@@magyk5740 especially after exf5 Kf5 Qh5+ g6 fxg6+ Kg7 gxh7 Rxh7 Qg5+ Kh8 It's +5 or something but black wins 70% of the time according to the lichess database
Great video! For the first puzzle, you forgot to show the incredible line after Nf5. You go Qf6!! Threatening both Qxa6# and Ng3# if the night moves, uncovering the defence of the bishop by the queen 🤯
One thing to note with puzzle 2... for the ones where White plays Qa1, Black can play Rf5 to prevent Nf6#, but now you can play Qd4# instead, since the Knight is guarding that square and the Rook is no longer present to capture the Queen.
I’ve tried composing some puzzles and it’s so difficult. Not that I thought it would be easy. But I have to keep screen shotting where I’m at to try and progress it later. All it takes is for one little escape route or unprotect-able square and the whole thing collapses. Quite fun though!
For the first position, I believe e8(Q) or exf8(Q) work too. Without moving the bishop, the new queen can maneuver to the needed diagonal. (Or black's knight captures and allows the old queen to do the same.)
@@Антон-к1ж3ф After Nf5 the knight allows the queen to access the diagonal. If either queen moves to c3 or c5, Ng3 indeed stops it. I then found Qa1, threatening mate with Kb2 or c2 (or Kc2 threatening Qa1)... but just saw black then has Nxe3! So either check and/or a block on d1.
The first has two lines of particular interest to problemists. One you identified: after 1 … f6/f5, we have 2 Qg8 Ne6 shutting off g8-c4, but opening g8-g2 allowing 3 Bxa6# The other much neater variation is 1 … Nf5! As you said, after random N-moves, 2 Qxh5 and 3 Qd1 is mate. BUT after1 …Nf5 ; 2 Qxh5, black has 2 … Nxe3 stopping all mates. Instead 1… Nf5; 2 Qf6! threatens 3 Qxa6# and now 2 … Nd6 closes the line f6-a6, but opens f6-f2, allowing 3 Ng3# These variations show the ‘Valve’ mechanism.
First puzzle: I first thought there a mate in 3 without the initial bishop move: 1. QxB means that Q reaches C4 by third move, either via QxP on F7, or via C8. However N can reach E2 in 3 moves to extend the game to mate in 4.
Nice one. I thought of promoting to a Queen and then check mate the king with a queen on d3, but than the knight is just in in time for blocking on e2 and it would become a mate in 3. Also with the bisschop black could go for a check by taking on d2, and again a mate in 4 is the minimum.
The first puzzle can actually be easily solved. You can do pawn takes f8 and promote the queen. Then you put the just promoted queen on c5. If black tries to defend that with knight to e6, you counter with queen to c3. No move from black can then stop queen to c4 checkmate.
Puzzle 1 - Pe8, if he captures with the knight Qd4, Qd3#, if he doesn't capture Qc6, Qc4#, simple as that, because king can't move nor capture any pieces your queen just needs to not be in danger and to attack the king and its checkmate. No bishop shanenagans needed.
@@ericlindholm9482 hbt taking bishop at F8 then if black moves pawn Queen to C8 and to C4 If knight moves Queen to A1 and move the king away after that
I’m pretty sure the 1st puzzle can also be mate in 2 if the opponent doesn’t notice, if you play queen h2 and they don’t play knight f5 you play queen d3 checkmate. If they do move knight to f5 you take and then finish with queen d3 checkmate again! If anyone finds This to not be accurate please could u tell me?
I love how from the given pieces in the thumbnail it looks like black only has a king and pawn and you’re supposed to push the white pawns for a stalemate in 3
Great video.. As for him liking checkmates in three maybe he was a religious man in that 3 represents the holy trinity or simply because 3 is a number with religious connotations. Just a pondering thought. Hey just an idea - maybe a series on the how & why of why masters resign. At times a lot of us patzers have trouble seeing how & why masters resign and thought you showing us solutions would be highly instructive
For the first puzzle, if you take the bishop and make a queen, this is mate in 3 i think. If black move the knight, you Can put your Queen h8 to a1and then mate with move from thé king in b2, if black don't move the knight, Queen f8 to C8 and then c4. I don't find a way for black to cancel mate in 3 in this way
i was thinking Qh6 to Qf6(if they use pawn to defend, which is the only slightly good defense) then to Qa6 checkmate, if they dont move pawn its 2 move checkmate
I thought I had solved the puzzle with Kc2, combining backrank mate, zugzwang and similar ideas from the solution. It almost worked but unfortunately, f5 (or f6) Qg8 Ne6 stops the mate for one more move. Still, I find my move even more pleasing than the solution.
In the first puzzle after Bb7, there is another reply of black, that is Nf5: white has to reply with Qf6 threatening Qxa6#. So Bb7, Nf5, Qf6, if Nd6, Ng3#. In fact, after Bb7 by white and after Nf5 by black, white cannot play Qxh5 as per variation with black's move Ne6: Bb7, Nf5, if Qxh5, black can play Nxe3 and white queen has no more the check neither on c4 neither on d1 square. Also in the first puzzle, Bc6 does not work because you don't have Bb5# due to black pawn on a6.
1. Qh7 2. Ke2 3. Qd3# Mate in two 1. Qh7 2. Nf5 3. Qf5 4. Ke2 5. Qd3# The claim that this was very hard and a beginner should just sit back is a stretch, I'm bad at chess but there's nothing mind-blowing about this puzzle.
I think promoting the pawn to Queen in e8 works to because if the Knight takes it then the queen in h8 can go to a1 and there is no way black is going to stop the checkmate. Black bishop can go to g7 but the queen can just go to b1 and black can't do anything to stop the checkmate. If the Knight doesn't take the queen in e8, the queen can go to a4 and checkmate by going to d1.
the puzzle is okay but if we just simply plat queen h7 after that queen to d3 its mate . black can delay mate by placing his knight on f5 but it still is a 3 move mate (That's Easy) :)
My idea which is m4 I think was pain takes bishop promote to q then if black plays with the k any move u take the h pawn if he doesnt u take the k with ur promoted Queen and then take the h pawn and the threat is white square bishop to e2
Rook captures Nb5 is not checkmate because after Qe5 instead of using the pawn to capture u can use the Rook which the forces the knight to recapture it and checkmate avoided
Commenting this before the video starts. I’m kinda ass at chess but I figured it out in under a minute. Queen to h7. If they queen you ignore it and check mate QD3. Is that not mate in 2 lol. Also mate in 3 would be queen to h7. Blacks knight to f5 to block. Queen takes. No matter what move they make, qd3 again; Check mate. And mate in 4 for extra; qh6. They queen, bishop takes. They block queen with knight e6. Queen takes. No matter what move they make queen a6 check mate. Am I correct on all of those lol. It’s literally mate in 2 if they don’t block with the knight Edit. Just realized which way blacks pawns are going. Scratch one of those. At least I got the correct diagonal lol
Nice problems! You missed out one little thing in the 2nd variant: If 1. ♘b5 d3 2. ♕a1 (there is unfortunately ♕b2 also!) and then if 2...♜f5 to prevent ♘f6#, there ist 3. ♕d4# Do you know this fascinating study from Pàl Benkö with only 4 pieces? 8/4p3/8/2K5/8/6k1/P7/8 w - - 0 1 White moves to win
I think there might be a possible miss on a different checkmate that is easier to spot. White E pawn moves forward 1 square and upgrades to a queen. If the black knight takes, the white queen moves down the diagonal to A1 then next move Whites king moves out of the way. If black does not take the queen on E8 then that queen moves along the white diagonal to A4 I believe then next to D1 for the mate. Did I miss something?
If the pawn move forward it allows the black bishop to capture on B4 then D2 sacrifice orA3 giving white king a check which will delay the checkmate by 1 move
e8, if black takes Qd4 followed by Qd3? If black doesn't take simply Qa4 followed by Qd1? Help me find the issue here edit: ah, I missed the check by the black Bishop!
I found a slightly different and (I think) workable line for puzzle 1. It starts with a promotion of the pawn to a queen, which the knight would have to take before the promoted queen becomes a nuisance. This both gets that defender off the pawn on h5 but also opens the diagonal for the queen on h8 to come down and deliver mate with two other moves. Honestly not sure why Bb5 was the only first move to kick off that puzzle, it seems like there are more solutions here. Can someone explain why I'm wrong?
The knight wouldn’t have to take the Queen. You only have 3 moves to checkmate so from what I can see it could go to E6 then D4 and then F2 preventing the 3 move checkmate. It looks like you have checkmate in 4 but not 3.
Advance pawn and promote to queen. If knight takes, move queen (only one now) to either D4 or E3, 3rd move (regardless of what black does) D3 mate. If knight does not take queen, move E8 to A4 (regardless of blacks move), then on 3rd move, A4 to D1 mate. Have I made an error?
In 1st position, E7 takes bishop. Either new queen or old queen can checkmate in 2 moves depending on where black puts the knight. Please explain to me if I'm wrong.
@@wingit7335 Sorry, I was wrong. Knight can prevent mate in 3. Easiest way is Nf5 then Ng3. Then when white checks, Ne2 can still cover the king so not mate in 3.
puzzle 1 you can go qh7 then theres no good moves for black he can block check mate with nf5 but then qf5 then theres no good moves for black again whatever the move is white can go qd3
Nice problems well presented! Nice to have noted that 1.Bd5? was almost a try (a try is a move that is refuted by a unique black move, so 1.Bd5? is not a try as both 1...f6 and 1....f5 refute it) and that it creates the damage of occupying the g8-c4 diagonal. The other try (a real one) was 1.Be4? with all the same mates but 1....h4! and after Qxh4 the Q can't reach c4 (damage). For the second one, I wonder if there isn't some mistake in the starting position (I just asked on my chess discord to get confirmation). Obviously the intended solution is 1.Nb5! in any case. It creates a blocus, like in the first problem (ie there i no threat, unlike 1.Ne6 which does threaten a mate in 2 and is therefore not a blocus) and each black answer creates a damage that allows a different mate : 1...b3 2.Qxd4+ Rxd4 3.Nc3# (damage : removing control of c3) 1...d3 2.Qa1(threat Nf6#) Rf5 3.Qd4# (damage : opened up the f6-a1 diagonal. little dual 2.Qb2 here though) 1...R~ (read this as "R plays" for instance 1...Re5 or 1...Rxb5) 2.Qxe5+ dxe5 3.Nf6# (damage : removed the virtual pin of the Nd7) 1...N~ (Ne7 or Nb6 or Na7) 2.Nxd6+ Rxd6 Qe5# (damage : removing control of d6). It's very unlikely that the problem intended to have a second solution, especially one that doesn t make any sense (Ne6 is ugly compared to Nb5, and no thematic link between the two). And although it was very common to have cooked studies pre-stockfish (ie unintended solutions or non(-working solutions), it's very rare for problems. So I'll let you know if there was a mistake in the diagram or if it's indeed a case of an incorrect problem.
Well the position is the one that is available in YACPDB (problem database).. Maybe Duras and the judge and participants all missed 1.Ne6. Or maybe it was transcripted incorrectly into YACPDB.
@@emphyriohazzl1510 I pretty much agree with your analysis, except that I'm sure the second problem is cooked rather than having 2 intended solutions. The 1.Ne6 solution is much cruder as the move entails multiple threats, in contrast to the surprising zugzwang set up by 1.Nb5, and the former also has more messy duals. As you mentioned, there's no thematic connection between the 2 solutions, which pointlessly repeat many variations. Pre-computer days, unsound mate-in-n problems (not just studies) are not that rare. If this problem were intended to have 2 solutions, that would have been specified with the "mate in 3" task when originally published, and the YACPD reproduction does not mention this in the stipulation.
Am i stupid? First riddle, cant you just go Qh7 and no matter what black does, white either mates in 2 with Qd3 or, if black blocks with Nf5, its mate in 3. What am i missing? Im still new and learning, be kind :3
1st puzzle mate in 3, black King to E2 is mate in 2 - so it is 3 or less or typically all puzzles assume loser will not make a move for a quicker mate or draw ?
Very nice puzzles. But I can't believe that you say "Zugzwang". 😀I love the way you say it. I'm from Austria and of course I know this word, but is there no word for it in English? 🙂
It was first intuition as well, but there is the absurd Ne6, and we are left with a #4. Good enough for sure. I don't like this puzzle for that reason.
Isn't there a solution to the 1st puzzle by just pushing the pawn, promote to the queen and then either Qa4 - Qd1 or Qc3 - Qd3 depending on whether knight captures new queen or not?
I'm just reiterating previous comments. After e8Q black plays Nf5!, and after Qa4 Nxe3 delays the mate in d1 for one move (becomes Mate in 4). After Qc3 Ng3, Qd3+ Ne2! also delays one move
For the first puzzle, does Kd1 not work somehow? I would think that it puts black into a similar position of zugzwang, and the light square bishop won't be in the way of any of the follow-up queen moves. EDIT: Actually, it doesn't work for a surprising reason - black can suicide the knight to deliver check on the white king, winning a tempo and forcing the mate to take an extra move! xD
Ohh it's so funny as a German to watch your videos. The word zugzwang also exists in german language.. Zug means 'turn' or 'move' and the translation of zwang is 'duty'. It's funny to see we have the same word for the same thing, but we know why it's called like this haha. Same thing with kindergarden
Chess Vibes in Puzzle 1 the pawn shown on G2 has black king at F1 in check throughout the puzzle. Black was already in checkmate unless there is a rule I don't know about. And the pawn could push forward and promote to queen and checkmate anyway as it is protected by the bishop.
That’s why Nelson always says, during the intro, while drawing arrows, in what directions the pieces go. As a general rule, ‘white to move’ puzzles have white on your side. Also, bottom left is A1.
Hi I managed to work out both puzzles (which took a while to do) anyway, with puzzle 2, i hav a different answer KxN. Anyway as I went thru wht u said was the two possible answers (Nb5 or Ne6). I hav no problems with the mate in 3 lines, but it is the mate in 2 lines I hav a problem with. If the object of this puzzle is to mate in 3, isnt black purpose to (1) stop mate in 3. So wouldn't mate in 2 be stopping mate in 3. I know this is just definition stuff, but how Im understanding wht this puzzle is asking ( if I was black which is how i hav been thinking about in this puzzle), my objective is to prevent mate in 3. Mating in two wouldnt be the answer to this puzzle which would b an escape from being mated in 3. If the question said mate in under 3 then this would be fine. Anyway (correct me if Im wrong about wht the question is asking: but if we r talking about mate in only 3 moves then Ill continue) both these two knight lines (Nb5 & Ne6), black can prevent mate in 3 by allowing white to mate him in 2 with no mate in 3. The winning 1st move for black to counter these two knight moves is Rf5. This move prevents mate in 3 but allows mate in 2. If however white does a waiting move (yr 2nd move) then strike with mate on the 3rd move, black however has an extra move to difuse the mate in 3. KxN (which is the answer: if we r talking about mating in only 3 moves and not 2 moves) eliminates black from being mated in 2. U will find (in this line) whites c file knight main purpose is to guard the e5 square tht difuses Rf5 (in the previous Knight lines), helps mating in 3 and preventing mate in 2. With the c file knight not protecting e5 blacks king can escape mate in 3 in certain lines. Wht I hav seen in King taking the knight, is tht this move puts the king in a place tht prevents the discovered black rook check as discussed by Nelson at time 9:08 in the video. And even the square where the black knight was protecting (e7 square) doesnt need to be used in order to mate in 3. The first move is to prevent the whites King being discoved attack when blacks 1st move is either moving b4 or g5 pawns forward, and then queen to e5 chech. black takes queen with the pawn and knight cant deliver mate in 3 (cause of the discovered attack. So the first move is to prevent the discovered attack. Whites 2nd move is to prevent mate in 2 & prepare for mate in 3 next move. So In summary, with the whites Knights 1st move (Nb5 or Ne6) black replies by stopping mate in 3 by Rf5 by giving white two options (1) allowing white to mate in 2 moves (if white decides to do ) or (2) waiting until the 3rd move where whites check mate is difused by black.. Both situations, result in no mate in 3..The KxN line (which is the true mate in 3: without the mate in 2 lines), with the right move order, forces mate in ONLY 3 moves. White first move protects the white king from discoved attack. Blacks first move (depends on the line) can open up the option to mate in two. However, the difference in the KxN lines (than the Nb5 or Ne6 lines) is that whites 3rd move WILL RESULT in mate in 3 next move (with the correct move). Anyway, i dont wish to expain all the lines but they r simular to what has been describe in the video , anyway if u hav any questions about it or u hav spotted a mistake on my end please comment & Ill do wht i can to reply. ok thanks.
In puzzle 1 as well, a mate in 2 is possible with ‘help’ from black. The point of these puzzles is always that the opponent makes the best moves, which is: postpone mate or loss of piece as long as possible. With that in mind it’ll be easier and you don’t have to wrap your head around your opponent thwarting your effort by letting you win too quickly.
@@Misteribel thq 4 the reply and yr thoughts. Can u tell me the mate in two for puzzle 1 , cause i didnt quite come across the same subtle difference diffference or problem .because puzzle 1 was quite straight forward. Is there one mate in 1 or more than tht. Anyway for puzzle 2, thq 4 yr answer to tht, well I'm wondering why there is two answers to this puzzleas mentioned on the video but why hav I found an answer to the puzzle (tht makes 3) when it was (1) composed by a expert chess composer and (2) Nelson said Stockfish pointed to the two knight moves. I'm no chess expert and I'm sure these two would hav (I guess more so Oldrich) would hav seen or known wht I found. I understand wht u r saying it's just if u r right then it means tht this puzzle has 3 answers because wht u r saying follows the same logic when moving the king. However tht answer wasnt mentioned. Plus the answer came from stockfish.. If Oldrich was coming from my view where i'm definitely certain he would hav seen the two knight moves and the king move, Why wasn't the king move mentioned. Plus the puzzle was, if Im certain in thevid, was solved by stock fish and i didnt actual hear tht this was the actual answer mention by the actual chess composer. I was trying to find wht Oldrich answer was on the internet but could not find it. If u find it I'd b interested in was he said the answer was (links)
.Anyway I don't want to sound like a broken record but it doest add up. Especially tht this won 1st prize when there is definitely 3 answers and not 2. I find it hard to belive tht all this time has passed and ive found a 3rd answer when many great chess minds would hav seen the king move possibility. Imagine winning 1st prize and say there r 2 answers and i hav no doubt someone would hav found the king move back then and say sorry mate u said there was 2 answers I've just found an extra one. It doesnt make sense. The only thing tht makes sense is if oldrich seen the subtle difference tht i pointed out. I guess thts why stock fish mayb didnt c tht , .Anyway, if tht was the case I c definitely c why this came first
@@baskykeefe3352 yet all answers start with the same bishop move, which is why it's brilliant. Whatever happens after, all variants, they lead to mate in 3. Truly amazing, with so many pieces on board, that it's still so difficult to find that move. I don't know what the contestants were, but I think it's worthy of a first price, even if it was about a100 years ago.
I dont like such a puzzles when there is a straight forward mate in 4 but you need to burn your time to find a m3. It's about the first puzzle where you can just crush everything with your queen on her way to checking position.
Dang I thought QH7 threatening QD3 I saw the knight delay on F5 but somehow I forgot the pawn could go to F5 obviously instead. And then protected by the knight. I didn’t see it until i continued the video and said first move was bishop and I was like what? Then I saw it….damn….
I'm bit confused for the second puzzle, I'm thinking about a mat in 2 : Qe5+ black takes with rook or pawn and then Nf6# I can't see if I miss something
Not watched to the end yet, but for the first puzzle what’s wrong with e8? According to me if you promote to a queen black can either capture with the knight or not. If they don’t then Qa4, and Qd1# looks like it can’t be defended. If they do take, then Qa1, followed by moving the king off the back rank for mate. What am I missing?
The move Nf5 fails the mate in 3 by 1 move 1. e8Q Nf5 Now both 2. Qa1 and 2. Qa4 will be followed by 2... Nxe3! and d1 square is now controlled, delaying the mate by 1 move, making it Mate in 4 instead of 3
Wait a minute. On the first puzzle, what about going Qh7 first ? You're threatening mate in 1 with Qd3. black has to throw his horse on the way, you take it with queen then mate and it's also a mate in 3 isn't it ?
Duras: Make the greatest puzzle.
also Duras: *invented duras gambit*
What’s the duras gambit?
@@samuelding7854 e4 f5, basically a forced win for black
@@magyk5740 especially after exf5 Kf5 Qh5+ g6 fxg6+ Kg7 gxh7 Rxh7 Qg5+ Kh8
It's +5 or something but black wins 70% of the time according to the lichess database
@@samuelding7854 it is a stupid opening for black by moving the f pawn after e4 gambiting the f pawn
@@magyk5740 😂
Great video! For the first puzzle, you forgot to show the incredible line after Nf5. You go Qf6!! Threatening both Qxa6# and Ng3# if the night moves, uncovering the defence of the bishop by the queen 🤯
Thank you I was thinking the same thing
ah yep 1...Nf5 2.Qxh5? would allow Nxe3 controlling d1. I missed that as well when watching the vid. 2.Qf6 is beautiful :).
@@Mylittlebaby10 no, g1 is controlled by the white bishop on f2.
One thing to note with puzzle 2... for the ones where White plays Qa1, Black can play Rf5 to prevent Nf6#, but now you can play Qd4# instead, since the Knight is guarding that square and the Rook is no longer present to capture the Queen.
yeah i also thought of that, but later in the video he says that the rook has to stay there to guard the pawn
Beautiful puzzles. I love all the different knight moves in the second one.
Everytime I found the right move, I always doubted it, lol. Great video as always!
You could also go with Queen to H7 as the first move and it'll also lead to a mate in 3 no matter what black does
I thought the same move
Yeah you’d win in two moves, not three.
@@BattleshipAgincourt if they block the with the knight then its three
Enlighten me...after Qh7 white plays Nf5. How to win in the next 2 moves?
Can’t do it because Qh7 F5 Qxf5 Nxf5
I thought the same though, tricky pawn move to spot
Nice and simple little puzzle to start the day off with. Lots of possibilities here to be found.
I’ve tried composing some puzzles and it’s so difficult. Not that I thought it would be easy. But I have to keep screen shotting where I’m at to try and progress it later. All it takes is for one little escape route or unprotect-able square and the whole thing collapses. Quite fun though!
When you finish one send it my way!
@@ChessVibesOfficial Nice reach-out. I agree.
@@ChessVibesOfficial I could send you a study or two of mine (prized) but no idea where to send them to?
@@emphyriohazzl1510 If there's no e-mail address or other social media contact to be found, you could always comment them underneath a video.
For the first position, I believe e8(Q) or exf8(Q) work too. Without moving the bishop, the new queen can maneuver to the needed diagonal. (Or black's knight captures and allows the old queen to do the same.)
On move e8 black now can play bishop takes b4 with idea to check white king on d2. If you are playing exf8, then black have move Nf5
@@Антон-к1ж3ф How can Nf5 prevent mate in 2? Either queens can just move to C3 or C5...then go to white square...mate.
@@darzgwapo Ng3 -> Ne2 blocking white diagonal
@@Антон-к1ж3ф
After Nf5 the knight allows the queen to access the diagonal. If either queen moves to c3 or c5, Ng3 indeed stops it.
I then found Qa1, threatening mate with Kb2 or c2 (or Kc2 threatening Qa1)... but just saw black then has Nxe3! So either check and/or a block on d1.
Qh7, Nf5, Qd3#
For puzzle 1, the real conundrum is, how did the black king get there in the first place?!
Amazing composition around 100 years ago. And the possible pawn promotion, with or w/o capture, is insignificant.
The first has two lines of particular interest to problemists. One you identified: after 1 … f6/f5, we have 2 Qg8 Ne6 shutting off g8-c4, but opening g8-g2 allowing 3 Bxa6# The other much neater variation is 1 … Nf5! As you said, after random N-moves, 2 Qxh5 and 3 Qd1 is mate. BUT after1 …Nf5 ; 2 Qxh5, black has 2 … Nxe3 stopping all mates. Instead 1… Nf5; 2 Qf6! threatens 3 Qxa6# and now 2 … Nd6 closes the line f6-a6, but opens f6-f2, allowing 3 Ng3# These variations show the ‘Valve’ mechanism.
can you tell me how Qh7 on the first move is not winning a mate in 3 as well ?
nvm, i figured it out, he just moves the pawn 2 squares
@@gildeddrake1479 Yes. If 1 Qh7? f5! holds everything. (2 Qg6 Ne6 and mates galore, but in four not three).
Thanks I couldn't find the continuation after Nf5 myself
p to e8
If black moves k to e8
Q to a1, then K to c2
If black does not take promoted Q, then
Q to a4, the Q to d1
First puzzle: I first thought there a mate in 3 without the initial bishop move: 1. QxB means that Q reaches C4 by third move, either via QxP on F7, or via C8. However N can reach E2 in 3 moves to extend the game to mate in 4.
Pawn at E7 takes Bishop, then as a Queen, back to C5 and then to C4
-Checkmate in 3
To do mate in two just move g3 knight it can still be mate in 3 because you can move a random pawn and then get the king
Nice one. I thought of promoting to a Queen and then check mate the king with a queen on d3, but than the knight is just in in time for blocking on e2 and it would become a mate in 3. Also with the bisschop black could go for a check by taking on d2, and again a mate in 4 is the minimum.
For #1, another move is possible, it's Qh6, threatens Qa6 mate.check it out
Wow you upload really frequently and I like it. Awesome video as always.
The first puzzle can actually be easily solved. You can do pawn takes f8 and promote the queen. Then you put the just promoted queen on c5. If black tries to defend that with knight to e6, you counter with queen to c3. No move from black can then stop queen to c4 checkmate.
First Puzzle:
1)Qh7- Nf5
2)Qxf5 - Anymove
3)Qd3+ mate#
I have a solution to #1: Qf8, Qf7, Qc4. This is mate in 4 if black plays nf6, but this is still an easy-to-see solution unlike the original one.
In the 1st problem, one variant is missing: After 1... ♞f5 there is 2.♕f6! threatening ♕xa6#, 2... ♞d4/♞xe3/♞g3/♞d6 3.♘g3#
Qxf8 then Qxf7 and Qc4# also works
Puzzle 1 - Pe8, if he captures with the knight Qd4, Qd3#, if he doesn't capture Qc6, Qc4#, simple as that, because king can't move nor capture any pieces your queen just needs to not be in danger and to attack the king and its checkmate. No bishop shanenagans needed.
Black plays Bxb4 and will delay mate by giving check.
@@ericlindholm9482 hbt taking bishop at F8 then if black moves pawn
Queen to C8 and to C4
If knight moves Queen to A1 and move the king away after that
I’m pretty sure the 1st puzzle can also be mate in 2 if the opponent doesn’t notice, if you play queen h2 and they don’t play knight f5 you play queen d3 checkmate. If they do move knight to f5 you take and then finish with queen d3 checkmate again! If anyone finds This to not be accurate please could u tell me?
You mean H7? They can move the pawn to block the line, which is then defended with the knight. Took me a bit to see why it didn't work.
I'm not even lying, Bb7 was the first move I saw and im just a 1900. wow. I can't believe this
I actually found the idea in the second puzzle, but I wondered why it wasn't mate in 2
I love how from the given pieces in the thumbnail it looks like black only has a king and pawn and you’re supposed to push the white pawns for a stalemate in 3
Great video..
As for him liking checkmates in three maybe he was a religious man in that 3 represents the holy trinity or simply because 3 is a number with religious connotations. Just a pondering thought.
Hey just an idea - maybe a series on the how & why of why masters resign. At times a lot of us patzers have trouble seeing how & why masters resign and thought you showing us solutions would be highly instructive
Awesome again! Question: is there any puzzle that Stockfish can't solve???
simple answer: no
long answer: no
For the first puzzle, if you take the bishop and make a queen, this is mate in 3 i think. If black move the knight, you Can put your Queen h8 to a1and then mate with move from thé king in b2, if black don't move the knight, Queen f8 to C8 and then c4. I don't find a way for black to cancel mate in 3 in this way
i was thinking Qh6 to Qf6(if they use pawn to defend, which is the only slightly good defense) then to Qa6 checkmate, if they dont move pawn its 2 move checkmate
For puzzle 1, couldn't you just play queen h7 and mate on d3?
F5 blocks the queen's path to checkmate
I thought I had solved the puzzle with Kc2, combining backrank mate, zugzwang and similar ideas from the solution. It almost worked but unfortunately, f5 (or f6) Qg8 Ne6 stops the mate for one more move. Still, I find my move even more pleasing than the solution.
Puzzle 2: you forget about black rook to f5.
In the first puzzle after Bb7, there is another reply of black, that is Nf5: white has to reply with Qf6 threatening Qxa6#. So Bb7, Nf5, Qf6, if Nd6, Ng3#.
In fact, after Bb7 by white and after Nf5 by black, white cannot play Qxh5 as per variation with black's move Ne6: Bb7, Nf5, if Qxh5, black can play Nxe3 and white queen has no more the check neither on c4 neither on d1 square.
Also in the first puzzle, Bc6 does not work because you don't have Bb5# due to black pawn on a6.
At 10:45, I noticed that if Black played Rook to f5 to stop the Knight, White can okay Queen to d5 checkmate
Puzzle 2: you said black pawn to b3 twice
1st puzzle....1. Pe8=Q KnxQ 2. Qa1 ... 3. K c2++ OR 1. Pe8=Q .... 2. Qa4 .... 3. Q d1 ++
the option is queen to h7 knight to f5 queen to f5 takes the night bishop to e7 final move for white now is queen to d3 and its a mate
After 3 minutes looking at it Q-H7. Knight blocks. take knight. doesn't matter what black does after that next move is checkmate with Q-D3
Now i will watch the rest of the video to see if I missed something.
Won't get there in 3 if he pushes that pawn up two. I would take 4 moves. I was WRONG! LOL
1. Qh7
2. Ke2
3. Qd3#
Mate in two
1. Qh7
2. Nf5
3. Qf5
4. Ke2
5. Qd3#
The claim that this was very hard and a beginner should just sit back is a stretch, I'm bad at chess but there's nothing mind-blowing about this puzzle.
10:59 u forgot one line to mention if Rf5, now Nf6 is no longer mate because black just takes the knight so u have to play Qd4#
I think promoting the pawn to Queen in e8 works to because if the Knight takes it then the queen in h8 can go to a1 and there is no way black is going to stop the checkmate. Black bishop can go to g7 but the queen can just go to b1 and black can't do anything to stop the checkmate. If the Knight doesn't take the queen in e8, the queen can go to a4 and checkmate by going to d1.
Oh, I just saw that was mate in 4.
Puzzle 1
the puzzle is okay but if we just simply plat queen h7 after that queen to d3 its mate . black can delay mate by placing his knight on f5 but it still is a 3 move mate (That's Easy) :)
My idea which is m4 I think was pain takes bishop promote to q then if black plays with the k any move u take the h pawn if he doesnt u take the k with ur promoted Queen and then take the h pawn and the threat is white square bishop to e2
Rook captures Nb5 is not checkmate because after Qe5 instead of using the pawn to capture u can use the Rook which the forces the knight to recapture it and checkmate avoided
If is white turn, for first puzzle, knight to G3 is not checkmate in 1?
Commenting this before the video starts. I’m kinda ass at chess but I figured it out in under a minute. Queen to h7. If they queen you ignore it and check mate QD3. Is that not mate in 2 lol.
Also mate in 3 would be queen to h7. Blacks knight to f5 to block. Queen takes. No matter what move they make, qd3 again; Check mate.
And mate in 4 for extra; qh6. They queen, bishop takes. They block queen with knight e6. Queen takes. No matter what move they make queen a6 check mate.
Am I correct on all of those lol. It’s literally mate in 2 if they don’t block with the knight
Edit. Just realized which way blacks pawns are going. Scratch one of those. At least I got the correct diagonal lol
you may the wrong move, there mates-in-1 move after bishop to B7
Nice problems!
You missed out one little thing in the 2nd variant: If
1. ♘b5 d3
2. ♕a1 (there is unfortunately ♕b2 also!) and then if
2...♜f5 to prevent ♘f6#, there ist
3. ♕d4#
Do you know this fascinating study from Pàl Benkö with only 4 pieces?
8/4p3/8/2K5/8/6k1/P7/8 w - - 0 1
White moves to win
On the first puzzle you missed black promoting the pawn
Can't the Queen > a1 version be stopped by black playing Rook > f5, which prevents Knight > f6 as the rook can take it?
I think there might be a possible miss on a different checkmate that is easier to spot. White E pawn moves forward 1 square and upgrades to a queen. If the black knight takes, the white queen moves down the diagonal to A1 then next move Whites king moves out of the way. If black does not take the queen on E8 then that queen moves along the white diagonal to A4 I believe then next to D1 for the mate. Did I miss something?
Nf5
If the pawn move forward it allows the black bishop to capture on B4 then D2 sacrifice orA3 giving white king a check which will delay the checkmate by 1 move
Never mind the video portion the picture portion of your video just kicked in after several minutes! That was weird But it’s OK now I can see it
you forgot Nf5! the only move there was Qf3, threatening Qxa6# and if the knight blocks, Ng3#
e8, if black takes Qd4 followed by Qd3? If black doesn't take simply Qa4 followed by Qd1? Help me find the issue here edit: ah, I missed the check by the black Bishop!
I found a slightly different and (I think) workable line for puzzle 1. It starts with a promotion of the pawn to a queen, which the knight would have to take before the promoted queen becomes a nuisance. This both gets that defender off the pawn on h5 but also opens the diagonal for the queen on h8 to come down and deliver mate with two other moves. Honestly not sure why Bb5 was the only first move to kick off that puzzle, it seems like there are more solutions here. Can someone explain why I'm wrong?
The knight wouldn’t have to take the Queen. You only have 3 moves to checkmate so from what I can see it could go to E6 then D4 and then F2 preventing the 3 move checkmate. It looks like you have checkmate in 4 but not 3.
I meant E2 on the final knight move
Advance pawn and promote to queen. If knight takes, move queen (only one now) to either D4 or E3, 3rd move (regardless of what black does) D3 mate. If knight does not take queen, move E8 to A4 (regardless of blacks move), then on 3rd move, A4 to D1 mate. Have I made an error?
@@ericsnyder3543 Black responds with Bb4 and Bd2+
Waaaaait Oldřich Duras is from czech republic???? Omg i didn't notice😂
In 1st position, E7 takes bishop. Either new queen or old queen can checkmate in 2 moves depending on where black puts the knight. Please explain to me if I'm wrong.
@@wingit7335 Sorry, I was wrong. Knight can prevent mate in 3. Easiest way is Nf5 then Ng3. Then when white checks, Ne2 can still cover the king so not mate in 3.
@@wingit7335 Yeah but still knight prevents that by blocking the diagonal protecting the king after check.
puzzle 1 you can go qh7 then theres no good moves for black he can block check mate with nf5 but then qf5 then theres no good moves for black again whatever the move is white can go qd3
first puzzle: h6(Q) then a6(Q) = mate, black can´t stop it. What i miss?
Nice problems well presented!
Nice to have noted that 1.Bd5? was almost a try (a try is a move that is refuted by a unique black move, so 1.Bd5? is not a try as both 1...f6 and 1....f5 refute it) and that it creates the damage of occupying the g8-c4 diagonal. The other try (a real one) was 1.Be4? with all the same mates but 1....h4! and after Qxh4 the Q can't reach c4 (damage).
For the second one, I wonder if there isn't some mistake in the starting position (I just asked on my chess discord to get confirmation). Obviously the intended solution is 1.Nb5! in any case. It creates a blocus, like in the first problem (ie there i no threat, unlike 1.Ne6 which does threaten a mate in 2 and is therefore not a blocus) and each black answer creates a damage that allows a different mate :
1...b3 2.Qxd4+ Rxd4 3.Nc3# (damage : removing control of c3)
1...d3 2.Qa1(threat Nf6#) Rf5 3.Qd4# (damage : opened up the f6-a1 diagonal. little dual 2.Qb2 here though)
1...R~ (read this as "R plays" for instance 1...Re5 or 1...Rxb5) 2.Qxe5+ dxe5 3.Nf6# (damage : removed the virtual pin of the Nd7)
1...N~ (Ne7 or Nb6 or Na7) 2.Nxd6+ Rxd6 Qe5# (damage : removing control of d6).
It's very unlikely that the problem intended to have a second solution, especially one that doesn t make any sense (Ne6 is ugly compared to Nb5, and no thematic link between the two). And although it was very common to have cooked studies pre-stockfish (ie unintended solutions or non(-working solutions), it's very rare for problems. So I'll let you know if there was a mistake in the diagram or if it's indeed a case of an incorrect problem.
Well the position is the one that is available in YACPDB (problem database).. Maybe Duras and the judge and participants all missed 1.Ne6. Or maybe it was transcripted incorrectly into YACPDB.
@@emphyriohazzl1510 I pretty much agree with your analysis, except that I'm sure the second problem is cooked rather than having 2 intended solutions. The 1.Ne6 solution is much cruder as the move entails multiple threats, in contrast to the surprising zugzwang set up by 1.Nb5, and the former also has more messy duals. As you mentioned, there's no thematic connection between the 2 solutions, which pointlessly repeat many variations. Pre-computer days, unsound mate-in-n problems (not just studies) are not that rare. If this problem were intended to have 2 solutions, that would have been specified with the "mate in 3" task when originally published, and the YACPD reproduction does not mention this in the stipulation.
@@Rocky64 thanks for the clarifications ;)
Am i stupid? First riddle, cant you just go Qh7 and no matter what black does, white either mates in 2 with Qd3 or, if black blocks with Nf5, its mate in 3. What am i missing? Im still new and learning, be kind :3
First puzzle has a second correct move e8=queen
1st puzzle mate in 3, black King to E2 is mate in 2 - so it is 3 or less or typically all puzzles assume loser will not make a move for a quicker mate or draw ?
Very nice puzzles.
But I can't believe that you say "Zugzwang". 😀I love the way you say it.
I'm from Austria and of course I know this word, but is there no word for it in English? 🙂
Why not just Qh7? Getting redy to checkmate Qd3？What am i missing.
Oh wow. I would have never guessed it. Brilliant
Why not Qh7 and after e5, QG8 and QC4 after a random black move? (Puzzle 1)
It was first intuition as well, but there is the absurd Ne6, and we are left with a #4. Good enough for sure. I don't like this puzzle for that reason.
@@j.thomas1420 yeah I see... But in real game it's the move... Well, in real game black king doesn't go here lol
@@bjornlerouge couldn't agree more...!
Isn't there a solution to the 1st puzzle by just pushing the pawn, promote to the queen and then either Qa4 - Qd1 or Qc3 - Qd3 depending on whether knight captures new queen or not?
I'm just reiterating previous comments.
After e8Q black plays Nf5!, and after Qa4 Nxe3 delays the mate in d1 for one move (becomes Mate in 4). After Qc3 Ng3, Qd3+ Ne2! also delays one move
Second one isn't zugzwang, allowing opponent to make no move don't help them
or abt knight g3 on puzzle 1
For the first puzzle, does Kd1 not work somehow? I would think that it puts black into a similar position of zugzwang, and the light square bishop won't be in the way of any of the follow-up queen moves.
EDIT: Actually, it doesn't work for a surprising reason - black can suicide the knight to deliver check on the white king, winning a tempo and forcing the mate to take an extra move! xD
For the first one just play king d1 and after knight g3 and it is checkmate (oops my bad I am false)
on puzzle 1 i thought of Qh7 then black blocks with Kf5 then Qxf5 then black cant do anything to block Qd3
Ohh it's so funny as a German to watch your videos. The word zugzwang also exists in german language.. Zug means 'turn' or 'move' and the translation of zwang is 'duty'. It's funny to see we have the same word for the same thing, but we know why it's called like this haha. Same thing with kindergarden
Am I missing something? King to D1 followed by bishop to E2 is a mate in 2
Then black king will escape at G2
Chess Vibes in Puzzle 1 the pawn shown on G2 has black king at F1 in check throughout the puzzle. Black was already in checkmate unless there is a rule I don't know about. And the pawn could push forward and promote to queen and checkmate anyway as it is protected by the bishop.
I am so sorry. I just realized that the black king is on white's home row. As usual, early morning thinking is foggy.
That’s why Nelson always says, during the intro, while drawing arrows, in what directions the pieces go. As a general rule, ‘white to move’ puzzles have white on your side. Also, bottom left is A1.
if we scarifice a night for 1 move before mate it is mate in 3
Hi I managed to work out both puzzles (which took a while to do) anyway, with puzzle 2, i hav a different answer KxN. Anyway as I went thru wht u said was the two possible answers (Nb5 or Ne6). I hav no problems with the mate in 3 lines, but it is the mate in 2 lines I hav a problem with. If the object of this puzzle is to mate in 3, isnt black purpose to (1) stop mate in 3. So wouldn't mate in 2 be stopping mate in 3. I know this is just definition stuff, but how Im understanding wht this puzzle is asking ( if I was black which is how i hav been thinking about in this puzzle), my objective is to prevent mate in 3. Mating in two wouldnt be the answer to this puzzle which would b an escape from being mated in 3. If the question said mate in under 3 then this would be fine. Anyway (correct me if Im wrong about wht the question is asking: but if we r talking about mate in only 3 moves then Ill continue) both these two knight lines (Nb5 & Ne6), black can prevent mate in 3 by allowing white to mate him in 2 with no mate in 3. The winning 1st move for black to counter these two knight moves is Rf5. This move prevents mate in 3 but allows mate in 2. If however white does a waiting move (yr 2nd move) then strike with mate on the 3rd move, black however has an extra move to difuse the mate in 3. KxN (which is the answer: if we r talking about mating in only 3 moves and not 2 moves) eliminates black from being mated in 2. U will find (in this line) whites c file knight main purpose is to guard the e5 square tht difuses Rf5 (in the previous Knight lines), helps mating in 3 and preventing mate in 2. With the c file knight not protecting e5 blacks king can escape mate in 3 in certain lines. Wht I hav seen in King taking the knight, is tht this move puts the king in a place tht prevents the discovered black rook check as discussed by Nelson at time 9:08 in the video. And even the square where the black knight was protecting (e7 square) doesnt need to be used in order to mate in 3. The first move is to prevent the whites King being discoved attack when blacks 1st move is either moving b4 or g5 pawns forward, and then queen to e5 chech. black takes queen with the pawn and knight cant deliver mate in 3 (cause of the discovered attack. So the first move is to prevent the discovered attack. Whites 2nd move is to prevent mate in 2 & prepare for mate in 3 next move. So In summary, with the whites Knights 1st move (Nb5 or Ne6) black replies by stopping mate in 3 by Rf5 by giving white two options (1) allowing white to mate in 2 moves (if white decides to do ) or (2) waiting until the 3rd move where whites check mate is difused by black.. Both situations, result in no mate in 3..The KxN line (which is the true mate in 3: without the mate in 2 lines), with the right move order, forces mate in ONLY 3 moves. White first move protects the white king from discoved attack. Blacks first move (depends on the line) can open up the option to mate in two. However, the difference in the KxN lines (than the Nb5 or Ne6 lines) is that whites 3rd move WILL RESULT in mate in 3 next move (with the correct move). Anyway, i dont wish to expain all the lines but they r simular to what has been describe in the video , anyway if u hav any questions about it or u hav spotted a mistake on my end please comment & Ill do wht i can to reply. ok thanks.
In puzzle 1 as well, a mate in 2 is possible with ‘help’ from black. The point of these puzzles is always that the opponent makes the best moves, which is: postpone mate or loss of piece as long as possible. With that in mind it’ll be easier and you don’t have to wrap your head around your opponent thwarting your effort by letting you win too quickly.
@@Misteribel thq 4 the reply and yr thoughts. Can u tell me the mate in two for puzzle 1 , cause i didnt quite come across the same subtle difference diffference or problem .because puzzle 1 was quite straight forward. Is there one mate in 1 or more than tht. Anyway for puzzle 2, thq 4 yr answer to tht, well I'm wondering why there is two answers to this puzzleas mentioned on the video but why hav I found an answer to the puzzle (tht makes 3) when it was (1) composed by a expert chess composer and (2) Nelson said Stockfish pointed to the two knight moves. I'm no chess expert and I'm sure these two would hav (I guess more so Oldrich) would hav seen or known wht I found. I understand wht u r saying it's just if u r right then it means tht this puzzle has 3 answers because wht u r saying follows the same logic when moving the king. However tht answer wasnt mentioned. Plus the answer came from stockfish.. If Oldrich was coming from my view where i'm definitely certain he would hav seen the two knight moves and the king move, Why wasn't the king move mentioned. Plus the puzzle was, if Im certain in thevid, was solved by stock fish and i didnt actual hear tht this was the actual answer mention by the actual chess composer. I was trying to find wht Oldrich answer was on the internet but could not find it. If u find it I'd b interested in was he said the answer was (links)
.Anyway I don't want to sound like a broken record but it doest add up. Especially tht this won 1st prize when there is definitely 3 answers and not 2. I find it hard to belive tht all this time has passed and ive found a 3rd answer when many great chess minds would hav seen the king move possibility. Imagine winning 1st prize and say there r 2 answers and i hav no doubt someone would hav found the king move back then and say sorry mate u said there was 2 answers I've just found an extra one. It doesnt make sense. The only thing tht makes sense is if oldrich seen the subtle difference tht i pointed out. I guess thts why stock fish mayb didnt c tht , .Anyway, if tht was the case I c definitely c why this came first
@@baskykeefe3352 yet all answers start with the same bishop move, which is why it's brilliant. Whatever happens after, all variants, they lead to mate in 3. Truly amazing, with so many pieces on board, that it's still so difficult to find that move.
I don't know what the contestants were, but I think it's worthy of a first price, even if it was about a100 years ago.
Great puzzle
Why doesn’t knight g3 work on the first puzzle?
I dont like such a puzzles when there is a straight forward mate in 4 but you need to burn your time to find a m3. It's about the first puzzle where you can just crush everything with your queen on her way to checking position.
Dang I thought QH7 threatening QD3 I saw the knight delay on F5 but somehow I forgot the pawn could go to F5 obviously instead. And then protected by the knight. I didn’t see it until i continued the video and said first move was bishop and I was like what? Then I saw it….damn….
Aren't every single one of these also checkmates in two because nothing could stop Bb7 Bxa6 mate?
When bishop takes on a6 then g2 becomes undefended
Hi, if I'm not mistaken, there seems to be mate in 2. Queen to h6 followed by Queen to a6
Then knight to e6 will block that path, right? I think Queen to h7 might be great with following step to d3.
@@soksovanratha5958wouldn’t that make it a mate in three?
I'm bit confused for the second puzzle, I'm thinking about a mat in 2 : Qe5+ black takes with rook or pawn and then Nf6# I can't see if I miss something
Nevermind, if you take with pawn, then the knight is pinned. Would have been a cool mat tho
It's a scientific way of thinkin
In the 2nd puzzle, when the queen moves at a1, what do you mean black can't stop Nf6? What about Rf5?
Not watched to the end yet, but for the first puzzle what’s wrong with e8? According to me if you promote to a queen black can either capture with the knight or not. If they don’t then Qa4, and Qd1# looks like it can’t be defended. If they do take, then Qa1, followed by moving the king off the back rank for mate. What am I missing?
The move Nf5 fails the mate in 3 by 1 move
1. e8Q Nf5
Now both 2. Qa1 and 2. Qa4 will be followed by 2... Nxe3! and d1 square is now controlled, delaying the mate by 1 move, making it Mate in 4 instead of 3
Are there three puzzles, was there a typo, or am I losing my mind?
My engine didn't see bishop b7 running for a while until I played it lol
Wait a minute. On the first puzzle, what about going Qh7 first ? You're threatening mate in 1 with Qd3. black has to throw his horse on the way, you take it with queen then mate and it's also a mate in 3 isn't it ?
damn i'm dumb, he can just move the pawn down 2 squares
E8 promotion puzzle 1
You have great content, thank you for the inspiration to create my videos)
bro take 2 and 20 second to make the first move
The first position was school but why can't we just to night to G3 and check it as white and checkmate.
KxB
In 2nd situation I'd like to see what if after white knight f6 Black goes for rook f5