Position #2 is mindblowing. Literally every underpromotion works under a specific circumstance, and the queen is bad everytime. That's a truly incredible position to me, much more than the others.
What is crazy to me is that in position #2, after Bh7+ and Kg7, h6+ does not quite work. The reason is because of Kf6! where black ignores both the free pawn and bishop in order to threaten the e pawn as well as take the rook with the queen.
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Normally a queen is strictly better than a rook or bishop (I thought only knight could work in some rare cases) but with the special rules of stalemate, we are presented this extreme case that it is not. Btw: In Asia we play Chinese chess where a stalemate would not be a draw but causing the player to move losing the game, so it is even more astonishing to me
@@johnathanpatrick6118 Not exactly. The pieces and board of the Chinese Chess is very different. The "knight" cannot move to the two places in the direction where the immediate adjacent square is occupied, for example.
Those puzzles were completely mind-boggling. Especially the second one, where there are 3 underpromotions in the different variations. What this teaches us is to never give up. Even if a position looks completely hopeless there may be some kind of crazy winning move available on the board. Thank you so much for the amazing video!
12:20 the human move here is Ng3+ followed by Ng4. It doesn't force mate quite as quickly, but your two knights and bishop and two pawns will win easily, without having to calculate the weird ending in the actual puzzle.
@@cephalosjr.1835 it's a tricky mate in 7 vs a dead easy mate in 21 (per stockfish). In a real game, opponent would resign after you capture his pawn and still have BNNPP yourself.
15:47 No.4 Nice deflection by queen sac. I don't recall seeing that sort of deflection before. The sacrificing side forced the deflected piece not to block the king, or to unguard a square, or to unpin something, but to cross a critical square, ending up on the wrong side of it.
Position 4 black is winning🏆💪 if we capture the knight with our queen 👑 we defend the mate theat and also got connected pown on the same time we got extra pown outside the board white king can't stop all our pown and defend his too
6:53 I did Pawn H6 check. slower but I like it more because this puzzle was trying to force me to never promote to queen. Some black king moves lose to queen promotion this way without stalemate because the pawn is no longer blocking the Kg6 escape route.
If you're talking about the point after Nelson showed the possibility of Black castling the first time (1. a7 Rg3+ 2. Kxg3 h4+ 3. Kh3 0-0 4. Rb7 Rf3+ 5. K moves, Ra3 6. Rb8+ K moves; 7. a8(Q) Rxa8) it's winnable for White, but gotta watch out for knight forks. Any one of them happens and the position is drawn because a king and knight can't checkmate the opposing king.
12:20 I was thinking Ng3+ Technically not the best, but after the king moves you block the last pawn and every single piece is defended. Then you can promote one of the two pawns I suppose.
I was thinking of Ng3 as well, not the best move but you could still win the position. I suggest opening the lichess analysis board, place the position and see what the opponent could do against your moves. I love your vids btw, gl with 100k subs!
For position 1 wouldn't moving the king off the rim be the best first move? It lets you take any promotion with the bishop, and if black takes with rook, you aren't in check to promote
That was my solution. If they continue to check with rook you just move king down until there are no more options (as long as you don't block your bishop line). Eventually they promote and you trade with bishop and then white promotes and you have a pawn and queen to a rook
I think some important variations have to be covered in the end of Puzzle number 4. If after Nf6 black plays either Qa8 or Qh8 then f4 does not work because black will give a check with the queen in g2 in the first case and in h2 in the second case. For this reason after Qa8 white should play Ng4 to protect the e5 pawn and the threat c3 to checkmate black's king is unstoppable. If black plays Qh8 (where he also threatens Qh6+ ruining whites position), then white has to play again Ng4 threatening again c3 with checkmate. The only way to avoid this checkmate for black is to play Qh6+ and white has to play Nxh6. If black captures the knings gxh6 then f4 and the threat c3 is unstippable. Thus the only way for black to continue the game is to play Kxe5 and then white has to save the knight by either playing Ng4 or Ng8 or Kf7 (I am not sure if all three are winning, but white has to be cautious because black has a passed pawn in the a row and some precision is required/ In a game I would play Ng4+ followed by Ne3 and then white may protect the f pawn with the king and play c3 and Nc2 having an easy win).
Position 1, if I had to guess, bishop to h1, blocking the pawn promotion. Rook takes but that also blocks his pawn and then white promotes to queen Edit, saw the second part of it, again, I assume white blocks the pawn with queen to h1 sacrificing the queen for the same combination, but this time when whites pawn promotes on a8, it also puts the king in check
Sorry but isn't there a direct checkmate im position #2, on Rg1? After Rg1, it's a check. So the King is either forced to move to h8, or block it with the Queen or Bishop, which is useless and would lead back to h8. Then p×Rf8 and promotes to a Queen/Rook. Blocking with Bishop, again useless as R×Bg8 it would lead to a checkmate...
@@sc2cooptutorials679 they know that, they're just saying that looking at it they thought that that would work but then as he explained it in the video and understood that that isn't how that would go and how these positions are really cool
position #2 : after Kg8 to g7, why not Rg1 ? What will black do ? taking the bishop or Kh8 ? Depending on the king's move, promote the pawn by taking the rook
In position #2 after ruling out both the discovery and the capture of the rook I found Rg1+. I could not refute it so I put it on an engine and guess what! It's the best move: 1. Rg1+ Bg6 (1... Kh8 2. exf8=Q+ and wins) 2. Rxg6 Kf7 (if 2... Kh8 3. exf8=Q+ wins. If 2... Kh7 3. exf8=N+ wins) 3. Rg7+ Ke8 (3... Ke6 4. exf8=N+ wins. If 3... Kf6 4. exf8=Q+ wins) 4. exf8=Q+ Kxf8 5. Rxd7 wins. 1. Bh7+ also wins but it's really difficult and it gives practical chances for a draw after 1...Kxh7 2. exf8=N+ Kxh6 3. Nxd7 Kg5 and it's not easy to draw the king back to the corner. Computer shows mate in 22 but it's really hard in my opinion.
Hmm...🤔🤔...so 1. Rg1+ Bg6 2. Rxg6+ Kf7 3. Rg7?? I'm with Cephalos here. 3. ...Kxg7 and the e-pawn still can't safely promote. If anything White's in big trouble because the Black rook and queen are gonna bear down on his king immediately.
New here but I see a lot of wrong lines given in the comment section on this channel. After 3. Rg7 black can just capture the rook. The op said he ran it through an engine but I don't see how that's possible.
4:15 Position 2 - Can someone explain why not rook to g1? That would put the king in check and give him three possible moves. The first one is to block with the queen, moving her to g4, but that wouldn't change anything because the rook could just take her putting black's king again in check. The second possible move is to block with the bishop, but then the rook takes the bishop and is also guarded by the pawn and the white bishop, so the king moves to h7 or h8. Then white promotes with the pawn also killing black's rook. If the king didn't move to h7 yet, he does it now. If he already is here, black can check white with bishop to a2, but then the king just takes. Anyways, black's king is currently on h7, so white moves the rook somewhere else, making a discovery check using the bishop. And that's actually mate because of white's queen. The third move is just to move the king to h8 (he can't move to h7 because of the bishop), but then it's mate in one as white promotes his pawn to a queen. To summary, the second possible move for black is mate in 4 or 5 moves (depending whether the king firstly moves to h8 or h7) and the third one is mate in two. The first one can just gain time for black, but will result in position 2 or 3 anyways. The answer in that Chess Vibes shows is fantastic, but isn't it simpler to just check with the rook?
#2 the fork was actually kinda obvious, but I think if you promote to queen it still might work because you are up 3 points and black is kinda cramped in one side of the board
I love these videos, I feel I've learned more about chess in half a year than all my life. I have a question about position #2: why wouldnt white play Rg1+ as the first move? Black King has one square to go and then pawn promotion to queen with check and the rest is history?
Position 4#: if the Queen capture the horse after the horse block(f6) there is no check mate from white. And i think, even if white capture the black queen, black wins because the pawn in A line.
this is insane. A Puzzle that not only requires an underpromition, but all three underpromition in the three possible variations and there isn't even a variation when you want to promote to a queen. just wow
Position 2: rg1 wins. rg1, bg6, rg6, kh7, pawn takes rook promote to knight check, kh8, knight takes queen. Now black only has their king and there is no stalemate because the King can still move to h7
pos 2 with the bishop promotion, instead of promoting to bishop you can just sack the queen by moving it to g7 once the king takes the bishop. only move is for king to take the queen, then once you take their queen, the bishop is pinned, white is winning.
Problem with your first game is that black can instead of throwing the game just keep your king in check every turn instead of taking your queen to put himself in a losing situation
[edit: Okay #4 I watched the solution, gg] selfnote: 16:44 (2nd pause of puzzle 4) Honestly you gotta give a tip after pause, I tried now around a lot without hints or evaluation line and can't do it. For instance moving the knight to g5 to threaten check and moving your pawn doesn't seem to make sense because of the perpetual check and even mate if I check (king just runs towards me), I also tried pc3+ different check variations which simply ends up in losing all the central pawns, doing stupid stuff such as the king simply loses the past pawn, other variations: A fork on e6 couldn't be accomplished because of tempo of black, or "offering" the night on d6 as stupid as it looks (black could just ignore it, go for check or improve the positon elsewhere), won't work because black is up a turn in all cases. So 1. Ne4 wouldn't work for me personally I have no follow up plan, while as with 1.pc3+ 2.Nd7+ i would at least have gotten a queen and a decent position. So I really feel offering a hint after the pause instead of solving the turn right away would be quite sweet.
Yep...the ol' invite-the-N-check is a sub-motif found in various tt problems. And it's is a horrific thing to be exposed to...to know it can sometimes used as a way forward. The subtly associated with knowing when you need to incorporate such moves into your analysis is forever a frustrating one since often it turns out to be waste of time and energy. Invariably the time you blow it off...it blows up in your face. Phoqueing chess.
That's a draw. After Kf6 and Rxd7, Black control the promotion square, win the bishop, and basically has defensive resources necessary to not get checkmated.
re Position #2 (something not covered). If White promotes to a rook after K to h8, then K moves to g7 (rather than taking the bishop on h7) & ATTACKS the ROOK so that if White moves R x Q, Black responds with K x R. Nevertheless, White should still win with a rook, a bishop & a pawn against only a bishop. Still easy for White.
There is a mistake in explanation of position #4, time 17:45, black queen should take white knight Qf8 6 and if queen is not taken by white pawn, then white is losing, but if it is taken Pe5 f6, than black pawn takes white one Pg7 f6 and in any case black is staying with one pawn more, better position and it is straight win for black. White can only win if (from original starting position time 15.46): Pc3 c4 cheek to black king, black king must take Kd4 e5, white knight jump Nf6 d7 it is cheek to black King and save position on f8, so black king must move (best is on d6) and white pawn is out for white queen Pf7 f8, keeping white pawn on f2 safe. White probably wins later but it should be analyzed. Regards Igor
If the king will go to g7 you can put the Ph6 to h7 and promote Pe7 to a Quinn and it will be check and you can kill the black quinn and you have a Quinn,Rook,Bishop. Position 2
With Chess problem 2. Why not have rook to G1 as the first move? Black cant really put anything to block without white taking it and checking the king again and if black king moves H8 it's pretty much over.
Position #4, time 17:55.. what if black uses the queen to take the bishop at f6. Then white cannot move the pawn to f4 but basically has to take the queen with the pawn at e5. Black can then take that pawn with the pawn at g7. Now white can do the pawn to c4 move, but by now the black king can go to d5 to escape. By then it's the black king and 4 pawns against the white king and three pawns. I don't see how white can win by then.
Found a flaw in position #4 @ 17:14 queen to f6 stops the checkmate. If white takes queen with pawn, king can move to e5. If white doesn't take the queen and moves pawn f2 to f4 instead, then queen takes pawn on f4. No checkmate.
@@maxscherzer9521 black can just take whites pawn with their pawn. The king doesn't need to move right after black loses their queen, they're not in check
What surprises me the most is that, after the 5th position, I used the tablebase and saw that it doesn't work as long as castling is a available... It's quite exceptional that castling is still available when 7 pieces or less are on the board, but still...
I was really confused by that position, because it looked like an easy win for white. I thought "Just push the pawn up twice for mate. It's unstoppable. Black can do a pointless check with the rook to delay it for a move, but that's about it" and then Nelson revealed Black's follow up was castling, which I hadn't even considered, because no real game would ever reach such a weird situation where castling is still available.
@@AutPen38 It could still happen in real game if both side agrees to reach this particular position, but yeah. The chance of it occuring in real game is slim.
Probably already said, buy what if after blocking the Queen with the knight, black sacrifies its Queen and play ...Qxf6, e5xf6 g7xf6; and there is dificult to prevent black to promote the pawn in a column... ?
Is it not regulation or standard practice for the white pieces to start on squares A1 and A2 through H1 and H2; and, for the black pieces to start on squares A7 and A8 through H7 and H8? This way, when one sees the board, there is no need to explain which way the pieces are moving: whites are going from the low to high numbered squares and vice versa.
6:28 (position 2) white can move a queen to h8 (!) Then black are forced to take white queen. And then white take a black queen having obvious advantage.
In Position 4 why can't the Queen move to F6 to take the Knight, at which point you can take the Queen with the pawn, and then this will free up the King.
Position #2: why dont use Room to g2, if the king move on black edge, just eat the black rook and promote with queen and it'll be checkmate. If the bishop block rook in G6, it's uselees bcause just got eaten by rook and again pawn promote to queen and checkmate without lost any pawn
In position #4 why black could not capture the knight with the queen? The checkmate threat won't work then since f4 is met by simple Q:f4+, and the only thing white can do is capture the queen but this pawn endgame is a win for black, they have a passed pawn on a file and white have nothing.
Nelson, in puzzle 2, after we get the rook, instead of black taking our bishop, what if black plays the move 'bishop to g8'? Because again, we can't take black's queen or it's a stalemate.
Wouldn't it make more sense to move the queen to the left of the black pound or whatever it's called and he either defends it by putting it under or defends by going to the left either way you get the pong or tower
In position #2,if k moves to g7 and pawn is promoted to queen king can simply capture it.where is the question of statement after rook captures black queen
Continued this vido today at #4: 16:20 Dude, pc3+... Nd7+ I came up with that, and after the checks we are getting a queen safely, with a fairly good position! That looked so sweet. Of course I'm wrong again... (perhaps I was doing too many small puzzles the last days). Because it's not the solution of the puzzle as i see when continuing your video 😞
On the first game, I already found a way, bishop to b7, then on the nect move, promote pawn to queen and protect the bishop too, then move queen to b8, then promote the pawn to queen and just ladder check mate Anddd yep I was right (sort of)
For position 2 when king takes bishop after h8 If you promote to queen you can force him to take it by moving to g7 and take his queen and rook vs bishop is winning endgame
I like the puzzles, but I wish they also accounted black's "Train of Thought." For example, take Position 2's third scenario at this point: 7:52. You just assume the king is going to take the bishop, but what if it goes to G7? This is an example of a point in which if black plays correctly, you can't win. Just a thought.
@@MusicHunter111000 Yes true... I realized that after posting this comment 2 months back... I hope your answers helps others too... 😊 Thanks for explaining ...👍🏻
In position #2 isnt there Rg1+? If king moves, it's checkmate with promotion and if bishop blocks and Kg7 you have discovered attack on king and queen with rook d6+
3:38 White would still win if black didn't have that rook. White bishop to b7, black pawn to h1, bishop takes, white pawn promotes, and even with the 2nd pawn blocking check, its still just a few moves away from gg.
12:21 why not just knight back to g3+ check and cover promotion square. That’s what I would probably have done in game and tired to bring my king and pawns closer to promotion. It might be some black knight moves that draw this I guess but it’s hard to see
