Me: *Absolutely stunned by 1st position and thought it's the greatest study of all time* Nelson: "Hope you guys enjoyed that little warm-up puzzle..."

The first puzzle really sheds light on how powerful bishops can be against rooks. Two bishops and a king forcing a rook into only two possible spots on an empty board really shows the potential of bishops in the end game. Really clever.

I would in a million years never think about trapping that Rook

I think I've said this before, but I really appreciate how you show, in full, lines and moves and ideas that are likely evident or clear to higher level players. Like, basically, I appreciate that you don't forget about your sub 1k rating audience. I'm not much above 1k but I remember being around 700 and getting really frustrated with some chess UKpostsrs when they would mention some idea or line off the cuff that I just couldn't see. You never do that. Cheers and thanks Nelson.

Last puzzle, endgame 10:03 : what stops black from causing a stalemate by pushing the pawn on a3 - Ka1, Knc5, a2?, Knd3 but then it's a stalemate.

Thank you for that Timman problem. I've seen that mating-net before, but it's stunning how White is forced to sacrifice both rooks, both bishops and 3 pawns, and promote to a knight.

"You only have a knight! You couldn't possibly checkmate me!" "You have a pawn." "But I can still draw!" "You misunderstand me. You have a pawn, therefore I can checkmate you."

that second puzzle took me longer than the usual 4 days to figure out.

a week without chess puzzle from Nelson is a bad week

importantly at 2:52 after Kb2 Kd2 Kb1 white must play Kxc3 since Bxc3 is once again stalemate

These puzzles are great but there is something most of them have in common: We do not get a queen, we get a knight.

The second puzzle's smothered mate actually has a name. It is called "Stamma's Mate", named after a French chess player Philipp Stamma.

Plugged this into Lichess as a study with the thought of : What if the black king doesn't walk into the smothered mate? Whelp, black still loses: mate in 27 once white takes the queen with a knight. Great puzzle.

That second puzzle was amazing, with all the variations, especially that last one.

really love these puzzle videos. keep it up!

How nice to see an old Jan Timman study. When I was young he was my chess hero.

I love how your videos are never clickbait

You missed an important part of the last puzzle where if black tries to go for a stalemate

Great chess explained in a very sympathic and professional way!! Thanks so much!!!

Love your videos! Never stop making content!

What a puzzle. Like, I thought in the second one this will be a draw since king can capture the pawns. And of course I am wrong because smothered mate comes to the rescue. Such a amazing video as always.

I really appreciate the simplicity yet brilliancy of the first puzzle, although the second one is obviously also great.

Another excellent video, Nelson! My brain is now warmed up and limber for the day ahead.

9:40 Once you play Kc1, can't Black play Ka1, then pawn to a2, forcing you to move your K to avoid stalemate, allowing Black to promote his pawn? *_EDIT:_* Never mind, Knight checkmates on b3.

Couldnt the pawn move forward at the end there and force stalemate? There must be a quicker way to get the knight there (Edit) Never mind it just would have forced the smothered mate 2 moves sooner

"and ultimately we're going to be able to checkmate with the two bishops..." Speak for yourself Nelson 🤣

wow i love the single knight mates but you always gotta have a good tempo because you cant lose tempo with a knight

At the end of the second puzzle, why doesn't black push the pawn immediately to provoc the stalemate instead of going back and forth ?

2:49 nice trick by black, king moves to b1 and if white immediately takes the rook it's stalemate.

I thought the first puzzle was harder... because I didn't get it right. I just didn't see the winning idea at all. I thought defending the pawn with the bishop was the correct start. The second puzzle is much more complicated but the winning lines are obvious and natural moves without having evaluated the whole decision tree. In truth, I didn't see the "repositioning rook" line but made those same moves anyway because they obviously improved the position. The b7 move was pretty self-evident because the knight fork under-promotion was self-evident but I didn't chase it all the way down to the smothered mate... the position was just "better". The second puzzle was a good puzzle and one I can't claim I solved but one I would have pretty much made the correct moves OTB on (and gotten lucky, I guess). But the first one, I would have drawn, apparently, and then obsessed over why it wasn't a win until I ran analysis. I don't think I would have ever made the correct move(s) OTB.

At 8:39 What if black blocks with queen. So 1.... Qd5+ 2 Qxd5 Kxd5 and then black's king is closer to the pawn on c3 so it shouldn't be a problem to capture it and then move to the a2 pawn. Isn't this line win for black? Edit: OK, on second thought I just realized white doesn't have to capture with the queen and can instead just move his king to f4, and since black's queen is basically pinned he has to trade the queens which allows white to protect his pawn and get to a king and pawn vs king endgame (considering the edge pawns are blocking each other).

1st puzzle absolutely stumped me but the second one...every single move up until after forking the king and queen was my first thought (and subsequently threw it out bc "it looks dumb")

🎵 Trapped between two bishops feeling like a fool I thought I would escape checkmate Only to get schooled

Fascinating. Thank you

Thanks a lot for this presentation. Nice how all pieces will be reduced to just one knight! 07:54 By the way, Qd4+ (instead of Qh8+) is possible at once as Pc3 will cover.

Amazing.. Thank you so much for sharing

In the second one I actually guessed two of the moves. I didn't see the continuations, but I figured they probably made sense. 😀

I didn't figure out either puzzle until the last "if you would like to pause" on each. I did see the rook trap but only after the bishops were both in the center. Trapping a rook on an open board was not what I was looking for until it was imminent.

the second one is just insane, a double bishop sacrifice followed by a double rook sacrifice is killer vs a queen + bishop

In the second puzzle, I wondered for a while why Ra8 wasn't a winning first move for white. Sacrifice the rook, promote the c pawn that is still protected... Took me a while to realize that ..Qg4 is a purely devastating move and as far as I can see mate in 2. In case anyone else wonders.

The smug smile drawn on my face when i realized what the mate was

Also, it should have been mentioned that on 1.Bd5 (it looks as a logical move as defends pawn on f3) then black has 1..Rc7 + and on 2.Kd~ 2..Rd7! and draw! Also 1.Bc4 1..Rb3 with 2..Rc3+ and draw again!

Puzzle 2: Remember, when you calculate this, you had to take into consideration that this only works if the king is on a dark square when your pony is a a light square and it is your turn to move. There is no way to lose a tempo without freeing the black king, once it is trapped, and no way to lose it before without letting the pawn promote. And as we know, the knight cannot lose an odd number of tempi. Imagine you calculate something like this, and realize that your knight is out of sync with the opponent's king.

I like your chess puzzles and videos . Big fan of you ❤️.

that end puzzle was great!

Mind boggling

7:12 when I saw that sequence with the double Rook sac and the pawn sac, followed by underpromotion to a Knight, I was positively disgusted. Devious af!

On the last puzzle, couldn't black have forced stalemate by pushing the pawn earlier?

Why doesn't d5 work for the white bishop? In the second puzzle at the end (around 10 min) can't black go king a1 and then pawn a2 and stalemate themselves before the knight gets into position to checkmate?

The second puzzle was really good. I predicted 3 moves.

10:12 wouldn't a2 be stalemate next move?

curious - n the second puzzle what if you do not move the king back but rather move the pawn to A2 forcing the white king away or end up in a stalemate. After black king moves to B2 the queen is coming and the white knight will be grabbed up also leading to a stale mate. Am I missing something (I am not very good but I love your puzzles).

So what this the exception to the “you need at least 3 knights by themselves to checkmate”

Wait a second... but cant black just do a stalemate by just moving the king then the pawn and not doing circles?

Tags to first puzzle: bishop pair, skewer. Tag to second puzzle: Mate in 15+ moves.

That was incredible.

Second puzzle, couldnt the pawn push after king was on A1 to force a stalemate before the horse got to C1?

Bold of you to assume that i can mate with 2 bishops

Very nice puzzles!

in the 2nd puzzle what happens if he brings the pawn down after the king move? the knight is too slow?

Imagine winning an end game with a few pawns beating a queen

The first one is cool, but the second one is amazing! Imagine sacrificing 2 rooks, 2 bishops and 3 pawns, and then checkmate with a knight

Isn't there a stalemate threat if Black moves the pawn to a7 early in the 2nd puzzle?

I saw E7 at the start of the video but didn't see the phenomenal set-up required to make it work. Hmm... I think that about sums up my strategic weakness as a chess player.

Got my Brain going this morning.

There are so many things to learn in chess. For a newb like me it's like light years away.

That 2nd puzzle was nice.

question:in the second puzzle couldn't black just push the pawn and its a stalemate?

black could have survived for longer by not taking the pawn, but ultimately loses to the white pawn getting through

In the second puzzle, at the end, could black push its pawn early to get a draw (mate)

You got any tips on how to create chess puzzles?

After Knight->C5 I was wondering why not move the pawn for a stalemate, but at that point the knight could have moved in to B3 for the smothered mate right away. And since the king can only move up and back it gives 2 more moves for the night to get into position. Nice.

5:43 I'm obviously missing something, but why does black capture with the king and not the queen? The queen is still attacking c8 (so white can't just promote that pawn), add when white advances the other pawn to b7, black moves the bishop to e5 for a discovered check and attack on the pawn

First puzzle. Why Bd5 (defending f3) will not resolve the problem?

On the last few moves the black can voluntarily move the pawn and entrap its own king, forcing a draw. All he does is wait for the knight instead.

The first puzzle is so beautiful and elegant

that 2nd game reminded me of being in a cult where ppl r just being sacrificed left and right.

Black could force a stalemate by moving the pawn while the knight approaches in the last game

on the second position i think black should have pushed the pawn sooner cuz then its a draw and black cant get matted EDIT : the knight can check on b3

6:54 if you wanna be really mean you could under promote to a knight in that position XD

On the 2nd puzzle, at 10:10, Black should push the pawn up behind the king, so the white king has to move to prevent a stalemate, which gives Black the opportunity to promote the pawn

Black could force a draw at the end. By doing pawn to A7

Incredible puzzle!

in the second puzle , at the endof the mach, why woldnt black just push the pawn and get a stalemate or a knight and king endgame?

In the first puzzle if the rook is pinned and the black king goes to B1, white has to take with the king instead of the bishop, to avoid stalemate.

hello the 2nd game black could get a draw with moving the pawn up earlier so it has no where to move. They don't have to move the king back and forth so you cannot win with the knight.

I dont understand why the black in second puzzle waits for smothered mate instead of pushing pawn right away and either having a stalemate or white moving the king away

The first puzzle isn't quite over at 2:47. Black has Kb1 and you can't take the took because of stalemate! But you can just throw in Bf5+ first and then everything works out.

What if at the endgame of the last puzzle, black dont capture and go to a1?

Can black force a draw with pon to a2 slightly before the end in the second match?

I somehow guess all of the moves without knowing why they work.

For the second puzzle why BF7 and rush pawns to queen dont work?

10:11 black could get stalemated moving a2

About the first problem. To get the nice domination of Black's rook, this relies on Black playing 1 ... Rb3, which is less than best. Stockfish much prefers 1 ... Rb6 2 Bd5 Rb5 3 Be4/Be6 and play is not so interesting.

10:12 Should be noted that if black try a2, they get checkmated automatically. However if a2 follow by Nd3, it was a STALEMATE!

Wow, first puzzle from "Italia Scacchistica"❤

for the second puzzle, what's stopping black from just pushing the pawn early and stalemating themselves?

in last with knight what if he didnt move with king but with his pon to no move

Hi the main line is wrong in the second puzzle... the bishop and queen is hanging right ? How about black played Qa5???

what a great puzzles you always post... my question is... do you think chess pro's could solve it fast? thanks