This Puzzle Will Test If You Love Chess

Here's the puzzle FEN:
3N4/8/8/7K/5p1n/8/8/3k3n w - - 0 1
Puzzle Details:
Shakhmaty v SSSR, 1934 (version)
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[@Aaron_Frederick_41002]

I really enjoyed this puzzle. It truly shows how endgames in chess can be really fascinating. With that in mind, I happened to stumble upon a short puzzle when analyzing one of my games. It involves a position where white is threatening checkmate in 1 and it may look like black has nothing to do to stop the mate (or mate the white king), black actually has a really nice couple of moves. I know this puzzle is very short (like around 4 moves to complete it), but I still think that it's fascinating. The FEN is this: 6k1/3R4/6pQ/2p2p2/2P2P2/6KP/1P2q3/8 b - - 0 1 I hope that you (or anyone who looks at this position) sees how chess puzzles can appear in a game of chess without you even realizing it. I'm so happy that I analyzed that game as I wouldn't have seen this short puzzle otherwise. I hope that anyone who looks at this is as fascinated as me.

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Very nice, Aaron! Pinning this one!

[@interesting3956]

thats a really nice stalemate trick. You can sac the queen for repetition im sure thats like 8 brilliant moves in a row lol

[@NineAweFour904]

Also show how unexpected knights can be

[@lekhnayak]

@@ChessVibesOfficial good

[@martinrea8807]

That's not a stalemate, it's a stable mate! Nice vid.

[@sashashadowhive6128]

stop horsing around mate

[@robertb6076]

@@sashashadowhive6128 my mane man

[@zenaxia8063]

Get your arse outta here

[@PhO3NiX96]

Good one

[@jamesk8882]

I have more horse jokes in the stable

[@PrometheanConsulting]

The underpromotion and the stalemate at the end was completely unexpected. Very cool!

[@tottenvillelegend826]

An incredible stalemate. Truly inspirational.

[@jaivanttitus]

Hi Nelson! I just want to say that I recently discovered you, you have been much more help than others. Keep it up! And yes this puzzle.... was amazing!

[@robertakerman3570]

Jaivant, lovely puz. @4:55 f promotes-Q chk. not Wht Knt-f7 chk Blk?

[@jaivanttitus]

@@robertakerman3570 that is possible, but it still loses!

[@jaivanttitus]

@@robertakerman3570 *f2*

[@robertakerman3570]

@@jaivanttitus I thank You for that.

[@jettyung2389]

At the GM level, they say the bishop is stronger, but at the sub-1200 level, the knight is a much bigger pain in the ass than the bishop.

[@johnathanpatrick6118]

The bishop is generally favored over a knight because there are more situations where diagonals are opened up or at least partially opened. A knight is best when dealing with cramped positions, which don't happen quite as often as wide open positions.

[@palhotex7863]

Im 800 and i think the knight is harder to deal with because we cant really see forks and stuff like that. The only problem with the bishop is that he is chilling somewhere in the board and you dont really see him and end up blundering a queen

[@dlucey123]

They’re very different pieces to say the least, lots of people hate the forks that knights achieve because they’re hard to spot but in general I agree with Jonathan’s comment that bishops are better in open positions. They can control more squares if they’re not blocked and as long range pieces they can pin, skewer and create batteries which knights can’t. The main disadvantage of bishops is that they work best in pairs and individually only control one colour.

[@DunklerZebralord]

Man these puzzles show why within 2 years I completely fell for chess. I just keep getting amazed at this game and your channel showcasing so many awesome and fascinating puzzles or concepts really helps

[@zfid]

Awesome puzzle thanks for sharing

[@alwaysfourfun1671]

Wow, so impressed by the position and your enjoyable of showing it to us.

[@Relisoc]

I didn’t even consider ke2 would be a stalemate at first, that’s amazing

[@dentonyoung4314]

Another wonderful position and analysis.

[@RealKayd3nYT]

Brilliant stalemate! Took me a while to see the whole idea. Good puzzle!

[@giovannicorno1247]

The stalemate was a surprise, very elegant solution, in the center and with reduced material!

[@agnishwarroy5101]

It's an amazing stalemate! A great play by both sides.

[@GregoriousApartment]

Thanks for sharing this amazing puzzle, Nelson!

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Of course!

[@Robi2009]

That last stalemate was something brilliant 👍

[@melparrishjr]

Nice one, Nelson!!💯💯💯

[@adityarajivratnam6863]

Really enjoyed this puzzle!

[@legate7158]

Possibly the best puzzle I've seen in a long while. Most of them are basic endgames or chess prinicples but this gets you thinking.

[@prakashholla7331]

Nice one, thanks

[@DeSlagen8]

Appreciate your videos so much

[@jasonhe5578]

I analyzed this with the engine and it almost suggested an alternate suggestion of kf6 (only -1) at 4:29, however the knight promotion does win for black there since there aren't any stalemates, and the tablebase says its DTZ 60

[@tianlecheng2656]

Which is more than 50 moves………. Draw by 50 move rule

[@jasonhe5578]

@@tianlecheng2656 I believe DTZ 60 is actually 30 moves since each half-move is counted as 1 by the tablebase

[@arthurrtang9670]

That is a pretty rare stalemate to come upon. Chess is awesome and puzzle like this are the reasons why I love chess.

[@francoislechampi2002]

this was just beautiful !! notice that this is a "perfect" stalemate where each square around the king is controlled only once

[@paulfaulkner6299]

Enjoyed that

[@kisaragireion]

I just discovered this channel and it’s quickly becoming my number one source for chess puzzles! Thanks KZbin algorithm! And also Nelson!

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Welcome aboard!

[@franshendrix1404]

This brought a huge smile on my face. Beautiful.

[@chessartist]

Wow amazing puzzle!

[@kamnasharma6143]

Great puzzle! Do you have some plans to do analysis of your instructive games as well? Or any instructive game videos?

[@sushiljain3826]

Hi Nelson, Am watching all your videos Chess Vibes because the way you narrate is quite good. Keep it up. In regards to the above position I wish to point out when you pause the video at 4.20 the black knight could play (G or H) F5 controlling E5

[@allohir1453]

That's amazing!

[@poeda6637]

Amazing!

[@flikah3407]

This puzzle was actually breathtaking

[@snipemoon9]

It was actually fascinating I'm just an intermediate player in chess then while training I'm thinking that i can't reach my goal to be a grandmaster one day. So I watch chess videos everyday thinking that I cannot win I cannot be a grandmaster but today I was scrolling then I saw this puzzle and it caught my eye. So I started watching this video and it inspired me a lot that i had to comment and also the puzzle told me a message that I can do anything I just have to believe in myself. This is why i really love chess it's so satisfying and all the combination's help me for my other games. I just want to see more of this puzzles. Thanks' Nelson for teaching me chess even do we are not F2F (face to face) I will always' be your inspiration in chess.

[@Rocky64]

Another fine study by V. Jakimtsjik, made in 1934. There's a more famous one by Herbstman & Kubbel (1937) with the same idea that features (1) multiple stalemates in side-variations as well, and (2) an even more beautiful finish where the white king forks THREE knights on f2, f3, f4 by playing to g3, forcing Black to play ...Ke3 to defend them all and causing stalemate.

[@miodragcristianiovanov229]

Wow! How amazing stalemate in the middle of the board and no heavy pieces just a few knights! Great puzzle, great video! Congrats on the wonderful puzzle series! I think this is unique among chess channels...

[@SteveThePster]

Amazing! And please do a vid explaining how on earth you win with 3 knights versus one knight and a king!

[@MrChuks84]

Really clever puzzle

[@a_doggo]

Whoa... That was just beautiful. I love this channel, it's quite literally boosting my rating by a few points a week by making sure I study the examples, puzzles, and advice. Really helpful, and a lot of fun to learn this way. NM Nelson has a great eye for the beauty of chess.

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Thanks!

[@timohassinen230]

Wow! That''s just amazing :D

[@williamsquires3070]

(@3:53) white could go Kg4 as white’s knight can go to c4 instead and still be in a position to fork. The problem is black has Nhf5 or Ngf5 and now the knight again guards the e3 square and white’s king can’t take the knight.

[@donprater2754]

Brutal!

[@Kraykz]

why not move the black king to protect the pawn and avoid forking?

[@erik19borgnia]

Because white can just sacrifice the knight to eat the pawn and that's a draw

[@ryokuculnamo3825]

I think for me its more that most of these puzzles mainly end with black losing or being forced to draw. when I use to play on a chess team in high school, our advisor primarily taught us the king Indian Defense and playing as black. so for me it tends to feel a bit disheartening when there's rarely any situations where to side I spent the most time as get a win.

[@arjundas3314]

Wow, thats awesome.

[@Futureguitarist15]

I love how I can always nail down these unique puzzles when presented like this but as soon as stuff like this happens in game I fully blunder 😂

[@BobChess]

This puzzle is just mind blowing. Who will that 3 knights cant beat the lonely king!

[@jedrzejkraszpulski442]

Three knights vs one feels like one of those theoretical wins that only stockfish and GMs can actually achieve.

[@uab973]

Beautiful

[@phoenizboiisawesome]

That is the most gorgeous stalemate i have ever seen oh my god

[@billhopen]

this was fun!

[@eget4144]

I think the best part was promoting to knight to prevent fork.

[@johnathanpatrick6118]

The fact that with best plays from both sides White can actually draw this game from this position is fascinating. Of course moving the king immediately to threaten the marching Black pawn ain't happening because of the coverage by the two Black knights, so White's knight has to be the hero. As the video progressed as soon as the possibility of Black getting a third knight happens, instantly I'm thinking draw by stalemate. And sure enough, Ne3+, Nxe3+; Ke4 happens. I'm thinking 'Black, don't defend both knights, you're gonna walk into a stalemate trap!!'. But ...Ke2 and...oops. 🤣🤣

[@maycoral1224]

Hi, if you go back to around 5.52 the black could have carried on putting the white in check instead of going straight for the pawn promotion.

[@BigDBrian]

@@maycoral1224 Do you see an actual line that allows black to promote in that?

[@reubenmanzo2054]

And if any other move, white takes one of the knights and it's a draw by insufficient material.

[@indranildas8929]

Absolutely brilliant minds

[@sol_mental]

Amazing

[@marvintalesman6306]

Superb .

[@frankg.39]

Loved the puzzle, I guess I love chess!!

[@tykemorris]

I guess I must love chess then. I almost sorta solved it but I admit I would have blundered into the check fork at 5:18. I had been thinking the answer at 4:33 was to escape with the king to the 6th rank and eventually the 7th rank to avoid all further checks. I thought I had solved it until before I unpaused I thought about the Underpromotion to knight. The king MUST stay close to the knights. I did see the Underpromotion and the knight sacrifice and subsequent fork with the king, and stalemate but only at the very end during the last pause. I never would have foreseen it any earlier in the game. This reminds me of another 3 knight stalemate puzzle from you. That one had a 3-way fork leading to a picturesque symmetrical stalemate.

[@Ishlacorrin]

Things like this make me wonder why in the hundreds of years chess has been a thing no one thought to fix the stalemate rule.

[@lekhnayak]

ya nelson it realy made me smile because 1 knight gets captured in the last position so it is a draw

[@vladislavshevchenko634]

2:38, I managed to calculate this variation with the royal fork idea, I think my chess is getting a bit better

[@keithkimball128]

At timing 3:47. White could move 1) N-C4, f7, 2) K*NH4, f-8 (Queen), 3) N-E4+

[@robo3007]

Could you do a video on how to win with three knights? It's not a position I ever expect to be in, but it would be interesting nonetheless!

[@frankberger8243]

unbelievable

[@complexcorsair333]

I love chess lmao. In the finale, when you said that the moves that will draw the position are Ne3 and Ke4, I was unexplainably happy cause these two are the only moves that I could predict correctly.

[@yoav613]

Very nice! Next video show us how 3 knights and aking vs knight and king is a win.😃

[@ThaFuzzwood]

I really like the billy mays style of BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE, but stuff still ends the way as said in the caption.

[@Dausuul]

These puzzles have made me really appreciate the existence of stalemates (and draws generally) in chess. It keeps the game interesting even when one side has a clear advantage; can the losing player force a draw and escape?

[@Nate_doggy_dawg]

When I was a kid I used to play for stalemates because I was terrible. It always made my opponent mad when I was able to get away with the tie.

[@bnwgaming5076]

Nice video rly appreciate the Beauty of what has happened ❤❤❤ chess4ever

[@jonathancauley5345]

Oh wow!

[@kamikazexd1125]

now I want to see the 3 knights mate puzzle for completion

[@dimitriskontoleon6787]

Even the endgame tablebase possisions have fun...

[@lanceareadbhar]

I'll admit that I was pointing at the king and smiled when you said it was a stalemate.

[@boriserjavec6470]

wow nice!

[@NathakornHengkrawit]

dump f7 can also fork then e5 then c4 then e3

[@AthanasiosJapan]

When I saw this puzzle, I immediately thought that there must be a crazy variation where white promotes into a knight.

[@BischesseHunting]

Real fun

[@pedrodias7839]

why cant you move the king early to avoid the fork?

[@elendarulianreo]

Why doesn't Nf7 work as the first move? Like Nc6, it also allows the followup of Ne5.

[@kzkaa.]

The reason why Nc6 is required is that if Ng2 happens, then you need to play Nd4. It seems subtle, but you need to be able to play Nf5+ if king goes to e3 and try to promote the pawn. Nf7 doesn't allow that, so black can just bring the king and promote the pawn and there's no way to stop it.

[@bobthebox2993]

I did find the simple solution of putting your knight on g4 to force the pawn to capture the pawn if it doesn't get pushed and fork the king and pawn if it did get pushed, but the problem I had was that there wasn't a sequence of moves to get there that forces black's hand, since the first move in the chain doesn't attack the pawn, black could move anything he wants, which made me believe it was the weong solution. Obviously I stood no chance at fihuring out the rest of the puzzle.

[@rambutan3655]

I though I got this in the bag with 1 king vs 1 king and a knight, but with this stale mate, it give more sense. My move was white king h4, black king e2 to protect the pawn. White knight to e6, black pf3, white knight to d4 checking king. Black king to e3 , white knight to c2 for check. If the king keeps blocking e2 and e3, it will be a draw. If he move very slightly, the knight will eat the pawn.

[@faintsmile2542]

hi hello but coudn't the knight just move to c4 then e3? and why white didnt just go for queen?

[@eyal2822]

What about sacrificing the knight to use the king to fork on g4?

[@l1nked712]

I thought about Ne3, then the king has the fork but you just protect with Ke2, didnt think about it being a stalemate

[@reubenmanzo2054]

Doesn't Nf7 work for the first move as well? Because you can still move Ne5, attacking black's pawn.

[@picture070]

At 6:40, If Nf2 check and follow it up with Kg4 forking the other 2 knights. Is there any tricks there for black?

[@Will_E_Wonty]

I was going to ask the same thing - I hope someone answers! Great puzzle btw.

[@mahyarrezaeiamiri7150]

wait i got question what if the pawn insted of being a queen became a knight to not get forked

[@Merrit16]

Would King to G4 at the end there not also lead to a draw. Forking the two knights with no way to protect both

[@szymonk.6124]

i don't love chess, but when you said "stalemate", i smiled :)

[@SamuelPearlman]

You probably can't see it, but I am Smiling AND Appreciating!

[@savakirilov5263]

"what do you notice about this position" I audibly gasped

[@fruitlessbeast]

Yeah, I love it.

[@indranildas8929]

I wonder how brilliant are the person who creates this kind of studies...

[@feierlord]

I actually found those last few moves pretty quickly

[@aleksajakic8447]

6:35 doesn't knight f2 and then king g2 also work?

[@tannhaeuserx464]

I am not very good at chess, so this might be a silly question: What if the black's first move is not to push the pawn? Black can wait till the white knight to attack the pawn and then push? Meanwhile black works to trade knights and uses the black king to prevent the white king from taking the pawn?

[@konamiboyfool]

At 3:50 can't the knight use c4 instead of g4? It achieves the same purpose

[@alyvav.trauma2440]

1:42 Well, you didnt explain the outcome for this match when instead moving the pawn, you go with the knight h4 to g2 or King to e2 after whites first move.

[@tspeptx]

extreme interesring.

[@Trof1sh]

at 4:07 can't black put the horsey to f5 to stop the fork at e3 and can't be taken cause it's protected by the other horsey?

[@johnathanpatrick6118]

Pretty sure that's gonna lead to a draw. If ...Ngf5, White can take the pawn (Nxf3) and you have a likely king and knight against king situation which can never be checkmate. If ...Nhf5, Nxf3 still happens. Bottom line, Black's chances of winning lie with the f-pawn; if it dies, so does the win.