The first puzzle really sheds light on how powerful bishops can be against rooks. Two bishops and a king forcing a rook into only two possible spots on an empty board really shows the potential of bishops in the end game. Really clever.
⁉️ In the first puzzle if you play the Rook move to c3 in the line he suggested once the king goes to d2 once you play the best move K b1 if you take the rook it's stalemate again. Ok duh take it with the king not the bishop
I think I've said this before, but I really appreciate how you show, in full, lines and moves and ideas that are likely evident or clear to higher level players. Like, basically, I appreciate that you don't forget about your sub 1k rating audience. I'm not much above 1k but I remember being around 700 and getting really frustrated with some chess UA-camrs when they would mention some idea or line off the cuff that I just couldn't see. You never do that. Cheers and thanks Nelson.
I'm not even sub 1k rated; I don't play chess at all. I just think these puzzles are interesting, so I absolutely agree on how great it is that he shows the lines that might be self evident for someone with a deeper intuition for the game.
Thank you for that Timman problem. I've seen that mating-net before, but it's stunning how White is forced to sacrifice both rooks, both bishops and 3 pawns, and promote to a knight.
"You only have a knight! You couldn't possibly checkmate me!" "You have a pawn." "But I can still draw!" "You misunderstand me. You have a pawn, therefore I can checkmate you."
The funny thing is that in a timed game, the second puzzle isn't a win for white. The black player can just walk away from the table, and when their time runs out, it's a draw by "insufficient material"
Plugged this into Lichess as a study with the thought of : What if the black king doesn't walk into the smothered mate? Whelp, black still loses: mate in 27 once white takes the queen with a knight. Great puzzle.
9:40 Once you play Kc1, can't Black play Ka1, then pawn to a2, forcing you to move your K to avoid stalemate, allowing Black to promote his pawn? *_EDIT:_* Never mind, Knight checkmates on b3.
it actually a draw. Black could get a draw with moving the pawn up earlier so the king has no where to move. They don't have to move the king back and forth so you cannot win with the knight.
What a puzzle. Like, I thought in the second one this will be a draw since king can capture the pawns. And of course I am wrong because smothered mate comes to the rescue. Such a amazing video as always.
actually the black pawn had the time to push and then it would be a draw i think but of course i am wrong right ? EDIT : the knight can actually check on b3 and then he can adjust
Couldnt the pawn move forward at the end there and force stalemate? There must be a quicker way to get the knight there (Edit) Never mind it just would have forced the smothered mate 2 moves sooner
At 8:39 What if black blocks with queen. So 1.... Qd5+ 2 Qxd5 Kxd5 and then black's king is closer to the pawn on c3 so it shouldn't be a problem to capture it and then move to the a2 pawn. Isn't this line win for black? Edit: OK, on second thought I just realized white doesn't have to capture with the queen and can instead just move his king to f4, and since black's queen is basically pinned he has to trade the queens which allows white to protect his pawn and get to a king and pawn vs king endgame (considering the edge pawns are blocking each other).
@@addsp1233 what if the b King goes under the W pawn, if the W King go to c2 its a stealmate, if not, Black can waste time until the horsey take the b pawn, now King takes White pawn and its a draw Im a 600 that dont know chess terms, but you got the point
Puzzle 2: Remember, when you calculate this, you had to take into consideration that this only works if the king is on a dark square when your pony is a a light square and it is your turn to move. There is no way to lose a tempo without freeing the black king, once it is trapped, and no way to lose it before without letting the pawn promote. And as we know, the knight cannot lose an odd number of tempi. Imagine you calculate something like this, and realize that your knight is out of sync with the opponent's king.
In fact the knight has to be in a position that can check black in 2 moves. Otherwise black could have just pushed the pawn and it’s stalemate. This is a stronger condition than the knight has to be on a white square
I thought the first puzzle was harder... because I didn't get it right. I just didn't see the winning idea at all. I thought defending the pawn with the bishop was the correct start. The second puzzle is much more complicated but the winning lines are obvious and natural moves without having evaluated the whole decision tree. In truth, I didn't see the "repositioning rook" line but made those same moves anyway because they obviously improved the position. The b7 move was pretty self-evident because the knight fork under-promotion was self-evident but I didn't chase it all the way down to the smothered mate... the position was just "better". The second puzzle was a good puzzle and one I can't claim I solved but one I would have pretty much made the correct moves OTB on (and gotten lucky, I guess). But the first one, I would have drawn, apparently, and then obsessed over why it wasn't a win until I ran analysis. I don't think I would have ever made the correct move(s) OTB.
Thanks a lot for this presentation. Nice how all pieces will be reduced to just one knight! 07:54 By the way, Qd4+ (instead of Qh8+) is possible at once as Pc3 will cover.
Unlike a bishop knight endgame which is rather tricky to figure out on your own, two (alternate color) bishops can create two impassable diagonals, much like a single rook on a horizontal/vertical. The idea is the same... Continuously limit the king's movement using those bishops and your own king (for tempo or to take away squares).
7:12 when I saw that sequence with the double Rook sac and the pawn sac, followed by underpromotion to a Knight, I was positively disgusted. Devious af!
In the second puzzle, I wondered for a while why Ra8 wasn't a winning first move for white. Sacrifice the rook, promote the c pawn that is still protected... Took me a while to realize that ..Qg4 is a purely devastating move and as far as I can see mate in 2. In case anyone else wonders.
10:23 it's not smothered mate. Smothered mate is when king is surrounded by it's own pieces (not the case here, just a pawn) and the knight is the only one attacking (here the king CRUCIALLY cuts off escape squares that would otherwise be occupied by blacks own pieces, ie. SMOTHERED.
Also, it should have been mentioned that on 1.Bd5 (it looks as a logical move as defends pawn on f3) then black has 1..Rc7 + and on 2.Kd~ 2..Rd7! and draw! Also 1.Bc4 1..Rb3 with 2..Rc3+ and draw again!
1st puzzle absolutely stumped me but the second one...every single move up until after forking the king and queen was my first thought (and subsequently threw it out bc "it looks dumb")
Why doesn't d5 work for the white bishop? In the second puzzle at the end (around 10 min) can't black go king a1 and then pawn a2 and stalemate themselves before the knight gets into position to checkmate?
I have one question: In the end, couldn't he have moved his pawm instead of the king? That way it would have ended in a stalemate if white decided to bring his knight closer.
That would force you to move your king away. Black then moves their king away and there's no way to stop them from getting a queen and you stalemate or maybe even lose
5:43 I'm obviously missing something, but why does black capture with the king and not the queen? The queen is still attacking c8 (so white can't just promote that pawn), add when white advances the other pawn to b7, black moves the bishop to e5 for a discovered check and attack on the pawn
on the second position i think black should have pushed the pawn sooner cuz then its a draw and black cant get matted EDIT : the knight can check on b3
On the 2nd puzzle, at 10:10, Black should push the pawn up behind the king, so the white king has to move to prevent a stalemate, which gives Black the opportunity to promote the pawn
curious - n the second puzzle what if you do not move the king back but rather move the pawn to A2 forcing the white king away or end up in a stalemate. After black king moves to B2 the queen is coming and the white knight will be grabbed up also leading to a stale mate. Am I missing something (I am not very good but I love your puzzles).
I didn't figure out either puzzle until the last "if you would like to pause" on each. I did see the rook trap but only after the bishops were both in the center. Trapping a rook on an open board was not what I was looking for until it was imminent.
I know where I've heard "enjoy the show" before. Your channel and Agadmator's are good for people like me that understand and appreciate chess but for whatever reason are no good at playing it. Awesome puzzles.
After Knight->C5 I was wondering why not move the pawn for a stalemate, but at that point the knight could have moved in to B3 for the smothered mate right away. And since the king can only move up and back it gives 2 more moves for the night to get into position. Nice.
I dont understand why the black in second puzzle waits for smothered mate instead of pushing pawn right away and either having a stalemate or white moving the king away
About the first problem. To get the nice domination of Black's rook, this relies on Black playing 1 ... Rb3, which is less than best. Stockfish much prefers 1 ... Rb6 2 Bd5 Rb5 3 Be4/Be6 and play is not so interesting.
One thought on the second: If black's objective is to prevent white's win, couldn't it play for a stalemate and just push the pawn before the knight gets close?
Me: *Absolutely stunned by 1st position and thought it's the greatest study of all time*
Nelson: "Hope you guys enjoyed that little warm-up puzzle..."
Coincidentally, while I was reading this, Nelson told that 😂
@@sivavijay1208 omg me tooo lmaoo
@@sivavijay1208 wait brush me too
No you can not because you will just checkmate on the next move. Something he could have mentioned though
Right?! Lmao…
The first puzzle really sheds light on how powerful bishops can be against rooks. Two bishops and a king forcing a rook into only two possible spots on an empty board really shows the potential of bishops in the end game. Really clever.
mainly the bishop pair, a single bishop has too big of a blind spot of half the board.
@@BigDBrian 3⁴þ
@@nomismus5523 what? Half is correct...
⁉️
In the first puzzle if you play the Rook move to c3 in the line he suggested once the king goes to d2 once you play the best move K b1 if you take the rook it's stalemate again.
Ok duh take it with the king not the bishop
@@williethomas5116 I squatted over a mirror and got banned from public transport
I think I've said this before, but I really appreciate how you show, in full, lines and moves and ideas that are likely evident or clear to higher level players. Like, basically, I appreciate that you don't forget about your sub 1k rating audience. I'm not much above 1k but I remember being around 700 and getting really frustrated with some chess UA-camrs when they would mention some idea or line off the cuff that I just couldn't see. You never do that. Cheers and thanks Nelson.
I'm not even sub 1k rated; I don't play chess at all. I just think these puzzles are interesting, so I absolutely agree on how great it is that he shows the lines that might be self evident for someone with a deeper intuition for the game.
I would in a million years never think about trapping that Rook
Last puzzle, endgame 10:03 : what stops black from causing a stalemate by pushing the pawn on a3 - Ka1, Knc5, a2?, Knd3 but then it's a stalemate.
I thought about the same thing, but after a2 it's Knb3#
Ka1,Knc5,a2,Knb3
After a2, Nb3# is checkmate with the same position but a few moves earlier. So black moving his king is delaying mate
knight moves from c5 to b3 and its still a smothered checkmate
Nb3 is mate
Thank you for that Timman problem. I've seen that mating-net before, but it's stunning how White is forced to sacrifice both rooks, both bishops and 3 pawns, and promote to a knight.
The second puzzle's smothered mate actually has a name. It is called "Stamma's Mate", named after a French chess player Philipp Stamma.
If the king does not move back but moves the pawn to b2 the white king must back off or get a stalemate. The black queen is coming.
@Write Rider how
@Write Rider If black put king at a1 and push pawn forward, the white knight at b3 is a checkmate
These puzzles are great but there is something most of them have in common:
We do not get a queen, we get a knight.
"You only have a knight! You couldn't possibly checkmate me!"
"You have a pawn."
"But I can still draw!"
"You misunderstand me. You have a pawn, therefore I can checkmate you."
@@NOBITA69420 Yes you can checkmate with Knight to B3 and skipping those other moves. You just make the checkmate even quicker that way.
@@MaskOfCinder You cannot make it quicker
@@MaskOfCinder That would result in a stalemate.
The funny thing is that in a timed game, the second puzzle isn't a win for white. The black player can just walk away from the table, and when their time runs out, it's a draw by "insufficient material"
importantly at 2:52 after Kb2 Kd2 Kb1 white must play Kxc3 since Bxc3 is once again stalemate
Plugged this into Lichess as a study with the thought of : What if the black king doesn't walk into the smothered mate? Whelp, black still loses: mate in 27 once white takes the queen with a knight. Great puzzle.
that second puzzle took me longer than the usual 4 days to figure out.
a week without chess puzzle from Nelson is a bad week
How nice to see an old Jan Timman study. When I was young he was my chess hero.
9:40 Once you play Kc1, can't Black play Ka1, then pawn to a2, forcing you to move your K to avoid stalemate, allowing Black to promote his pawn?
*_EDIT:_* Never mind, Knight checkmates on b3.
Thank you for seeing and the. Editing for the answer. I was also confused but I didnt see the knight!
it actually a draw. Black could get a draw with moving the pawn up earlier so the king has no where to move. They don't have to move the king back and forth so you cannot win with the knight.
@@mannyr5306 its checkmate if they move the pawn
I love how your videos are never clickbait
Bold of you to assume that i can mate with 2 bishops
That second puzzle was amazing, with all the variations, especially that last one.
What would happen if black can pushes the pawn immediately after black king comes to a8
What a puzzle. Like, I thought in the second one this will be a draw since king can capture the pawns. And of course I am wrong because smothered mate comes to the rescue. Such a amazing video as always.
actually the black pawn had the time to push and then it would be a draw i think but of course i am wrong right ?
EDIT : the knight can actually check on b3 and then he can adjust
Couldnt the pawn move forward at the end there and force stalemate? There must be a quicker way to get the knight there
(Edit) Never mind it just would have forced the smothered mate 2 moves sooner
Thanks, I was wondering the same thing.
At the end of the second puzzle, why doesn't black push the pawn immediately to provoc the stalemate instead of going back and forth ?
If they push their pawn right after moving the king the first time, you can still get to b3 in 1 move and arrive at the same checkmate
At 8:39
What if black blocks with queen. So
1.... Qd5+
2 Qxd5 Kxd5
and then black's king is closer to the pawn on c3 so it shouldn't be a problem to capture it and then move to the a2 pawn.
Isn't this line win for black?
Edit: OK, on second thought I just realized white doesn't have to capture with the queen and can instead just move his king to f4, and since black's queen is basically pinned he has to trade the queens which allows white to protect his pawn and get to a king and pawn vs king endgame (considering the edge pawns are blocking each other).
You missed an important part of the last puzzle where if black tries to go for a stalemate
I was thinking about how black could just move the black pawn for a while as well, however it’s still winnable since white can just move the king
so after White traps blacks king, if Black goes Ka8, white Nc5, black a2 like you said, Nb3 is checkmate
@@addsp1233 After a2, Nb3 is simply checkmate
@@addsp1233 what if the b King goes under the W pawn, if the W King go to c2 its a stealmate, if not, Black can waste time until the horsey take the b pawn, now King takes White pawn and its a draw
Im a 600 that dont know chess terms, but you got the point
Puzzle 2:
Remember, when you calculate this, you had to take into consideration that this only works if the king is on a dark square when your pony is a a light square and it is your turn to move. There is no way to lose a tempo without freeing the black king, once it is trapped, and no way to lose it before without letting the pawn promote.
And as we know, the knight cannot lose an odd number of tempi.
Imagine you calculate something like this, and realize that your knight is out of sync with the opponent's king.
In fact the knight has to be in a position that can check black in 2 moves. Otherwise black could have just pushed the pawn and it’s stalemate. This is a stronger condition than the knight has to be on a white square
@@ericho3762 I believe you are absolutely correct.
Thank you for pointing this out.
I thought the first puzzle was harder... because I didn't get it right. I just didn't see the winning idea at all. I thought defending the pawn with the bishop was the correct start.
The second puzzle is much more complicated but the winning lines are obvious and natural moves without having evaluated the whole decision tree. In truth, I didn't see the "repositioning rook" line but made those same moves anyway because they obviously improved the position. The b7 move was pretty self-evident because the knight fork under-promotion was self-evident but I didn't chase it all the way down to the smothered mate... the position was just "better".
The second puzzle was a good puzzle and one I can't claim I solved but one I would have pretty much made the correct moves OTB on (and gotten lucky, I guess). But the first one, I would have drawn, apparently, and then obsessed over why it wasn't a win until I ran analysis. I don't think I would have ever made the correct move(s) OTB.
wow i love the single knight mates but you always gotta have a good tempo because you cant lose tempo with a knight
Thanks a lot for this presentation. Nice how all pieces will be reduced to just one knight!
07:54 By the way, Qd4+ (instead of Qh8+) is possible at once as Pc3 will cover.
"and ultimately we're going to be able to checkmate with the two bishops..." Speak for yourself Nelson 🤣
Unlike a bishop knight endgame which is rather tricky to figure out on your own, two (alternate color) bishops can create two impassable diagonals, much like a single rook on a horizontal/vertical.
The idea is the same... Continuously limit the king's movement using those bishops and your own king (for tempo or to take away squares).
really love these puzzle videos. keep it up!
7:12 when I saw that sequence with the double Rook sac and the pawn sac, followed by underpromotion to a Knight, I was positively disgusted. Devious af!
That second puzzle is a mind bender with all its sacrifices. Who would ever expect to give up all those pieces to win.
In the second puzzle, I wondered for a while why Ra8 wasn't a winning first move for white. Sacrifice the rook, promote the c pawn that is still protected... Took me a while to realize that ..Qg4 is a purely devastating move and as far as I can see mate in 2. In case anyone else wonders.
Ahh ok thanks, I was confused as to how that doesn’t win
10:23 it's not smothered mate. Smothered mate is when king is surrounded by it's own pieces (not the case here, just a pawn) and the knight is the only one attacking (here the king CRUCIALLY cuts off escape squares that would otherwise be occupied by blacks own pieces, ie. SMOTHERED.
VERY NICE, but not smothered.
Imagine winning an end game with a few pawns beating a queen
The second puzzle was really good. I predicted 3 moves.
in the 2nd puzzle what happens if he brings the pawn down after the king move? the knight is too slow?
On the last puzzle, couldn't black have forced stalemate by pushing the pawn earlier?
2:49 nice trick by black, king moves to b1 and if white immediately takes the rook it's stalemate.
Kxc3
@@ishan7735 oh yeah it only works if white takes with bishop
@@bennytennyson yep
I really appreciate the simplicity yet brilliancy of the first puzzle, although the second one is obviously also great.
Also, it should have been mentioned that on 1.Bd5 (it looks as a logical move as defends pawn on f3) then black has 1..Rc7 + and on 2.Kd~ 2..Rd7! and draw! Also 1.Bc4 1..Rb3 with 2..Rc3+ and draw again!
In the second one I actually guessed two of the moves. I didn't see the continuations, but I figured they probably made sense. 😀
🎵 Trapped between two bishops
feeling like a fool
I thought I would escape checkmate
Only to get schooled
1st puzzle absolutely stumped me but the second one...every single move up until after forking the king and queen was my first thought (and subsequently threw it out bc "it looks dumb")
Tags to first puzzle: bishop pair, skewer.
Tag to second puzzle: Mate in 15+ moves.
There are so many things to learn in chess. For a newb like me it's like light years away.
black could have survived for longer by not taking the pawn, but ultimately loses to the white pawn getting through
Love your videos! Never stop making content!
Great chess explained in a very sympathic and professional way!! Thanks so much!!!
the second one is just insane, a double bishop sacrifice followed by a double rook sacrifice is killer vs a queen + bishop
The first one is cool, but the second one is amazing! Imagine sacrificing 2 rooks, 2 bishops and 3 pawns, and then checkmate with a knight
Black could force a stalemate by moving the pawn while the knight approaches in the last game
Why doesn't d5 work for the white bishop?
In the second puzzle at the end (around 10 min) can't black go king a1 and then pawn a2 and stalemate themselves before the knight gets into position to checkmate?
The smug smile drawn on my face when i realized what the mate was
Wait a second... but cant black just do a stalemate by just moving the king then the pawn and not doing circles?
Isn't there a stalemate threat if Black moves the pawn to a7 early in the 2nd puzzle?
Was hoping to see what that line looked like. Just double checked, that just forces the smother earlier. Nb3 mates.
question:in the second puzzle couldn't black just push the pawn and its a stalemate?
I somehow guess all of the moves without knowing why they work.
I have one question: In the end, couldn't he have moved his pawm instead of the king? That way it would have ended in a stalemate if white decided to bring his knight closer.
That would force you to move your king away. Black then moves their king away and there's no way to stop them from getting a queen and you stalemate or maybe even lose
6:54 if you wanna be really mean you could under promote to a knight in that position XD
Another excellent video, Nelson! My brain is now warmed up and limber for the day ahead.
10:11 black could get stalemated moving a2
5:43 I'm obviously missing something, but why does black capture with the king and not the queen? The queen is still attacking c8 (so white can't just promote that pawn), add when white advances the other pawn to b7, black moves the bishop to e5 for a discovered check and attack on the pawn
Found what I was missing. After queen takes e6, white promotes the c pawn for a queen, checkmate
That's logical. I'm not sure the problem
on the second position i think black should have pushed the pawn sooner cuz then its a draw and black cant get matted
EDIT : the knight can check on b3
10:00 how come back wont try to stalemate by trapping its own king in by pushing the pawn?
On the last few moves the black can voluntarily move the pawn and entrap its own king, forcing a draw. All he does is wait for the knight instead.
On the 2nd puzzle, at 10:10, Black should push the pawn up behind the king, so the white king has to move to prevent a stalemate, which gives Black the opportunity to promote the pawn
So what this the exception to the “you need at least 3 knights by themselves to checkmate”
That 2nd puzzle was nice.
I like your chess puzzles and videos . Big fan of you ❤️.
At 10.12 min why not black moves the pawn instead of repeating king moves for a stale mate
for the second puzzle, what's stopping black from just pushing the pawn early and stalemating themselves?
curious - n the second puzzle what if you do not move the king back but rather move the pawn to A2 forcing the white king away or end up in a stalemate. After black king moves to B2 the queen is coming and the white knight will be grabbed up also leading to a stale mate. Am I missing something (I am not very good but I love your puzzles).
Mind boggling
You got any tips on how to create chess puzzles?
The first puzzle is so beautiful and elegant
I didn't figure out either puzzle until the last "if you would like to pause" on each. I did see the rook trap but only after the bishops were both in the center. Trapping a rook on an open board was not what I was looking for until it was imminent.
I think some websites will declare a draw as soon as knight appears, because it considered to be "unsufficient material".
I know where I've heard "enjoy the show" before. Your channel and Agadmator's are good for people like me that understand and appreciate chess but for whatever reason are no good at playing it. Awesome puzzles.
5:49 "Black has to take the bishop." Agreed, but why not with the queen?
He moves pawn instead of king at the end of the second puzzle so black got a stalemate
that end puzzle was great!
In the first puzzle if the rook is pinned and the black king goes to B1, white has to take with the king instead of the bishop, to avoid stalemate.
I was just wondering why the black does not move the pawn in the last puzzle
They could stalemate
After Knight->C5 I was wondering why not move the pawn for a stalemate, but at that point the knight could have moved in to B3 for the smothered mate right away. And since the king can only move up and back it gives 2 more moves for the night to get into position. Nice.
that 2nd game reminded me of being in a cult where ppl r just being sacrificed left and right.
Black could force a draw at the end. By doing pawn to A7
9:37 Here the best move for black is Kc4, not Kb2. And the game becomes complicated.
In the second puzzle, at the end, could black push its pawn early to get a draw (mate)
Everytime I try to think 5 6 moves ahead I end up losing.
Last knight moves: what if black pushes the pawn earlier to get a stalemate?
pos 1: black draws by Rb1 check instead of Rc3 check
After the white knight moves to C5, black could push the pawn at A3 to A2 thus effecting a stalemate?
10:12 Should be noted that if black try a2, they get checkmated automatically.
However if a2 follow by Nd3, it was a STALEMATE!
5:30 why doesn’t black take the bishop with the queen? Its still preventing the pawn from becomin* a queen.
if queen takes then pawn to c8 is discovered mate
@@MoonersX Ahhhh, I see.
@@anderfu8273 the Queen can block the check but its already a 100% losing position for black
For the second puzzle why BF7 and rush pawns to queen dont work?
Hi the main line is wrong in the second puzzle... the bishop and queen is hanging right ? How about black played Qa5???
I dont understand why the black in second puzzle waits for smothered mate instead of pushing pawn right away and either having a stalemate or white moving the king away
About the first problem. To get the nice domination of Black's rook, this relies on Black playing 1 ... Rb3, which is less than best. Stockfish much prefers 1 ... Rb6 2 Bd5 Rb5 3 Be4/Be6 and play is not so interesting.
One thought on the second: If black's objective is to prevent white's win, couldn't it play for a stalemate and just push the pawn before the knight gets close?