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.

Position #2...love that multi-faceted case where an underpromotion was the way to seal a win while queening likely blows it. 😁👍🏾

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!

6:53 if we move the right side pawn to h6, and the king takes the h6 pawn, it seems to also create a winning move

I feel like theres a whole genre of chess puzzles that require underpromotion to prevent these weird stalemate traps, but Position #2 is maybe the coolest one of those I've seen

I actually was able to solve position 1:D finally some progress!

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.

18:09 if anyone was wondering about the Qxf6 sub-line there it is: 2. ... Qxf6 3. exf6 Ke5 4. fxg7 ... 5. g8=Q 3. ... gxf6 4. f4 ... 5. c3# Edit: corrected the typo.

Third puzzle was the toughest. I got the first move on three of them. Feel good about that.

25:24 Thank you , your video really motivated me to think with you, try out the positions myself and have fun with chess and play it even though I'm not a good player at all. Great channel.

At 15:54 surely pawn to C3 is an immediate check mate.

You might wonder about the Knight in A8 in the third position, but that’s to prevent 6.Ke6 threatening 7.Nc3# mate with 6. … Nc6+

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...

6:56 The first time ive ever seen a good reason to pick a bishop over a queen.

Your channel is unique while comparing to other's. Keep up the good work. Hope I can improve the rating because of u.

The amazing position 5 when the rook moves to get ready to capture the pawn, can’t the rook move to B8 and check the king, then the pawn can promote

Position 4 gets really interesting if you decide to sac the queen for the knight. Getting the win for white gets tricky. as black has a lot of ways to spoil it. I originally analysed it missing a critical white pawn and was wondering if the study was flawed. Nope, just my eyesight :)

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.

i love it man u got that pedagogy that i can see trough the moove b4 you explain them like i dont know if im genius or your just a good profesor, plus 1 sub !

I have a question why in position 4 can't the queen capture the knight on f6?!?! D3 does not offer checkmate because the E5 pawn is not defended. If white plays f4 the Queen is free to capture f4?!? Please help what am I missing?! Figured it out exg6 if fxg6 F4 mate on D3 is unavoidable Forcing K e5 fxg7 and queens

Position 2. Why can't we move the rook to g1? Then, in any scenario, we checkmate in 1-2 moves.

Hello, please make video about my composition. Here is the starting position: White: Kh3, Ne5, b5, d4, e6, c7, a7 Black: Kh8, Ne7, Bh1, Rc1. White to play and win

13:00 And the knight draws the outline of a king around the enemy king! Talk about humiliation!

The knight one reminds me of the coolest thing I ever did in chess. I was playing against my computer and there was a big pawn structure from both sides. I managed to maneuver my knight and fork most of the computer’s pieces (by checking with my knight) before finally delivering checkmate. Every move I made was check

Fing crazy Teacher Nelson awesome stuff...I Love it!👍🤯

one of the best positions and chess video i ever saw

Great job explaining the positions

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.

Stuff like this is why I love chess. Such a strategic and in depth game.

on problem #4 you coulda just moved the pawn up and won when the knight was beside the king instead of making a queen at 16:50

I love this video so much I can’t stop watching it 😊😊😊😊😊

Great video! Great puzzles! Thank you for posting this.

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

I’ve legitimately been mind blown just in the morning and I feel really fresh now! Tysm

For position two, I jokingly said exf8=B because it would be funny to promote to bishop. I didn't think that would be the actual solution!

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).

Exciting to see someone get excited about these cool plays

As a beginner, so glad I found this channel. Explanations so clear.

Thank you. This is fantastic. After Nr 2 its enough for today, I have to continue tommorrow with the rest 👍🏻😀

Position 2 is genuinely amazing. Love it.

#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

21:25 - It’s a double check - Nf5 and Rh8 are both checks.

Great vids, as my end game play is still terrible and I never see these subtle plays.

I've never really seen situations where the promotion wasn't a queen or knight and started from the same position.

17:49 The Black may take the Knight by the Queen, the pawn takes the Queen, the Black pawn takes the white pawn, and this position is WONE for Black!

(@20:33) - After 1 … Ra3, 2 Rb8+! K-moves, 3 a8=Q and black has to sack the rook for the newly promoted queen, or try to dance around with white’s king by giving check, while not getting captured by white’s rook or queen, which won’t work as the new queen guards the a-file, and the only other checking move with the rook is 3 … Rh3+??, 4 Kxh3. Black could try 3 … Nf5+, 4 Kg4 Nh6+, 5 Kf4 and - again - black has no useful checks here. (Or 3 … Nf5+, 4 Kg4 Ne3+, 5 Kh5! And black sucks on a dry well, as the knight now blocks the 3rd rank, and has no useful checks!)

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.

Position 4: c3+ force moves Kxe5, then Nd7+ gives 4 options for the king, all of which are in check once f8 promotes

King and Rook v King and Knight can be, according to Howard Staunton, a win for the King and Rook. Mind you,, it is a difficult checkmate.

Rg1+ is also a win for position 2 and yes then you can make a queen

Position 2 is one mindblowing stalemate problem

For position 3, can’t you do knight on d6 to b5? Then you can move bishop or the knight depending on the square black king moves on?

At 7:20 after sacrificing the bishop you can iive a check with the queen, you can sacrifice her and then get the queen.

4 : 13 Rg1 check and kh8 , ef8 mate

In puzzle2, instead of underpromo to bishop, playing pawn to h6 check forces the capture of either the pawn or bishop on h6 or h7

Thanks they were amazing. In Position #4 time 17:17 when Knight blocked the queen the queen can capture the knight and f4 can not be played because queen can capture it and give check. The other pawn also can not give check because king can capture the pawn d5.

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

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?

In position 2 when king moves to g7, push pawn to h6, if the king captures the pawn , u can promote to a queen and win

18:38 the answer to puzzle number 4 is actually the beginning of a new Chess puzzle. White to play and win. Here the knight looks trapped, and black has more pawns on the Kingside. But the answer to this puzzle will blow your mind.

Amazing second puzzle, but could you make a video about R+N vs R/N/B

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?

#3,#4,and #5 were mindblowing.

6:28 Your promotion to the bishop is much more elegant, of course, but in this position, white could check with Qg7. Black is forced to KxQ, then RxQ, pinning the bishop, forcing black to either a space where he allows the bishop capture, or, if he moves Kg8, , the pawn can move to a black space which might be winning for white. What do you think?

At 18:55 (the end of position 4) worth mentioning is: Black had Qh8 so white had to find the move Ng4 to protect h6 and e5

amazing puzzles as always👍👌

Thank you very much for this tutorial, im new to chess so, for me, this is mindblowing

Literally subbed on promotion to Knight on problem #2. You're amazing.

Position #2. Rg1, forcing the black king to go corner then, promote a queen and mate.

At 6:30 ... After Queening throw in Qg7 forcing KxQ, then RxQ

Unmentioned trick in position number two 6:05 : u can move ur pawn to h6 and no matter what king does u promote queen or night on the next move

in position 4 there is mate in one if you move to c3

[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.

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 4 it doesn't seem like you need to block the queen off just go for c3 check right away. These are the best positions ever

Awesome video dude! Those were crazy.

Question at 08:36 -- Is anything wrong with the following: Bh7+ Kg7 h6+ and if Kxh7 => Pxf8 promoting to a knight, else: Kx6 Pxf8 promoting to a queen and after the king moves out of the way / takes the bishop Rxd7

Puzzle 2 is fabulous

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.

4th puzzle is wrong after Nf6, Qh8 and you cant stop the queen from giving a check the next move and winning the pawn with a fork

#3 with the knights - amazing

Opening position #4 on May 28th 2022 position was winnable from the first move as the Black King had no place to go at the beginning.

Position 2 is one of the best puzzles I've ever seen

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.

I'm so proud that when I paused on 2 I found the bishop underpromotion

On position 4 we could en passant c7 to b8 capturing b7

17:17 position #4, after Nf6 simply QxNf6 and black is winning.

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

Always give the composers. Simple respect.

what if in position #2, after the white pawn promotes to rook, what about moving the king from H8 to G7, there is nothing guarding that position, so moving there could still make for a game that black could win or at least draw, but i guess this was more to show that it isnt always necessary to promote to a queen

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

Position#2... That's a thunder promotion🤯🤯

In position 2 you can just mate in 2 with White .. Rook G1 , King H8 , pawn captures rook = Queen # checkmate (black queen and bishop can block on the G file to delay but its useless)

For position #3, what's the role of the black Knight on a8? The way white win doesn't change with the presence or absence of this piece, does it? Or is there a variation where the Knight matters?

i'm not that great at chess , but on #5 i would trade rooks and work my king over to the pawn . i think you could force the knight to leave or you should be able to take it

Absolutely mind blowing 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

I thought I saw an opportunity for an alternate play for position #2 before realizing there was an easy escape from it. I had thought that you could simply move the rook to g1, forcing the king into check. This leaves only three possible plays: blocking with the queen, blocking with the bishop, or fleeing to h8. Unfortunately if they blocked with the bishop, this leaves nothing the rook can do to force the king into checkmate because if you took the bishop, the only viable option to pressure the opponent and prevent them from setting up moves on you, the king could simply move to f7 and escape your grasp, ruining any chance for victory you may have had.

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 😞

position #1... never seen a crazy position like that, ever. I see the point behind Bh1 and Qh1. since the black king is on the a-file, the black rook can't stop the a-pawn from queening.

In position #4, if you do pawn to c3 it’s checkmate immediately