A Cheater Tried To Solve This... 

At this point the old man smiled and placed a 12” tall mechanic Godzilla on the board. “Gojirra wins wins” He exclaimed before making laser sounds and knocking all the pieces onto the floor. At this point the club realized the answer: the old man was crazy, and was promptly escorted off the premises.

I think probably the young girl instinctively thought this looked like a win for white because of how many pieces white has and the other players (who had seen more of these whacky puzzle positions) instinctively thought black would win or it would be a draw due to the nature of these puzzles and how often one side can do really well when the king has limited squares. Still Bravo to her bet she was chuffed at that.

Very sneaky of Nelson to show the Stockfish analysis while it is only at depth 18. I'd imagine by the time the chess engine gets to depth 20 it notices Qd3 and shows a high plus score or even a forced mate for White. So the other moral of the story is, don't trust chess engines when you haven't given them adequate time to analyze the position.

My gut instinct: White can easily draw by simply shuffling the rook back and forth for perpetual check, therefore this is not a win for black. Meta reasoning says that since this is a puzzle, it's unlikely to be a draw either, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a puzzle. Therefore it's likely a win for white through shenanigans, probably with some kind of fork block at some point.

That is an Epic solution. This is a perfect reminder for a chess player to think more critically and improve

I think the hardest part would be reverse engineering this puzzle to find out how three hell they got in that crazy position

It definitely looked like a perpetual check situation. Didn't see the queen sacrifice! Awesome stuff.

I like how the most complicated way to draw is shown when white can literally just move the rook back and forth

There's actually another way for it to end! It's still a draw, but not by perpetual checks. 3:42 If White Bd4, black Qa5+, White Rc5, Black QxR+, White must capture, but whether he does with the King or Bishop it's actually a stalemate. The white Queen covers E1, E2, and G2 while the white Bishop covers F2 and G1.

I thought it was a draw because black has perpetual checks and white's pieces could shuffle back and forth but I only saw the queen sac when the position before it was shown again

I noticed almost instantly this would impossibly be a win for Black due to Qa2+ Rc4 Qd2+ Rd4 etc. If it's 'weird', it must be a win for White (as otherwise puzzles like these are drawn) but I failed to think outside the box. Which, is quite literal here 😁. I'll save this one, thanks!

And then they realized there was a random old guy in their chess club for kids

The little story plus stock fish with inadequate depth for the puzzle gave a lot to the puzzle - very well done. This kind of framing gives a chess puzzle - something very logical, abstract, definitive and solitaire - am open ended and social element.

This is great! I like problems with tries that are plausible but wrong, and this one has tries at various levels of naivety/plausibility.

I was thinking about that queen sacrifice as it was the only unconventional option to simultaneously block the check as well as breaking the chain, all other pieces had one and only one way of blocking..although I didn't understand the importance of the sacrifice at first, so I thought it's suicidal, hence didn't gave much thought...but I was wrong..and right too. Another lesson for me, thanks :)

The name of this young girl ? Albert Einstein.

0:35 That day the little girl promise herself to take revenge on those who humiliated her

My immediate thought when it got to the last move on the draw is that the queen could make a more offensive play, though when you’ve been moving in a box it’s common to just assume that’s the only place you can move by instinct. I think being bad at chess makes this easier to solve 😂😂

Bro your story telling was good and your inspiration from chess talk was new kind of content

fun fact for me before subscribing to Nelson's Chess vibes, I actually subscribe to Chess talk so basically RU-vid thought that Chess talk "promoted" algorithm to Chess vibes in my home page nice video as always

The old man speaks for himself

Great puzzle, I thought black was able to pull of perpetual checks. Giving up the queen to break the pattern, with check so forced, is just brilliant.

I find it funny that none of the people tried to accont for the king

Hey, I actually got one of these right. It's not that complicated really, the queen's ability to keep checking depends on her distance from the king and other pieces, by offering the queen sac you simultaneously pull her closer and give your king an escape route, or if the sacrifice is not accepted you just give your king an escape route and make your queen active.

This fascinating puzzle speaks for itself

While this is an epic solution, after the first move is given, a chess engine can replicate this win for white move for move.

I like the chess stories. It adds a warm touch to a cold game. I'll use some of them at the Library chess club to engage the kids. Thanks

Why, if White does not see the long term queen sacrifice (ie on the black wins or even the draw scenario) upon the second check (white q to D2), instead of bishop to D4, does White not just play rook to D4? This would lead to a perpetual qA2 rC4 qD2 rD4 situation and an easy draw for White.

Coincidence. I watched my first Chess Talk video yesterday. By the way, there is also an easy draw for White line -- just move the rook back and forth.

Mind = blown. Thanks for the FEN and mentioning where you got the idea, that was fun.

Ahhh yes, the boy plugged in the moves into the computer in the year 1959.

At 0:49 “They will defend with the bishop” Me: why not the rook?

Haven't watched the Video but I have seen this position in some sort of book before and I know that White wins by giving away the Queen in the end just to stop the repetitions. It's actually really funny. A very easy concept that everyone should be able to come up with and yet we don't.

For me the moral of the story is that the longer you are in a field the more disillusioned and pessimistic you become. Give the girl a few more weeks and all the puzzles will make her think it's either a draw or loss too

I was dead ass looking for a way to get my queen to c4 for a check. But couldn’t figure out how to make one always getting checked. The second side pawn push is what I didn’t see thought it would lead to mate lol

I could instantly tell you were following a different theme of doing the chess puzzles with stories.

I still remember thinking at first that Black had a sneaky win up his sleeve until I realized that White could respond to Qg5+ by blocking it with his queen (Qe5). After I realized that, I figured at first that it would be a draw by perpetual check- until I realized that, just as Nelson pointed out, after several more checks, White can block Qd2+ with Qd3+, thereby sacrificing his queen in exchange for the positional advantage of being able to block the resulting check via Bd4 without the danger of keeping his king trapped in the box and forced to be put in perpetual check. TL;DR- I first thought Black would win but then saw Qe5 as a way out of being checkmated. Then I thought it would be a draw by perpetual check until I saw the counter check of Qd3+ as a way out of perpetual check.

I was at first like "wut how would this even be a win for black this is a dead draw but even more a win for white." Then you proceeded to explain my thoughts lol. Tho yes queen sac is something I do often so that is the only reason I knew this. *Also looks at the amount of times someone messed with me by putting the king on h2 with pawns surrounding it as it is horrendously strong defense, same with opposite corner*

I also thought on queen to e3, it was kind of the best solution because you could get out of check and put the enemy on check

Bro made a boss fight 😭😭

The rule is, if all your pieces combined can cover the whole board movement and you have more of them, you win.

You made up a whole story to make the title 'A cheater tried to solve this...' well, checkmate I guess because I clicked on it.

Reminds me of a similar story where the answer was "it depends whose move it is".

Been in this position many times throughout my chess career. I call it tank formation protecting my king after taking all of my opponents pieces.

That was an AMAAAAAZING PUZZLE!

I like how for all the sophisticated logic used to demonstrate a draw no one bothered with the trivial draw by repetition of moving the rook back and forth.

Ha ha your channel is making me better. Didn’t take the time to figure it out but it felt instinctively like all you had to do was break that symmetry and you were gonna win.

The boy was like "Ah, it's mate in 2 for black. White will play f3, black - e6, and now white plays g4, black delivers a checkmate with a queen on h4.

If anyone's looking for me, I'll be busy picking up pieces of my brain from off the floor. Great content, Nelson!

Who woulda thought a young girl would outsmart an engine and a strong player

Oh no my queen

Your storytelling is as nice as your teaching. That made the Chess puzzle so interesting. Thanks Nelsie 😊

"The old man then smiled and flipped the board and began screaming."

Surprisingly I actually recognised that the solution would have to involve a diagonal block with the queen. I just didn't have the time to play it all put and realize it was a queen sacrifice.

Here's how I solved it (rather logically): I realized quickly that shuffling the rooks would give white at least a draw. So I considered why white wasn't clearly winning, and deduced that the king having no other escape squares kind of forced white pieces to constantly defend the checks in the 3x3 grid. If any piece made it outside the grid then the king will have an escape square and things could change. I then hypothesized that a queen, being the most versatile, had the best chance of blocking the check outside of the 3x3 grid. I searched for this and found the solution Qd3.

The girl was just lucky in being right. More pieces on the board doesn't always mean a win.

As soon as you paused, the queen move stuck out as an obvious oversight on blacks part, the characters in this story overlooked the ending of the line.

This chess video has the same plot as a Dhar Mann short and I love it.

Congrats to the young girl for the answer! If she continues to practice and analyse positions, she might well become the best imaginary chess player that ever was!

Dude for a draw you can just constantly block with the rook on qa2

And then there's me, just moving the rook back and forth from the very beginning.

I was kind of hoping for the first move to be a king move. That would be another cool plot twist.

Nice puzzle, boring story. We already liked your style of narrating, Nelson.

please stop with the fake chess stories! They are so long, overblown and boring. We are not here for religious apologetics, but to learn :D Give us the ideas without these made up characters please :-/

Never overlook tiny details, even if they seem insignificant or rather, downright stupid - they could lead to big mistakes

"What a Noob". I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to whom I am referring.

Really shows you need to be open to new possibilities.

This is the best chess puzzle I have seen in a long, long time. Thanks for sharing ❤

We were too caught up in the cycle

Everybody gangster until the pawn starts moving backwards

based on skill is only way to determine a winner if draws can be tossed out white is obvious because the multiple chances, but can also go both ways based on skills.

The girl is basically a lucky person who always gets the answer right but used the wrong method

Excellent. I also missed the queen sac, thinking it was a draw.

Do you know that the stupid and the genius often have the same answer? That's what happen in this case.

its a 3 moves repetition draw because the rook can just move back to d4 and block the queen's check. lol

I knew it wouldn't be a win for black, because white could simply force a draw off repetitive check by repeatedly blocking with the same piece. I can't say I saw the win for white option, but it was interesting to see

Really nice, one have always to be openminded!

It wouldn't inspire that because I care more about solid reasoning than a lucky guess.

Wait... Isn't it possible to draw like: q b 3 check, r c4 , q d 3 check, r d 4 and repeat for a force draw?

That little girl sounds like it might have been my daughter, she is a little “know it all” aswel 😂

It is always a fact that if more pieces in game is a total domination and win

I don't know what engine the boy uses but Stockfish litteraly depth 1 says +10.81 for white - depth 36 he sees a mate in 27 - depth 45 he sees a mate in 24 (which is the fastest mate)

I was thinking find a way to get queen in bottom left corner so it would be check and giving me time to move pawns up.

“Here is a made up story that makes this novice right for literally no reason other than plot device”

She wasn’t right tho. Her answer wasnt that exact sequence of moves and she didn’t even give a winning line for white. The others had reasonable reasons for their answers and hers was “WhItE hAs MoRe PiEcEs”.

3:23 black will kill white’s queen resulting in a checkmate

I mean, you can tell straight from the start that it's not a win for black. The rook can just go back and forth between C4 and D4, always getting in the way of the queen's checks one way or the other.

perfect example of the einstelung effect

Man my classmates would lose the pawns instantly then get stalemated

Old man's always got something. My eyes got a bit wet idk for what a little bit of goosebump action going on too.

moral of the story: use higher depth stockfish

i see the queen sacrifice in the cheater boy and the pro chess players thing

Ngl, I assumed at some point they'd be able to push the pawns so fun

Technically it could end in either 3 ways, but most likely it would be a draw, or white to win assuming black stopped checking

Martin: I'm about to ruin this man's whole career

Can u move white Queen to check black ever or are they just stuck responding to checks I would try to move my pieces out

I find it funny how black didn’t use its king, even putting him into jeopardy and breaking the cycle.

100 IQ- surrounding the king with pieces to ensure he is well guarded. 400 IQ- sacrificing the queen to allow the king to escape.

I was looking at the position in the beginning at thinking "wtf? Rd1+ wins" lol

what if i just go d4 e5 on loop with bishop?