A Puzzle That Tells YOUR Chess Level 

💡Want to master middlegame play? Get this crystal-clear guide "Winning the Middlegame" - online.chess-teacher.com/course/winning-the-middlegame/

Spotted the 1600 level and that your opponent didn’t have to take back but completely overlooked the castle capture! Which is why I blunder so much.

One problem i find with puzzles is, that you just know theres something good in that certain position, so you kind of eliminate all the ''boring'' moves that dont do anything in the first place. In a normal game u might not see the forcing line, because you dont know theres something concrete on the board. I like those kind of videos though, please do more.

Super accurate actually. I’m 1600ish and got the 1600 rating. I definitely quit calculating and just said, “it’ll work out” after 3 moves

So here is what is strange. I actually calculated all the way TO the Qxh4 variation! But I totally missed the fact that my rook was hanging. As it turns out, it didn't matter -- but I'm not sure if my rating is 2700 or 800. 🙂 Very fun and practical puzzle!

Yes! More "what's my level" challenges. Fun and interesting!

📢 To those who asked for more videos like this, here's the 2ND PART - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o-kjwqGWhxg.html

you should do more of these, but also throw in ones where the best moves are not forcing. in puzzle positions like these you overlook boring moves because you know it’s a puzzle

I enjoyed your analysis :) It’s important to mention that puzzle ratings aren’t so close to ELO. Mine’s 1650 and 2850 so you can see the difference.

I love this type of video - great format. Thank you!

More chess puzzles like this one are always appreciated. Chess games at the grandmaster level which did not result in a draw, are always good as a learning tool.

You are a great teacher Igor. Thank you.

You are one of the best coaches on the internet.Please provide more such content for your viewers. The analysis was very helpful.

Love your content Igor! Entertaining but so educational, explained in a very easy to understand format. Thanks 🙏🏼

Yup, got stuck at the 1800 move. I didn't think of moving the rook up because I thought white would just sacrifice their queen for the rook. That's two rooks for queen, but it also seems to shut down black's attack. Still don't see why white wouldn't/can't just do that. Edit: Looking into it more, stockfish seems to like the queen sac too. Uh, did you make the mistake?

I am 600 rated and I found the 1600 level variation which I am really proud of. Keep up the good work❤❤

I'm 800 rated and my first through was the 1600 move, but I legitimately didn't even notice my rook was hanging so...

Yeah, I would love to see more videos like this. it's a brilliant format

This was awesome! I just found this channel yesterday. I usually watch Hikaru but your videos are more like classroom math exercises. I like how organized and concise, while still being thorough, they are. I am around 800 elo, and you’re right that I did hang my rook, but upon noticing I was able to calculate the refutation of bishop takes knight (queen takes rook) and then up to white playing g3 and I thought the attack was over. I didn’t see rook to the fourth rank attacking the queen, and while I did consider sacking on g3, I never considered sacking on h4 or anything else. I will keep improving!

As an 1800 player, after visualizing Bxf3 Qxb4 Rb8 g3 i really went "Nah this ain't working" and went for the overwhelmingly less calculated Rg8.

► Chapters 00:00 This Chess Puzzle Determines Your Rating 00:35 Your Rating Level is 800 IF... 01:25 Your Rating Level is 1000 IF... 01:48 Your Rating Level is 1300 IF... 02:39 Your Rating Level is 1600 IF... 03:25 Your Rating Level is 1800 IF... 04:29 Your Rating Level is 2300 IF... 05:13 Your Rating Level is 2600 IF... 06:46 Your Rating Level is 2700 IF... 07:45 Your Rating Level is 2760 IF... 08:10 How to calculate variations in the middlegame?

I also chose bishop takes & totally overlooked the queen threatening the castle. I seem to be hanging in the area of 750-850 in rapid and 1325-1450 for puzzles (hard level). I was taught to play (basics) chess but only now in middle adulthood started to look into chess in a more (I do have an insatiable need to play daily to get my fix) academic sense and seem to have a real addiction to it since moving my first pawn inJanuary 2023. I would love to join some chess club in South East Michigan at some point with aspirations of continual growth & study. Shooting for a 1600 ELO for an initial goal. I ❤ the video.

Awesome video... please, more.

Great job. Very very helpful

Saw the bishop take, saw the follow up and saw the queen takes. I didn't calculate whites checks with the queen which can sometimes be my downfall. My strength i feel is tactics, weaknesses being moving too fast, not fully calculating, or as you mentioned hoping that an attack works out

Thanks for this Igor, can we PLEASE have some more like this, it's a fun way of finding our new potential rating 👍

We enjoyed it and we love your channel! 🤩

Thank you!

I didn't even consider the moves at 2600 because I saw queen h4.

Wow! Sooooo helpful. Please do more of these kind of videos. Thank you!

I just love these videos. This series is great. It is awesome to see you break down all the different lines of things.

Great video idea

Really interesting learning video! Thank you Igor. This reminds me in a way of Jeremy Silman's book "Reassess your Chess". Please showcase others 🙂

I calculated everything except the king running away which I did a little differently. My general mouth feel of the situation was that the position was such that white didn't have the position and material to make a meaningful threat to the black king or the ability to get to a perpetual with the king and the pawn on c2. As long as he sticks near it, he'll find safety. However, I also thought to myself that I didn't have to calculate that because white isn't in a position where a single move could save him. While I saw that Qxh4 was winning, I figured that after Kd7 instead, white had nothing. His only way into the position was attacking c6. If going for b8, I run to d7 and it is over. If he targets c7, he's too late. If he targets c6, Kd7 shuts it down. What does white do with the extra move if they had it? My ideas were Qd4 and we respond with Qxh4 anyway as we'll mate on h1. Alternately, Kh2 to break the pin in which case that messes up Qxh4 but that's not a big deal because we still have Rxh4+. If gxh4, then Qxh4+, Kg1, Qh1++. If instead Kg1, we still have Rh1++. As all these lines seem winning for black, after Rg4, the most likely response is that white realizes that he's losing, plays Qxg4. We play hxg4 and go into a queen and bishop vs 2 rooks endgame with no meaningful open files which shouldn't be a problem. He can never get behind his passed h pawn as long as the bishop stays on the long diagonal. I decided that while I could have probably won faster by retaking the queen with the bishop instead, after f3 he'd at least be able to get his king active and open up some lines whereas if things remain closed, I can see slow wins for black but no feasible plan for victory for white.

more please - not like 'white to move and mate in two' but like this where you explain how each variation reflects our understanding of the game. I knew the rook was under threat, i saw that whites pawn could step to g3 and i saw that rook to g8 locked that pawn down... but i started my attack with the queen and figured i could work it out from there.... 1400 on a good day lol! Thanks.

These types of videos are phenomenal!!!!!

i first thought 1800 level, but after seeing the 2300 move Rg4 (which i have no idea how i missed), i immediately found the 2700 level Qxd4. after seeing the board im ok at calculating but im absolutely horrible at visualizing the board after 3 or so moves since i get easily confused

This is a very good theme which is a variation of "Guess the ELO" . However IMO the ratings are a bit overrated. No way this is anywhere close to 2700. But I suppose to maneuver the pieces to get to that position and spot the opportunity is what differentiates the lesser players vs the best. Also there is another variable:Time taken to spot the variations(How much time does a 2500+ player take to spot those moves in a real game?) . I hope you will keep up this theme as it is very encouraging for beginners and middle ELO levels.

I like this kind of puzzles snd the video is nice. Keep it up 👏

excellent encouraging video

This was very interesting. I am not a very high level player but I did pretty well on this one. I immediately saw the rook was hanging but I saw Bxf3 followed by Rg8 but then didnt consider Rg4 to kick the queen. However as soon as you showed it I was like ohh nice now you have Qxg4 and then was surprised when you played Rxg4 instead.

Great puzzle! I haven’t played chess in 3 years and still found the 1800 move pretty easily. The chess scene has certainly changed a ton, especially with a new champion coming soon. I remember watching agadmator every day after school with my brother.

really helpful, - it confirms my experience in pov as I have played chess over the years...thanks

Extremely instructional. One of my biggest challenges is hone my thought process and get some sense as to the level of analysis necessary to keep improving. This video gave me that perspective. You have a unique talent to clearly communicate these concepts. It gives me more passion to improve my game, even at the age of 72!

I am 1800 elo but I saw the 2760 diagram, I think it isnt all about tactic but also about strategy and knowledge of openings and a lot more

i got 1600 in like 3 seconds when i saw that puzzle (im 800 rating💀💀)

My self steem has been greatly improved, thank you sir !

I love this kind of video.

I found the solution with RG5, but I feel it is different if I know there is some sort of solution. On my own I probably would not have calculated out so far. Chess puzzles are great for tactical challenges, but it is the attacking theory that you bring that I really love. You teach the way to think.

I saw the white defense with G3, but i thought Qh4 was winning. Didn't remember that white queen after taking the rook was defending h4. Seeing the board after g3, the move rook to g4 comes naturally. But see this in advance is really hard. Really nice video !!!

Really cool vid, I saw everything in a minute or so other than the Q sac at the very end which was nice but im just a weak expert, definitely not 2600 but then again these kinds of attacking/initiative type of positions are my cup of tea, I struggle alot more with quieter positions, thx and will watch more of your vids in the future, thx RCA

Thanks

I’m gonna be 100% honest, I noticed every move except moving rook to g4. I figured it could stay on g1 and still have the same effect of pinning the pawn to the king and giving force mate in 3 with queen to f4. My only problem is getting to this stage in the game.

In the last variation it should be noted that instead of Queen c3 or Queen c5 threatening to capture on c6 with check, there is a better move to be considered which is Qb7. I saw this, guess I'm grandmaster level now lol.

What I learned form this puzzle is that I see most of the components of the problem, but I short-change the calculations when I see a move that is clearly favorable.

I found another variation: Black takes knight, white queen takes rook, Black Bishop takes the pawn that didnt strike back from earlier, white takes black bishop, Black rook comes to g8 (giving a check), white king to 1h (there arent any other moves) and the black queen takes pawn at 4h giving checkmate. Now please respond to this cuz I spent much time and I really wanna know my rating (I cant think this clearly during games). 😢

The quiz is well designed indeed. I am 1518 right now. I exactly thought of the move of 1600.

Igor I'll be completely honest with you: I went down all the lines and see the idea of Rg4 followed by Qxh4, I also missed Qc5 as white best defense. This I think qualify me as a strong tactical player which I believe I am, I struggle very much in positional type of game, do you have any books or recommendation to improve on that side? Thank you for your work!

I calculated to rook g4, and relied on wishful thinking that the attack would work from there. Neat quiz, thanks!

What's interesting is that I've noticed quite a few of the lower to mid level ratings myself, except that I tried to use them all together. First things first, opponent is a pawn up. However, the board is almost full, so no decisive advantage here. Yes, I spotted that the Rook is hanging, and that I should probably defend it or move it back before proceeding to my attack. Now, the first moves I noticed were Rb8, Qb8, and Qe7; but then I realised that Rb6 is even better (I'll come to the why part soon; actually, c5 was also an option, but I didn't think of it. But that won't be great either since white can just play a3 and attack the rook). So, my first move: Rb6 Now that it's not hanging anymore, time to attack after opponent's move. Now, possible options for white are to move their knight or their queen, since their rooks aren't really going to be active anyway, and they will need at least 2 pawn moves to attack the rook; so that's unlikely. As for the knight, Nd4 and Ng5 are the 2 options. Let's consider Nd4 first (which is not really a good move anymore). Well, before coming to Black's reply, let's think of White's longer term plan; after Nd4, where will the knight go next? It will be captured everywhere. (Here's why Rb6 was my first choice; it not only moves the rook back but also defends the pawn at c6. If I had played Rb8, Qb8, or Qe7 instead, Nc6 would have forked the king and rook. But it can't anymore). So basically, Nd4 is now a useless move for black, and gives me an extra move for free. Now, before I move on to quite a solid option Ng5, let's first go through what could possibly be done if white just played random moves (well, any queen moves by white are random now, since all my pieces are defended, and he can't check my king without any captures). My plan would be Rg8, followed by bishop takes knight, taking advantage of the pin; and then queen takes their h pawn (which will work even if they had played g3, again due the pin). With a rook, bishop, and queen; it will be a mate quite quickly; if they try Qd4, then Rg4 is the way to go before capturing on h4 with the queen. However, after watching the video, it's quite clear that Rg8 is unnecessary, and more of a waste of time; bishop takes knight should be played directly, since white capturing the bishop is a forced checkmate. Now coming to the main, and possibly best reply of white; Ng5. I don't really have a completely forcing line here, but my idea is to sacrifice the queen on g5. Once white recaptures with the pawn, we push our h pawn forward. With the pawn defended by the rook, and the bishop being active, a mate is possible in quite a few variations even without promoting. However, I can't find a winning combination in variations where they play f3, attacking the bishop and blocking that diagonal. Example: Rb6 Ng5 Qxg5 gx5 h4 g3 gx3 f3 After this (and another similar variation or 2), it seems I'm stuck; in any case if anyone finds a winning move from here, please let me know. Btw, thanks for reading along upto this point; I was also trying to save the rook along with everything else (irony that I ended up sacrificing a queen instead😅)

I calculated to a 2700 level, which I find strange seeing as I'm a 1300 rated player. The puzzle was very interesting though so I'm definately subscribing.

Hmmm I think my elo is 3

This is definitely one of my favorites. Easy to understand and gave me better InSite in to calculating. By this, I'm a 1,000. On my way, maybe.

Nice

My rating is around 1800 to 1900 in rapid and I've got to say this puzzle was really fun with a lot of hidden insights. I've solved it up to the 2300 range and completely missed Qc5, but I did find Qxh4 after Rg4 (although I did not even consider Rxh4). I'm currently rated around 2990 in puzzles.

I saw all the 2300 level implications after capturing the knight, but I also completely overlooked the hanging rook. That’s why my rating is 500 higher in rapid than in blitz, I guess. 1130 in 15/10, but 650 in 3/2 😢

I like these puzzles.

I started playing Chess this week and have a rating of 230 or something and got the 1600 solution. It’s so cool to see all the different ways to solve things.

I am literally 1200 and I have found the 2300 variation, overlooked the checks, but found the pin on the pawn leading to the fastest checkamate at the 2700 level. It is really not that hard, I think that these variations are possible to be calculated by lower rated players aswell

Mate in 3! Bishop captures knight on f3, white pawn takes bishop. Then Black rook to g1 (check). White king moves to h1 to elude check, then black queen to capture pawn on h4 for checkmate.

Nice veration!

Thankyou,because of you my calculating in chess is getting better(i got rated 1,600point at first)

You described me prefectly of seeing up to the 1800 level but not really being able to see how to continue.

Ql stuff Igor. Best tutor on yt. By far.

Merci beaucoup, super intéressant, un peu complique pour moi mais c'est pas grave ca ouvre des horizons :)

I picked the 1300 solution in 5seconds and said “yup, that’s what I would play in blitz” spot on.

My first attempt was the 1800 rating, the checkmate with bishop taking knight, then taking bishop, moving rook, check, then queen checkmate. But then again, white isn't forced to recapture the bishop. That was my first answer. But still, the 2300 and 2700 rank solution truly surprised me. Thank you!

This puzzle hinges around Rg4 and Qc5 imo. Those two moves are !!

Calculated everything up to failing to find Rg4. As a result, went back and thought, okay, Bxf3 works as long as I avoid Qxb4 because it defends h4. So I thought c5 (1000 rating) or Qe7 (not mentioned) would allow Bxf3 on the next move. This meant calculating Ng5, when Bxg2 is either a free pawn or white runs into Kxg2 Rxh4 (which either wins or exchanges down until you're 2-3 pawns up depending on how white plays - white has e4 to defend with the queen and the king can try escape via f3). Of course, c5 is met with Qe2... While an 1800 might find Rg4 in the "think" after g3, it's hard to say an 1800 would have chosen this line other than by "hoping it works out", which you don't recommend doing. As such, I chose Qe7 because Qc5 looked more promising after white's Qe2 than c5. So, what's my rating?

and here i was planning on setting up a bunch of piece trades on d4 after playing c5

So, I calculated everything required for 2300 (and also an additional line if white moves the f1 rook and allows Rxg2+ instead of playing g3). I also saw Qxh4 (in fact I never even considered Rxh4 and my whole reason for playing Rg4 was to enable Qxh4). I didn't look at Qc5, but I did look at Qb8+ after Qxh4. For the record, I haven't played in nearly 20 years and my last rating was the old ECF equivalent of about 1850. But I did just complete 7 cycles of the Woodpecker Method earlier today.

Strangely enough I calculated to 1800 level but I am also an extremely cautious player who doesn't like sacrificing pieces unless I'm entirely sure of success, so I actually opted to defend the rook with the c3 pawn rather than risk an attack I wasn't sure I could continue

I found the variation of winning with least casualties... Bishop takes knight at F3, opponent responds with Queen takes Rook at B4 which is a good move but irrelevant then Rook goes to G8 pinning the pawn at G2 so it can't take the bishop then Queen goes to C5 trying to grab the pawn and give check, we respond with King to D7 protecting all pawns then opponent does not have any good moves except moving the G2 pawn one square then finally Queen comes to take the H8 pawn and deliver the checkmate afterwards

You nailed it! I'm 1800...I didn't calculate the rook block....good stuff, thanks!

Thank you for this well-structured lesson. At 04:54 there is a faster way with Qxh4 and mate in next move, as the queen is pinned.

I saw the bishop move and the attack that could follow. I did pretty good.

The thing that prevents me from going deeper than the 1600 line is basically i just go "ok, that's good enough. Let's see what he plays first", and then I'll start calculating from the new position. Because previously i lost many games on time, so i dont want to spend too much time on each move

I found rg8 and after putting it in the engine, after knight blocks you’re -5 so its not a bad move, i also spotted the bishop move but couldn’t find the rook move after the pawn move to g3, however i’m only rated 1300 but i have a puzzle rating of 1800-ish, however after seeing the rook move i did see that the best move would be sacrificing the queen so the white rook can move and get the king out of the way Best line according to lichess analysis : Bxf3 2. Qxb4 Rg8 3. g3 Rg4 4. Qxg4 hxg4 5. Rb1 Kd7 6. Kf1 Qh8 (depth average of 22) -11.8 eval stockfish 11+ HCE

I am a 'retired' FM (haven't really trained in this Millennium, haven't played in 15 years) and solved this. Since 1.Bxf3 2.Qxb4 Rg8 3.g3 Rg4 4.Qc5 Qxh4 lead to an easy win for Black, I spend much more time on 3. Rfc1 Rxg2+ 4.Kf1 Rg4 5.Qc5 Qxh4 which is much more interesting, i.e. 6.Qxc6+ Kf8 7.Qc5+ (to protect e3) Kg7 8.Ke1 Rg1+ 9.Kd2 Qxf2+ 10.Kc3 and the game is far from over, so 6... Kd8 (after 6.Qxc6+) and now White has a problem, i.e. 7.Ke1 (7.Qa8+ Kd7 is worse for White) Rg1+ 8.Kd2 Qxf2+ 9.Kc3 Qxe3+ 10.Kb2 Qxe5+ where Black should be winning, but White could simply NOT play 6.Qxc6 but 6.Ke1 (so that the Q still protects e3) and after 6... Rg1+ 7.Kd2 Qxf2+ 8.Kc3 White could still fight on, though I believe Black should be winning, a continuation could be 8.... Rxc1 9.Rxc1 Kd7 and Black simply has two pawns for the exchange, a well protected King and should be winning by simply pushing the h-pawn forward. So what's my rating? ;-) An afterthought: Black could also play (after 6.Ke1) 6.... Rg2 and after 7.Kd2 Qxf2+ 8.Kc3 Kd7 White seems to be even more in trouble than above.

30 years ago I was rated at 2000, haven't played much since due to work and family commitments. As far as I am concerned this type of position is very easy because it is nothing more than a series of standard tricks and crucially unlike in a real game we know that black probably has a forcing win. I solved it as follows 1.Whilst I noted that the b4 rook was under attack, I first looked at forcing moves - after all black is supposed to be able to force a win here. Bxf3 is obvious, and the first move I looked at, as is the fact that gxf3 will lead to forced mate I barely calculated that. 2 So the only possible forcing line has to be 1...Bxf3, 2 Qxb4 Rg8 3 g3. It should be obvious that black needs to play Qxh4 but that black cannot do so until the Qb4 is either blocked or diverted from protecting h4. 3. I tried all possible pawn moves to divert the white Queen but a5 & c5 run into Qf4 and d4 does do anything likewise moving queen or king does not force white to do anything so the only possible forcing move is Rg4 and at that point I stopped my analysis because it was clear to me that white could never force a perpetual and Qxh4 was only stoppable by white playing Qxg4 which leads to a game of 2 rooks versus Queen and bishop which should be winning (I admit I did not do any calculations to prove it). Personally I think the puzzle is more like an 1900-2100 level puzzle. The really hard puzzles are the ones that in the middle of the combination there is a quiet move that does appear to force anything but 2 moves later is a killer - those are 2500+ level puzzles

I surprisingly got full marks, however I also calculated the white queens best move was dropping to b7 as compared to c5. As i think that white can force a draw or queen trade if the queen captures the pawn before the king moves to c8

4.47 the meaningful and best move in my mind is bishop e4,blocking the queen.Then you take h4 with your queen and white cant take back....Also your rook is saved.

damn, i found the 1800 tactic and the 2600 followups as a 900

i even calculated the possible Kh1 & Kh2 line with the windmill attack and the retreating bishop discovery attack

I calculated and found the best line pretty easily but I definitely should’ve considered more of white’s strong moves

Lol this was fun :D Many thanks (I saw a Q(b4)xa4 somewhere in my calculations I did not like, so I'm going back to see what 'sacrificing' the rook with d5 does)

I'm almost 1300 and saw the 1800 tactic but dismissed it as a losing endgame. I thought any attacking plan was thwarted by the queen seeing h4 and saw g3 and thought it was just over with a losing endgame. Ultimately in a game I think I'd probably play the 1000 option of defending the rook because I saw some simpler yet powerful ways to put pressure on white with moves like the capture on f3 delayed, Rg8, etc and think it would be easier to play from the standpoint of not having the queen on b5 but of course not super accurate.

I like the concept but im about 1500 ACF rating and solved it. In about 10s . I was yelling at the screen multiple times and you played the wrong lines knowing i a better solution . Glad you got there in the end. Would be interested to see this on a better constructed puzzle tho.

I only noticed the rook is hanging when I started to think "what would w do instead of capturing the bishop with pawn"

According to this, I'm 1600 and something. Now I just need to find where those 600+ points are hidden in me