This Puzzle Tells YOUR Chess Rating Level 

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My problem is that I can do puzzles a lot better than I play actual games, because with puzzles there is always something big (mate in X or win material) but in an actual game a lot of positions are "dead".

Thank you, Igor. I’ve seen many videos that say “try to think what your opponent would do” but this really makes it concrete. The good thing is that I was 1,200 in both of your “rating” videos, which is both consistent and above my online rating of 1,050. That gives me some confidence to go and find some stronger players and kick some butt!

somewhere between 1000-1200 level. I correctly assessed the initial state of the board, saw that the check with the bishop was not the best move and saw the free knight, which led me to see the potential checkmate. That's where it stops for me though, so I need to put more effort into assessing my opponents potential moves, it seems.

I'm at 2450 at lichess, and i got almost everything instantly EXCEPT the bishop block at the end. I had to calc for about 1 min to see if i was safe enough by the end of every variation. Excelent Puzzle and avaliation.

Your channel is amazing

Just come across your channel- this was the second of these puzzles I've seen-it's one of the most useful aids to seeing not only where you're at in terms of your level,but WHY. Galliing when one sees the higher-rated parts,though,but misses intermediate stages & so a higher rating--but that,of course,is educational in itself. Showing clearly the DIFFERENCES IN THINKING is key-so many training vids don't & trying to follow analysis on GM games is too much,too quick.Really excellent.thanks.

Keep doing these puzzles mate, I love solving them. My rating was 1800 ✌

FIDE Master here, my ELO fluctuates between 2300-2400 in face-to-face chess. I got 2570 on this puzzle. It took me about 5-7 minutes of thinking to figure this out. I play live tournaments and I know I'm not at the same level as a 2550+ monsters. I think this puzzle tends to overestimate our level a bit, but it was a fun puzzle, thanks ! 😊

► Chapters 00:00 This Chess Puzzle Determines Your Rating 00:50 First step to solving a chess puzzle 01:09 Your Rating Level is 600 IF... 01:40 Your Rating Level is 800 IF... 02:28 Your Rating Level is 1000 IF... 02:55 Your Rating Level is 1200 IF... 03:49 Your Rating Level is 1800 IF... 05:19 Your Rating Level is 2200 IF... 06:19 Your Rating Level is 2400 IF... 07:47 Your Rating Level is 2570 IF...

WE NEED THIS MORE !!!

These puzzles and your explanation are really useful learning material, Igor! Very good video!

The recent videos highlighting the importance of paying more attention to your opponent's options/plans have been really helpful. Tks!

I really love this format, please keep doing it, it's so engaging!

This is my favorite chess content on RU-vid. Very interesting and educational. Thank you.

I got 2570 on this one. I don't have a rating level but have been playing off and on since age 11. I'm 65 now. I've always been an aggressive player and for about the last year have been subscribed to GM Smirnovs RCA videos. They are a great learning tool and he explains everything in a very user friendly way. I do miss the cat! LOL. Thanks again and keep the great tutorials coming!

Great learning experience! Please.... do more like this !

Missed the 1st part? Watch it now - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ch4slan6M-w.html

Very accurate. I have always estimated my rating to be 1600-1700... depending on whether I am currently playing or not (since chess is an on and off thing for me). And with this puzzle I got nearly all the 1800 stuff, but not quite as clearly fleshed out. So, very accurate I think. Really surprised me actually... at the beginning I thought it would be a waste of time lol.

Crazy, do I call myself a GM now? Ha ha ha. I used to play chess more than 25 years ago when I was a teenager and stopped due to studies, lack of sponsorship, etc. Now found renewed interest after watching videos and teach my son (now in mid 40s). yes I did win some tournaments too but never really reached those grand stages. Your videos are always informative, quality ones and I enjoy a lot. Thank you very much.

Excellent post, Thank You!

Love these. More, more MORE!

Should put more videos like this. Great video.

More of this type of videos...ill be looking forward to this...imo, this isba better exercise than puzzles. Maybe you can make a book out of this concept. Im sure you can

Thank you!

Really impressed with this type of video. Thank you so much Igor

Great video, helped me see a lot clearer in under ten minutes.

Love the channel and love the videos. I learn alot here and watch all your videos. One question. When trying to solve a puzzle can I set up the puzzle on my chessboard and actually move pieces the way I think to see how it unfolds and then try different lines until I solve the puzzles best moves? Or do I have to do all of it in my head?

Nice! Learnt something here!

More puzzles please

Please show more of these puzzles

Another great video, I captured the free knight, then didn't really think too much after that. But as you went through the variations, I at least went to block the rook with the bishop out of instict or luck I guess. I'm 680 at the moment.

Thanks alot

These are great, I'd love to see more of these! As for me, my rating over the board is about 1800-1900, but according to this I'm almost GM, since I did see the bishop block. I did not see the Qh8 check (1. .. Qxd4 2. Qxb7+ Kf6 (?) Qh8+!), because I calculated (1. ... Qxd4 2. Qxb7+ Kf8 3. Qa8+ Kg7 Qf3) instead, and thus the king was safe. So the question is, should I "deduct" my rating for not considering 2.. Kf6 (?)? I spent most of my time calculating the 1. ... Qxd4 2. Nd5+ exd5 line, and both 3. Qxb7 (King gets to safety on g7) and 3 Re1+ (Be4 block seemed strong) looked winning to me (though I stopped there). I think the biggest hurdle for me is to actually take the time at critical junctions (like this one) and calculate thoroughly. If someone would stop me and tell me this is a puzzle position, I would have a lot higher rating!

Very interesting, i haven't played properly in a long time and never been rated but i saw the bishop check and the knight blocking continuation so i found the queen capture and mate threat. I also saw the kings retreat line and the eventual black checkmate. While i was looking at the knight moves i saw the white check threat and continuation however my instinct was to move the king to d3 avoiding the queen capturing the pawn with check, i didn't get as far as solving that before the video caught me up as i suspect there was a series of checks white could give resulting in a loss for black, i suspect i would have got to bishop blocks eventually. I doubt i'd have a high rating as i was maybe 10 seconds infront of your explaination for a lot of this but was a fun journey.

KEEP DOING THESE PLEASE. I LEARN A LOT FROM YOU IGOR

Wonderful puzzle!

I started chess this year and slowly but surely with the help of this great channel my rating should be 800. Thank you.

I came up with 2200 and my actual rating in rapid is about 1800 :) Love this type of videos, thank you!

You’re my favorite chess teacher on RU-vid

What do you think of the strategy to play the pieces on the other site, so you can train the "opponent perspective" better? i tried and it's really hard to play like this, but i think it's a key to get more understanding of what the opponent is up to.

Amazing analysis

I appreciate your teaching style

Very cool tactic from both sides and great video :-)

I'm really, really bad. I have a rating of 400 and blunder everything all the time. I noticed Queen takes the Knight, mate in one, knew that white would do something with their Queen and I crossed my fingers.

I love these type of video

Somewhere between 1200 and 1800 because I did find the queen covering the king but I didn't calculate the line properly. Its actually really annoying because I know the two things I really need to work on is calculation and blunder checks. I peaked at 1550 and fell back to about 1300. I really need to train my thinking system and overhaul my opening repertoire at the same time.

Sir your channel is amazing

Here's one from an unrated (never got around to finding out), occasional player - I got up to the halfway point before you started in with the more involved reasoning. Excellent video - thanks!

I did spend some time and saw the bishop move. My bcf grade 25 years ago was 130, maybe about 1500. Haven't played s lot in the meanwhile but very interested by your channel, it's great

It's my second exercise 🎉 it took me 20 min, this one was complicated because of the Nd4+ !! And Re1 + but at the end Be4 !!! save black and give them the win. So in this exercise 2570 🎉 I was a fide Master about 2300 ... But I stopped for a while and now I discover those exercise ❤ I really appreciate the formt, wait for new exercises...

These rating showing puzzles are the best

1800 for me. I saw the knight move but didnt see that after pawn captures night, the rook can give a check. Even if I had seen that it wouldve been too much perhaps for me to calculate after that. Loved this puzzle though. Can you recommend any material with stuff like this so I can improve my calculation power? I have your entire course and if anything in there is useful in this regard, let me know please

I was able to see Queen takes Knight and I also saw the potential checkmating follow-up and that the black king had an avenue to run away from the opposing queen. I didn't see that white was up a rook or that the rook could check the king after Nd5+, PxN. I have no idea what my rating would be. I don't play like I did when I was younger. I used to be about 1400-1500 I guess (I've never had an offical rating even when I was on my HS chess team.) but i'd guess now-a-days i'm less than 1000. Cool video though. It's was fun to try to solve the puzzle with the understanding that what I got right or wrong could be apply to a rating in a general way.

Very good video! Please more of these types of problems!

I got some of the elements of the 1800+ variations. I don't think I'm great at chess but mostly because I get bored or find it too taxing to visualize all the variations. The just play the occasional blitz game online and that isn't enough time for me to consider moves. Furthermore I'll just play quickly even with time because I want a good paced game. It means my play is varied between blunders and decently strong play. I generally get into winning positions but have no idea how to cash in on them.

outstanding video

this is very true, I'm 1800 on blitz intuitively i just had that variation exactly what the video told.

Calculating is easy. I totally agree that you need to calculate the best response of your opponent. Most of my mistakes come by premoves expecting my opponent to make a good move, or I give a chance to see if they can find the best sequence leading to checkmate.

Thank you Igor. Although I am in fact 1100 in actual rating, the video just gave me motivation that I can progress well in chess to 1800 (my limit of calculations in the puzzle) and further 🙂.

I was under 600. It took me a while to realize this was chess and not checkers.

I would get an 1800 by the criteria, but I looked and realized I initially picked a slightly different path for the king to get to g7, to escape the checks of the white queen, but that allows Qf3+, which allows the queen to defend the checkmate. however, I saw the checkmates for black. I will claim laziness a bit too and it being early in the morning, with absolutely no warm up and having had not played in a while. I think the rating system is accurate, since I probably play somewhere between 1600-1900 typically, with flashes of brilliance to near the master level.

Great test - thanks a lot! I have not calculated Qf3 but all the other variants also the last one! My current chess rating ist just a little above 1500...

Saw that Black could take the White Knight on d4 and realised that it's a good starting move based on the idea that it takes one Knight, pins the other to the Rook and stops the White King going after the Black Knight. I noticed that it would go 1. Q x d5 2. Q x b7 +, K f8 3. Q (any of a8, b8 or c8) +, K g7 (ending White's counter attack) That's as far as I got because I couldn't visualise precisely where White's Queen would be after move 3 and had no idea what possible moves White had at their disposal. I completely failed to realise that Black was threatening Q f2 # after Q x d5 and couldn't see a way to continue the attack after getting the King to safety. I got the right starting move but for the wrong reason, focusing on pinning the Knight rather than preparing to deliver checkmate. It's a problem of mine, I've watched enough chess videos (Mostly yours) to know how to get into a reasonably good position but don't know how to recognise how good my position is or how to take advantage of a good position once I have it. I can't seem to figure out how to ruthlessly finish an opponent. There have been times in games against a computer when I tried just putting a King in check and achieved checkmate without realising it was checkmate. I missed seeing any of the mating threats in the entire video. I didn't see Q f2 #. I didn't see either of the variations after B d3 + in the 1800 rating section. That means I got around 1100, I guess (Due to noticing the capture and having a reason behind thinking it's a good move but not seeing that it threatens to checkmate the White King - I was surprised when it was pointed out). However, due to never having played competitively and thus having no data to work from other than games against the chess program in a Nintendo DS 42 All Time Classics game (All I know is that 9 times out of 10 I can beat it's hardest setting and I very rarely lose to it), I have no idea what my rating would be in real life or how I'd fare across the board from an actual person.

This was surprisingly accurate. I am around 1700 and I failed to realize what happens after Nd5, Re1 and dismissed Nd5 without analyzing

I moved e5, attacking the knight and opening the diagonal for my queen with a check potential on f5. I saw the black king could hide behind his pawns and any white checks would eventually stop. Now I see the a7 - g2 diagonal needs to be controlled or the king and hide (for a time) in that corner. The hanging white knight seemed too obvious for a "puzzle" so I was misreading the psychology instead of reading the board.

I figured out fragments of each different levels. The problem is, I missed a lot of stuff even on most basic level. Fun video and exercise though. :-)

He sounded so hopeful for the future of chess, and then remembered why he treats us all like we’re dumb

Very interesting

I often see parts (moves) but not the whole very well. My calculation is dodgy. I can also be careless in the ways you describe. I need to take more time and watch possibilities of opponent. I did see the initial possibilities, but not the later ones. Thank you, GM Igor. very helpful.

This time, it went better 🙂However, I cannot tell my rating, because my moves are a kind of between : Qxd4, Qxb2, Kf6, Qf3+, then either Bf5 or Qf4. I couldn't find a checkmate even if I saw the combination Qd4 and Bd3 to attack the Queen. Kf8, then Kg2 was a lost of time, that's why I choosed Kf3. I like this kind of puzzle; thanks!

👍 Nice one! Nd5+ was obvious. Stopped after the Re1+ to see what I would do with the Bishop. Thinking Q2+, Kf6…

I didn't consider Nd5+ but I saw the variations after you mentioned it

Thanks Igor, for putting this up. I've done three similar games in a row and found the ultimate solution everytime.I'm 65years old and been playing chess in around 100hours throughout my life. I allways played per intuition and never trained. Last time 7 years ago. Never saw myself as specialy good. But this made me realize why I lost so many games and I could become ok at this. I'll certainly watch your free master class and more of these puzzles. Then your free courses and then I'll join a club. Thanks again Igor🙏🕊

My irl rating is around 1600 but with this puzzle I got 1800, which is actually not that wrong since I can consistently beat 1800 rated players in tournaments but I still have bad days or moments when I overlook something and I end up losing, so I am progressing very slowly, especially since I did not have much time to practice in the last few years. It may not be that accurate for everyone though, especially for the irl rating, since it may even differ from one country to another. For example, in India, where the competition is a lot higher than where I live, a 1400 rated player, or even a 1300 may be much better than me... Still, great puzzle and video, this was definitely very insightful!

I saw the knight check move but forget that the pawn could protect the bishop eventually, so I calculated not taking the knight and running with the king in d6 (d7 is mate in a few moves) and then hiding in the boarders after some checks

Hmm, well, based on your grading system, I'm at 1800, as I didn't see the rook-check eventuality. I was more focused on the rook's threat to the black knight on H1, while trying to hunt for that checkmate. I didn't think knight to D5 looked all that great, so that eventuality didn't occur to me. At least just from looking at the starting positions. I would have played the winning line as black, but I did not see the knight to D5 + rook-check wrinkle IN that line from the start. I would have thought white would be more focused on getting king to E2 or queen to B7 for check (and to get the queen out of that box and into play). At the end, wouldn't king to F6 be quicker than bishop to E4? It removes all checking options from white in 1 move, leaving only the final press on white's king. It's not a matter of being stuck in the mindset of moving out of check, it's a matter of anticipating & avoiding the obvious queen to B7 check, so I'm free to press the checkmate sooner rather than later. Anyway, playing the computer I'm only about an 1100.

2400, but I know that's 1400 higher than what I probably am. Perhaps evaluating a puzzle can be easier than a game position because there's not the mental exhaustion to arrive there, play a few games beforehand, etc. These are great, Igor, thank you, it's interesting to see how you think.

i have an 1800 rating and i saw knight to d5 check but I think almost all 1800 will see that move tbh amazing video i did not see the bishop blocking the rook check hehe I love your content please upload a video about how to actually study chess openings

Amazing, I love these puzzle videos! I am 700-800. I calculated the QxN move, but I thought that white has too many checks (I am not able to calculate to the end) so this move must be dangerous, so I decided Bishop check and take the knight the next move. I didn't notice that the knight can escape and at the same time block the check.😢

I noticed that I can pin the knight to the rook but not the checkmate threat it gives, so maybe on the higher end of beginner like 900-1000. My problems are that I don’t think as hard for the opponent as I do for myself AND that I don’t calculate many possible lines for myself anyways. As soon as I find a good move and calculate like one or two lines at a low depth I play it. I only see grandmaster level tactics AFTER I accidentally play some of the moves there, and I hate how I can play at my best and still be very open for roasts by some gothamchess who could calculate that a random move I played that I thought was good walks into a forced mate in 12 trap that sacrifices 2 rooks and a queen.

i saw the hanging knight, i do calculate opponents moves and doesn't always move king in check ..try to block with other pieces..i guess aprox 1k rating ...but this puzzle and your explanation tickled my mind and heart both ..loved it ..need more of them

Okay I got between 1200 and 1800. Saw the free knight and followup, was able to see a route for my king to not die if the queen took the pawn and started getting checks, since said queen didn't have any extra support. Also saw Re1 was a major problem if I didn't start doing something aggressive. Didn't quite calculate if continuing the attack was possible but knew aggressive play is the only way to not die here.

As someone, who doesn't play chess, I got around 1000-1200 xP I saw the free knight and the white queen's follow up, as well as the king's escape from it.

I worked out the sequence with white queen up to f3 but could Not think any moves further than that - also did Not notice the point right at the start: ie. of white being a rook ahead

I failed to think hardly for my opponent, so ended up somewhere at 1200+. That is a great lesson for me. Thank you!

I got around 1800 in both videos, which is correct. Please make more of these, they are super helpful!

I'm ~1900 and saw everything (and also found a concrete win for white in the line where Igor was too lazy). I think it's quite likely that I wouldn't look at Nxd5+ in an actual game, however, since knowing it was an exercise made me feel that there had to be something more or else it was too easy.

My rating is 1907, My Rating level is 2570! The Highest Level My peak rating is around 2076. So far from Normal Chess Player Still trying to improve my level. I am getting terrible at chess these days, In 2022 I defeated many actual rated players, One with a 2276 Tho! My highest opponent I beated. Good luck for your upcoming videos.

I’m surprised how accurate this is.

Rating 1750, saw up to the 1800 analysis, pretty accurate in my case. Well done whoever composed this!

I'm either somewhere below 1800 or just a lazy 1800. I assumed the king could escape towards d1 and missed after Qg1+ the bishop on d3 would prevent the interposing Qf1 (should have seen that). Instead I assumed Qxd2 was the biggest threat instead of Bd3. I kinda assumed the bishop would come in next and white would still lose (as I didn't see any good ideas). (I don't think I'd ever found the knight move followed by the check with the rook... )

What does Kb3 rate seeing the white possibility of check after taking the pawn and also the possibility of the knight check following that delaying but possibly losing the chance to steal a knight.

Got Qd4 cleanly through to Bd3 for a questionable 1800 (sloppy because didn't see Qg1 for mate - instead forced the white Q away with pawn to g4 - is that a missed win?). But never even thought of white Ng5! Thank you - these are great.

I'm used to playing on an app called Chess Royale which allows 1 minute per move, so I don't think beyond the immediate (it just takes too much effort) so I guess that confirms I'm 1000 to 1200.

I tried this puzzle while playing against myself, I had to make white do meaningful moves that I would actually do if I were white , while ensuring that in the end black was Victorious. I’m not that good in chess , so this is how I did it 😅 Black: Qxd4 [ The queen takes knight] White: Nd5+ [ There is check using the knight] Black: Kd6 [ Doesn't use pawn to kill knight as it is a defence area where the king may go if Queen is after him ] White: Ne3[ Defends knight while blocking Queen from trying to stop king from killing knight and therefore also defending the king] Black: Qxa1+ [ Takes advantage of knight not blocking rook and takes room, therefore making a check as well] White: Ke2 [ Easily avoids check by moving diagonally as it’s the only way possible] Black: Ke5 [ King is gonna take part in trapping the other king, however it will be very careful as white queen will be after him now] White: Qb8+ [ Does check] Black: Ke4 [ avoids check but still stays near white king at the same time] White: Qxb7+ [ Opponent Starts gaining some confidence as they have removed a pawn.They also do check] Black: Kd4 [ avoids check] White: Qxa7 [ Does same method as last move, gains some more confidence] Black: Ke4 [ Does repetitive move] White: Qd7 [ Decides to play a different tactic , and moves over to and area where pawns come under threat. Soon queen can come closer to King to do check ] Black: Bh5 [ Uses bishop to do checkmate] Here I had used bishop a bit differently but it worked! Pls tell if I have written a move wrong, or I did any blunders or mistakes. But in my opinion this is how black checks , my strategy includes giving white confidence and making them think they will win,so they do a blunder and black can check

I caught everything but the R check, to include stopping the Q momentum. If I had time I think I would have seen the B block as well. But I doubt I would have seen all that in an actual game!

I calculated everything but the bishop move at the end. But really could not find an concreate alternate solution i was happy with with anything but queen takes so i gave up then watched the video. currently im rating 1550 ish in the Australian rating system. I dont know what rating you would give me as i prob wouldn’t judged the queen takes to risky as i didnt see the bishop move and the lines without it all losses. So i prob would of tried some kind queen readjustment move maybe. Shoot my shot in the darkness then get for what i thought was certain death.

I saw the Knight check but didn’t go to calculate this line further for some reason feeling that if I already have queen in the middle of the board and mate in 1 it should work. Because of that I did not see the rook check

I'm 900, I was a bit lazy/missed a sideline on some ends of the calculations but I saw the secondary threat of Bd3 leading to mate and also the Nd5 sacrifice, though i wasn't sure how to address it and didn't calculate enough to find out that you can escape. Of course i did evaluate we were down a rook and that the knight was hanging, at least.