoric. 29 moves, no captures, white resigns, and the position is something like -10 for black.

[@JustARandomGuySurfing]

@@crazypomp927 it was because at that final move he trapped his own queen in a closed position with no compensation and hence -10.

[@stealthyshadow567]

What a kind young gentleman, surely his reputation will never be questioned by the greatest player of all time. That would be unfortunate.

[@la7dfa]

We all know DDR and Russia never used any drugs. I's say Hans is clean too.

[@scoopbls]

Kind young gentleman! 🤣

[@newplayer1313]

No "kind young gentleman" was questioned by the WCC

[@vukcevu5854]

@@newplayer1313 so it was an evil old lady?

[@Bradley_UA]

By questioned you mean destroyed for no reason

[@milesgreenwood5036]

Missed his opportunity to say "White to move and become a GM"

[@patricktho6546]

So very Clickbaity: How to become a GM in 1 move :D

[@WilliamJonesChess]

Exactly. Nice comment Mike.

[@glebkachur8033]

White played a move and -black resigned- became a gm shout out anyone who gets it

[@herizbista7640]

You're MG

[@arcanesmemes]

Agadmator would be proud

[@TheKawww]

0 captures🤯

[@eric-rosen]

wow... I didn't even realize that until reading this comment. Just updated the video title 😁

[@itwasinthispositionerinoag7414]

Not a captures

[@danielyuan9862]

22 moves and still half of the squares have pieces

[@ryaniturralde7437]

@@eric-rosen watch Magnus and Sebinhoo hand and brain, Eric. Magnus 14-move checkmated a ~2900 named gmaryan without capturing a single piece. Knight perfection

[@sunritroykarmakar4406]

@@ryaniturralde7437 aryan tari doesnt have 2900 elo..its his online rating

[@matheusbernardes6624]

When eric said that he cant relate, to hans becoming a GM i felt that on my soul

[@abu0010ify]

that pierced my heart 100% and i went to check the comments for someone relating immediately

[@megugu2155]

tfw you will never be a GM. its just pain bro. why can we perfectly analyze GM games but cant play like a GM?

[@rainy20202]

@@megugu2155 hindsight 20/20

[@rakshitpandey1413]

yeah i felt the same

[@megugu2155]

@Adam Jensen yeah youre right, but im not tryna be a GM i just want a 2000+ rating on lichess so lately ive been studying more chess theory than online class stuff. im currently at 1556 and i do more anonymous matches than rated ones. im still figuring out how to deal with low tier traps

[@lukemcclure1292]

Game was lost after 2. c4. Even magnus knows that

[@FerrisMcLauren]

Part of me thinks Magnus resigned that way as if to hint that he thinks this game was a cheat too.

[@TimeLocke]

@@FerrisMcLauren I had the same thought

[@ceratoenjoyer]

@@FerrisMcLauren lol what a reach

[@kingdreamer647]

​@@FerrisMcLaurennah really😮😮

[@sebastiankrutschoff842]

Something deep inside Hans enabled this brilliant level of play.

[@shade-e4836]

😆😆😆😆🤣🤣 that was very intellegent man 😆😆😆 nice one.

[@antonliakhovitch8306]

Well done, sir. I am engaging with this comment to boost its visibility.

[@KujoPainting]

He was really vibing that day.

[@dominikhameder629]

1.5 yrs later and he has done the same but in 19 moves less. Incredible prodigy.

[@Jonbo117]

Magnus knew the position was lost.

[@harki804]

Hans Stockfish Niemann

[@m8onethousand]

The beads speak for themselves.

[@ButcherParry]

I love seeing the same two jokes in every single comment section

[@ButcherParry]

That was sarcasm btw

[@Tw1nkiez]

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” Sun Tzu would be proud :')

[@vukanjocic319]

Blood for blood god

[@tg-_-tigra4304]

Technobladeeee

[@fabricatorzayac]

@@vukanjocic319 Milk for the Khorne flakes

[@kevintrang6447]

Art speaks for itself

[@twistedsector]

Andrea: I only date GMs Hans:

[@kevinforman9239]

Hans: Come over Andrea: You're not really my type Hans: I have GM title Andrea: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[@insanityismypassion7509]

GM digger

[@Alan-cm7ye]

Hans: but i won't take your pieces

[@Falquiboy]

Hans Niemann won against Carlsen with 2 moves and no capture!!

[@Proud_Troll]

Like O-M-JEE

[@psychic8872]

With same opening

[@alexr1934]

Hans Niemann SMASHES THE CHESS BOARD on the head of the World Champion in TWO MOVES without a SINGLE CAPTURE!

[@catandfishfc]

The most peaceful win of all time. The ideal game in a Harry Potter chess game.

[@TheOneWhoHasABadName]

You know what, I bet wizard chess players in Harry Potter would learn the common saying “to take is a mistake” very early, simply because the pieces would get mad.

[@mujtabaalam5907]

The wizard chess trap would fight to the end though

[@gleamingfoonyman]

“Knight takes queen on D8 checkmate” Dumbledore said calmly

[@cynicanal111]

You didn't know this three years ago, but Hans topped this by beating the world champion in two moves with no capture!

[@MyQWERTY122]

Maybe Andrea will finally notice him now

[@henryayanna9401]

old prospector, it's you!

[@lunadieschnecke6695]

He deserves better

[@Caellyan]

@@lunadieschnecke6695 I still believe you've got a chance Marcus. Go and make him happy!

[@RMichaelHimself]

^^^ 👁👄👁 Funeral services for Marcus will be held at the local church in mid January, all commenters in this thread are invited to come and mourn

[@fatemeh_amiri]

@@RMichaelHimself oh no poor Marcus burnt and buried LMAO,

[@oisincarroll1171]

Eric: Stockfish sees like 5 moves ahead. Stockfish (Depth 24): Am I a joke to you?

[@Waghabond]

It starts to become inaccurate after about 5 moves.

[@LFSPharaoh]

@@Waghabond how so?

[@nicolaas1122]

@@LFSPharaoh Im guessing it does not do a full tree search with a depth of 24 as that would take very long computing time and rather only goes to that depth on positions it finds interesting/promising. Hence the inaccuracy as it is not complete.

[@LFSPharaoh]

@@nicolaas1122 I see. Makes sense to ignore those blunders and stuff, maybe because it could just restart it's calculation from there since it's up anyway. Another interesting thing is how the evaluation bar usually updates immediately on normal moves, but takes a second to calculate blunders and inaccuracies

[@Waghabond]

@@LFSPharaoh yeah NP described it correctly. The engine uses a variety of adversarial tree search algorithms to perform its calculations. One of these algorithms is called alpha-beta pruning. This pruning algorithm cuts branches of the tree which are considered to almost certainly be blunders or mistakes. It helps reduce the size of the tree so the calculations dont take years to perform. Hence it takes a second to calculate the game state after an inaccuracy, it's already cut that branch of the tree out of the calculations but then it has to recalculate.

[@kelvinnueveanimeguitar1983]

I'm waiting for the day when I see GM Eric Rosen

[@kobe51]

Buy him a Chevy.

[@DanielHatchman]

@@kobe51 daym that was too good XD

[@jamesmorris1837]

You'll be waiting a very long time then lmao

[@michaelwright8896]

Maybe he'll become a general manager.

[@atlas_hcr]

lmfao

[@DaKnightsofawesome]

“how the fuck is gonna checkmate in one move none of the pieces can even move to him?!” *black resigns* “oh”

[@hello-yn1lu]

Lol I'm so confused too when gms resign

[@dubber1416]

Not a checkmate though

[@swingdanceamerica]

@@hello-yn1lu I know what you mean, it's like on the board one move was made.. in their head, they calculated 6 moves ahead from that and realize "Oh.. I can't win... "Resigns!!

[@randynguyen997]

I mean there is fools mate but there is no way a gm would fall for that

[@AmmarAbdSaleh]

@@randynguyen997 in fools mate u take pawn on f7

[@wobblypixel]

he's taken 20 moves off his no capture record to date! Incredible player

[@avatarkush1734]

5:40 "knife F5?"

[@Joncwcxxx]

Hahaha it's a GM Ben Finegold reference

[@eg2821]

a knight on f5 as white is basically a knife on the throat of your opponents.

[@had0j]

why a knife

[@matejnovosad9152]

@@had0j Cuts through the position

[@zekethep1umber]

4:07 he was ahead of his time

[@fasteddiejs]

Happy Holidays Eric! At least one positive of 2020 was rediscovering chess after many years. Your content has been a big contribution to my improvement and enjoyment of the game. Thanks!

[@hamishmatthews21]

Same here! Started playing again in 2020!

[@BakedNConfused]

Started learning chess November 15, 2020 After watching a recommended KZbin video of Bobby Fischer on Dick Cavett show

[@ianblackburn2645]

Same here

[@Austin-qj4xh]

This game really speaks for itself

[@TheSickGman09]

His chess spoke for itself in this match

[@ryanbiggs7083]

Loving the you tube algorithm reigniting this Gem

[@Luke_Freeman]

"Reacting" is a strong word for you Eric. 😂

[@redrider578]

this aged well.

[@dizzy9146]

Crazy to think that he would replicate the ghandi gambit again - against Magnus Carlsen and win in TWO moves!

[@spikegamer5143]

And he just defeated Levon in 22 moves as well

[@acroamaticeeore]

Congrats to Hans Niemann! Also, here's to hoping our fave youtube chess personality also gets to GM soon. Go Eric! Also, happy holidays.

[@KiwiGamer-sx2xn]

What’s a GM norm?

[@drftr6073]

@@KiwiGamer-sx2xn norms are prerequisites for fide titles. (Like fide rating, tournament qualifications and so on)

[@_trismegistus]

@@KiwiGamer-sx2xn I believe it is just a victory over a GM, of which 3 are required along with the 2500 rating, to get the GM title.

[@brendanzou8788]

@@_trismegistus Not quite that simple. A victory over a GM is definitely important, although not essential, for acquiring norms. Your performance rating, average opponent rating and among other requirements are scrutinised to see if you have qualified for a norm. Many complicated factors are what make GM norms incredibly hard to obtain.

[@isaacmammel9186]

@@KiwiGamer-sx2xn a norm is a tournament performance, gothamchess has a great video on the requirements to be a GM

[@pmadood6970]

0 Captures Agadmator: *sad face* "no captures, captures"

[@detectivemarkseven]

Hans: "Sorry about that"

[@Alan-cm7ye]

Because he likes peace, not piece

[@alexanderlattreuter5196]

The Chess speaks for itself.

[@shivvu4461]

F

[@outisnemo8443]

Yep, obvious engine use is obvious.

[@DirkDjently]

@@outisnemo8443 Ken Regan, whom FIDE consults with often to detect cheating, says no

[@frogmanxbl7129]

What a great guy Sebastian Maze is to resign and preserve the perfect no-capture game! He was obviously completely justified in doing so (with stockfish +4 and all) but he could have kept playing for sure, very cool that he allowed Hans's win to look this cool tho!

[@seldom_bucket]

It's ironic that after claiming the chess speaks for itself his chess is the last thing people are focusing on.

[@zerozeros5246]

no cap, this is the same opener hans used and Magnus resigned , c4 op

[@dizzy9146]

But it's also the opening that magnus used when he lost to hans the first time

[@zerozeros5246]

@@dizzy9146 my recommended videos go crazy

[@ashikrasool6609]

He took "Checks, captures then attacks" to a whole new level

[@thatoneguy9582]

except without the captures apparently

[@MelloProto]

Wow, what a peaceful win. I sure hope that the peacefulness continues well into the future.

[@cammus]

Became GM one year ago, all of a sudden crossed 2700, has defeated the WC in classical with black and spoke the greatest chess quote ever "chess speaks for itself". What a journey

[@dizzy9146]

I'm hoping more gms start saying that the chess speaks for itself. Especially if they walk away just like hans did

[@streeeetz6059]

Just hear today for no particular reason

[@SavantGardeEX]

He's good lmao. Definitely not cheating.

[@albingrahn5576]

I’m glad the pieces could come to a diplomatic solution without having any blood be spilled on either side.

[@uberneanderthal]

it's easy to complete a pacifist run when you have God Mode turned on

[@Socrates...]

Hi Eric, I find your videos very good quality. I especially like your relaxed attitude. Have a good Christmas and New Year. Thank you

[@jamesvallejo9422]

Thank you Socrates, very cool

[@DanielHatchman]

Not an Andrea Botez fan? XD

[@DragonPanda131]

I don't know why KZbin started recommending me these kinds of videos, but I can say for certain that I am glad it did. I feel much smarter, and somehow this is easy to follow along with. Very entertaining, very informative, keep up the good work, whatever it may be.

[@raphaelnej8387]

xD

[@joaquinnapan3237]

Try to learn Chess, it's fun.

[@fiki1365]

Maybe because you watch the other c. board too much Jokes aside, in the words of Anatoly Karpov, chess is everything: art, science and chess. There's so many things you can find even from a single game.

[@raphaelmarly6439]

@@fiki1365 *"art, science, and sport"

[@fiki1365]

@@raphaelmarly6439 lol that was embarrassing. Thanks for the heads up but I'm gonna leave it as is so everyone can have a laugh at it.

[@jamesw9930]

watching this game just gives me a tingling feeling deep down inside

[@Vekigu]

Not surprised this was recommended to me today

[@NggaTree]

Magnus rewatched this video

[@daymongray3516]

Hans don’t let the trolls get to you, they’re just jealous. Everyone makes mistakes in their youth.

[@cluckycluck3053]

Hans is a despiccable, lying sociopath.

[@TaskForceB]

Hans is a troll.

[@alon3304]

I wonder how many views this video had before the drama

[@micahclawrence]

“Check his ass” -Magnus

[@takeachance5881]

Holy crap I remembered watching this video but man I did not register the name in this video during the controversy until this popped up in my recommended today.

[@nefarioustoast]

I was so confused looking for checkmate, completely forgot about resigning lol.

[@chriskane482]

That was like watching some kind of poisonous constrictor snake, he choked the pieces to death and then the venom was the Knight on the queenside.

[@folksyoxytocin]

Why would a constrictor be poisonous 🤔

[@davidanderson_surrey_bc]

@@folksyoxytocin Umm... because it's some kind of snake only found in chess?

[@folksyoxytocin]

@@davidanderson_surrey_bc yknow what I cant argue with that logic

[@chriskane482]

Thanks David! I knew I'd probably get that question when I wrote it hence the "some kind of".

[@RahulPresentsKobe]

"i before e...especially before mann" 10/10

[@NightKnight1996]

Wow, A great game that focuses on board pressure rather than trading pieces/pinning for material. Nice to see.

[@zacevans971]

' "i" before "E" ....especially before man

[@cloudstrife1523]

@Eric Rosen it's good to see you are not only displaying the game, but also taking in and learning new valuable tactics that you can and probably will use if the situation arises. In addition to explaining in detail the positions. Really shows your passion for chess. You may not hold the gm title but don't give up. You're already a gm. To me a grand masters job is to want to grow chess from all angles, it's not just about your elo. You make it fun learning. Keep it up and stay safe. P.s always promote to a bishop even if the queen also checkmates for style point. *Edit I just seen this post was from a year ago good to know the algorithm is working in the right direction

[@tomasdoricak6475]

Chess speaks for itself.

[@PHENN7]

This is gonna age like milk.

[@God-yr9rs]

*Sun Tzu liked this video*

[@dav1sworth]

The beads really spoke to him here

[@MaxMckayful]

I absolutely love when Eric is simply "talking chess" and doing things like breaking down interesting gameplay. People who know stuff and can explain it well, taking about that stuff, is one of my favorite things to witness.

[@drummerofawe]

"I before E, especially before man." The chess was cool and all but that quote made my day

[@riconthemove]

At my Elo we use to resign only 1 move before checkmate, this guy resigned for a pawn that put a naive smile to my face

[@chrisb5523]

Not because of a pawn but because how bad blacks position was

[@emmanuelriri2787]

We also don't care about position

[@Matt-vt7fb]

This game definitely speaks for itself

[@Niko-fj4mo]

"It's Fabiano" just at the end LOL

[@jonaskoelker]

Amazing game :o German pronunciation guide: In German, "ei" and "ie" are pronounced like the second letter is pronounced in English. For example "Niemann" is pronounced roughly like knee-man (except the 'a' is pronounced like in "hard"), the "ie" being pronounced like the 'e' in "hero", and "ei" is like the 'i' in "hire" and "higher".

[@roollout4131]

1:27 Niemann: pawn to c3 Opponent: resigns

[@AliHassan-iy1eb]

oh!! i remember watching this game a year ago and thinking wow this player is really great, might beat magnus one day

[@catcontent]

"Let's see how Hans became a GM" means something different today lmao

[@Will-zq1os]

Chess truly spoke for itself in this game

[@oiajwoadgea6123]

spoke*

[@Ken_neThT]

So Hans made his opponent over calculate on the wrong side of the board and just completely blindsided the opponent GM? (If I'm getting the video right) That's so impressive, holy crap

[@tommythang2937]

No. You've gotten it all wrong.

[@Ken_neThT]

@@tommythang2937 a short statement upon which you state your general disapproval of my statement with no explanation as to why? Sure, I hope you have a nice day too!

[@tommythang2937]

Yes that's great but I'm just here to let you know that you got it all wrong that's all🤷‍♂.

[@Ken_neThT]

@@tommythang2937 what's wrong? Where's wrong? How is it wrong? Why is it wrong? 5W1H, ever heard?

[@tommythang2937]

Relax. It's your analysis. That's what you got wrong. But carry on.

[@lebolemodisakoma8593]

Same opening Magnus Ran away from

[@timothyjonesjr.6161]

22 moves in and a GM is threatened with losing a single undefended pawn, and he resigns... It really is a whole different game at the highest levels.

[@coosoorlog]

It's not about black losing the b6 pawn. It's about black losing the b6 square, leading to black losing the f5 square. Black could advance the pawn, which actually looks good if Nb6 wasn't a move.

[@shirok4140]

Eric Rosen is what I imagine the F2 pawn looks like.

[@averagejoe5016]

Really impressive game by Hans at such a young age

[@SalamanderMagic]

I like the way Eric talks. He has such a calm and smooth voice. It's relaxing.

[@avvvqvvv99]

beautiful game from hans

[@illogicaltest]

Last time I was this early Garry Kasparov was the world champion.

[@zero_zero107]

Now a year later he repeated the strategy against magnus but in only 2 moves!

[@jeanvaljean3473]

it is Mazé! A French GM, really nice guy who appears sometimes in blitzstream's streams on twitch

[@weevilunderwood149]

Huge congrats to stockfish! Well deserved.

[@_wetmath_]

this aged well

[@MrSupermonkeyman34]

ah yes, I love that old saying "i before e especially before man"

[@faznaz7455]

4:10 There is an AlphaZero game which had a g4 idea but I remember it coming from the Ragozin and white played the Bf4 e3 setup from the Queens Gambit and eventually at move 9, g4 was played as a sacrifice.

[@itwasinthispositionerinoag7414]

No capture? That's not a captures

[@akashvenkatesh02]

No takes too 😁😁

[@detectivemarkseven]

Hans: "Sorry about that"

[@schrodinger6991]

This game made me realize how little I still know about chess

[@botloosigk]

You may shake hands with Hans's opponent. As he is a GM there is no need for sadness. Or pride.

[@mahmoudmokhtar2883]

This game reminds me of the game of Karpov Vs unzicker where there was only 2 captures it was an incredible game

[@sarthakawasthi5686]

nice time to recommend this video

[@rahuljoshi763]

Always spitting great advice.. 😁 Eric Rosen you are the best teacher ❤️

[@indillana]

hummmm, we see this from a different perspective now....

[@dariogreggio7981]

doesn't mean anything

[@ramarromarrone7756]

@@dariogreggio7981 domani a torino?

[@dariogreggio7981]

@@ramarromarrone7756 porcodio

[@toniokettner4821]

you are saying that hans cheats every game, got you

[@alpa208]

Now I understand things…

[@adrad]

Damn this was one of the very first chess videos I watched lol

[@spodreman7732]

And then you have me on the other hand, who in almost half of my (won) games spent 40-55 moves capturing every single piece, forcing the king to a corner, and checkmating with 2 or 3 queens.

[@rafasimsim]

😂 😂, +1

[@michaelwright8896]

I hope you become a GM soon.

[@jonashulse5883]

The exact same opening that made Magnus resign in one move 🤔

[@haveachocobar]

What a fantastic game. These masters make it look so easy.

[@eemilwallin3347]

I've had a similar position with white in ~1600 (lichess) rated 3+2 blitz, where my opponent had developed both bishops to d7 and e7, and had to play Ne8 after he had lost the center. The computer says that if bishop takes knight check, knight takes, black still has a chance to fight for the center (+0.5 for white), but it seems that black wanted to play for the win with Be7. In the Be7 line the center is lost for black and White has a lot of room to maneuver their pieces (+1.3, clear advantage). Black is hoping to keep the position closed, like Eric says -- the game is either about white finding the right pressure points or black turning the game to a slow grind. After 10...e5, I think any blitz player can see that the game is definitely in favor of white. White has the c-h, d-h diagonals operational. The master level play for Niemann is to play for position instead for attack, because Hans has the kingside pawnbreak. Maybe the 1600 rated me would go for a swashbuckling attack, but not Hans. In the final ply, white has two (locked) pawns in the 5th rank, one of them is central. Before Na4, every white piece has squares. Black has the queenside knight which has no squares. Black has an a-pawn that is defended 4 times (!!) and attacked 0 times. Beautiful game.