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I finally have something in common with Stockfish. Now.. I’m not saying I’m stockfish, but no one has ever seen me and stockfish in the same room

I always find these puzzles so satisfying, knowing that even the strongest chess engine stockfish cant solve it at first glance. But what would happen if you would run stockfish natively on this puzzle

As a 700-800 rated player, I tend to get some moves on these puzzles correct without knowing why they're correct

The reason Stockfish only sees the mate for white after black plays bf6 (7:37) is that stockfish think that this "main line" is a less resilient defense for black than sac'ing the bishop on g3 (still losing, but not as fast). (It sees the mate in 15 for bf6).

After the first two moves are given, Stockfish 15.1 with Syzygy gets it almost instantly. For some reason though, Stockfish can’t see it before this.

This is like the reverse of some of the puzzles, in which stockfish shows a drawn position as an advantage for one player.

Genrikh Kasparyan was a genius.

This took me about a half hour to solve, but I'm proud to have solved it! The first move is Bc6. This blocks the pawn on c7 and threatens Bd7#. The only way to prevent the mate is moving the room to either a8 or b7. If the rook moves to a8, then play Na5. This threatens Bd7+, and Nc6#. And it's mate no matter what black does. If the rook instead takes the knight on b7, then play Bd7+, and after Kb8, play Na6+ and after Ka8, play Bc6. This completely locks black position, only being able to move their Bishop and h-pawn. Then the white king comes over. Note that the h-pawn can't go to h3 without being inevitably captured by the King, so it remains stuck on h4, until the white king moves to the 5th rank. But before that happens, we need to make sure that black's bishop is not guarding b8. If Black tries to defend b8 from the b8-h2 diagonal. So that the bishop is on g3 and the pawn is on h4. Then go Kg4. I'm pretty sure black doesn't have enough time to set up the Bishop g3 and Pawn h4 position without white's king being on h3. And whatever move black makes either loses the h-pawn or makes the black bishop not guard b8. I should note that if black loses his h-pawn, then white can simply move his king to c8 and proceed to play Bxb7#, and the dark squared Bishop is completely useless. Now if the King starts going to the 5th rank, then the h-pawn starts moving forward. By the time the pawn reaches promotion, the white king will be on d7. Capture the promoted piece with the bishop. And black plays c6+ discovered check (c5+ leads to the same line) then play Kc8. If black does not give a check, then Bxc6 would threaten an unstoppable mate. If Black plays Rc7+, take the rook with the knight, and if Black is somehow guarding c7 with the Bishop, then King takes Bishop is mate. If black instead plays Rb8+, then again take the rook with the knight. And black must move the a-pawn to avoid Bxc6#. There's also the idea of Nxc6, imprisoning the king, and moving the Bishop over to b7 in 4 moves. Black will have enough time to make a queen, but not enough time to guard b7 and stop the mating idea. That's all the cases. This was an insane puzzle, and I took about half and hour typing this comment, because I realized there were a few cases I missed, and I had to think a bit more.

Really fascinating puzzle, thank you for showcasing it! I was really doubtful that Stockfish actually can't solve it because I expected it to be able to calculate far enough to see the ideas. I'm using SF 15 and at first it seemed like it couldn't figure it out, but on my hardware (which isn't anything crazy fast) it needed 6 minutes and 36 seconds at depth 48 to realize that Bc6 is actually winning (+4.91). So Stockfish can solve it, but it needs relatively long.

I really enjoy the puzzle videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

Stockfish is just able to calculate billion times faster than humans, but it doesn't understand the game.

Wow thanks for Hercules Chess very helpful!

At 5:33 if you press the blue and black cross next to CLOUD on Lichess analysis and wait a few minutes, around depth 45-46 Stockfish starts to recognize the position as a win for white.

When the game review tells you you had a missed win. The missed win:

I'm so proud that I've solved this. These types of puzzles show how endgames can be complex and I could miss some cool positional ideas even I'm analyzing with engines. Of course you can get a solution if you run it long enough but you can't spend much time on every position. Btw whoever composed this study is freaking genius

That's so cool. I checked out Hercules chess a while ago and it was pretty fun so its cool that they are adding more stuff

Wow another great one, thank you!

Given the importance you placed on the bishop staying in contact with c7, I think you also need to show the line where black chooses a set-up based on Bg3 and h4. It may only be a side-line in the computer analysis but it seems to me to be relevant to a position given as a chess problem.

I tried using Stockfish with as the highest settings possible, and it gives the starting point an evaluation of +27 (it suggests sacrificing the bishop to prolong the game)

If you press the plus button stockfish will analyse to a deeper level. I ran it for over an hour, to a depth of 69, and it gave the position a +53.5 point advantage for white, meaning: there must be a mate somewhere

Amazing, thanks so much

Managed to get it right until the moment where the king starts to move, then got completely lost. Still proud for having figured out some of it.

so mainline (12:56) forces black bishop into a bad move, but what is stopping them from taking the move right back the next turn (or at any point after the fact, since the king moves slowly)? Back into the defensive position, black pawn can now push at will and the knight is no longer safe to check the king. Once the push has started, the king cant just turn around and stop the promotion, though c6 still guards it. Or is there some sort of ruling i dont know?

That was fascinating

Even after explanation, I find it difficult as I have questions about why it can't move. Most complex one I have ever seen so far.

I find these puzzles absolutely amazing at first glance it’s easily a draw but the way you mate with white is beautiful

Great video

This is probably something like mate in 40 with perfect play

Brilliant Puzzle!

Stockfish is bad now

Nice!!

Nah bro asking me to solve a puzzle that a computer cannot solve 💀 💀

I’ve been subbed since before 10k I think and it’s mad to see your channel grow

12:19 king takes pawn rook b6 check king d7 rook b7 check and defends king king c8 and its still checkmate after bishop takes rook

At 6:00, after Bd6 and Kg2, what is stopping black to play h4 then on the next move play Bg3? The pawn and bishop is protecting each other and the white king cannot take anything

6:16 bishop to E7 and pawn to H4. Bishop protect pawn and its a draw.

It would've been cool if there was a segment at the end where you beat stockfish in this position

Super sharpie !.

there are so many wonderful checkmate parterns in this puzzle

Wow that's a mind blowing study packed full of so many ideas.

I like your recent chess puzzles. Where have you taken all of these? A particular website?

11:53 a brilliant move

Honestly, Hercules Chess is dope.

This piece of Genrich Kasparjan is very nice. I tried Stockfish 15 here to crunch the numbers down to depth 52, the machine was not able to find it and always shows -0.16. At depth 51 it even goes to -0.18 The main theme is that the w♚ has to cross the 7th rank somehow, so it's quite obvious that White has to block the a/c-pawns. And there is this nice dance of the w♚ with the b♝! The winning king move is quite hard to find...I cannot believe that this puzzle only got a 4th Honorable Mention!

Stockfish no longer uses pruned trees, the AI recognizes lines

7:17 Can’t black draw this, because of the pawns which are not immediately able to be captured? Seems even more difficult for white to win than with just a knight and a bishop.

Great way to wake up to find out I’m just as good as Stockfish.... that is, until Stockfish gets his coffee and get that W!

The thumbnail is what I say when stock fish calls my brilliant sac a blunder

I would like to see the same puzzle with stockfish on aswell

what if black simply doesnt push the pawn and re position the bishop to protect?

If black is playing h4 before the white king (min.4.53) - I think is draw !...check..black has enough time to make the queen before the king is reaching line 7. min.4:53 ...h4 Kf3 , Be7 Ke4 , h3 if Ke5 , h2 and is a draw if Kf3 , still h2 can be moved and after Kg2 black can play Bd6...

great!!!

Cool stuff, Nelson! Awesome to have your own bot, man.

I was thinking of moving the Knight on b7 to d6 and then that would be check mate

9:47 the easier way to win is to go knight to a5

from the position at 12:44, after the black bishop moves out of the way, why doesn't black interrupt its pawn march for a move to play Bd8?

It is a draw because at 6:24 black will push a pawn then anywhere the king moves bishop will come to g3

Quite a remarkable puzzle, wow.

I dont understand, when I try to sign up for hercules chess it says invalid email

Move 1: bishop to h5 2: if they don’t move the king or rook bishop to g4 CHECKMATE

Moral: knight is better than a queen 😂

Your first chess bot!?! That’s awesome, congrats!!

Can't wait for 9-men tablebases to see the perfect play for this position.

After kg2, h4 allows other lines of defense for black, including the sacrifices that lead to stale mate. But it doesn't free the king because the pan is closer to promotion.

12:19 another thing i don’t understand is why not taking even the pawn with the king ? cuz i mean bro if u take even if he tries to check u with his rook … it’s checkmate cuz u have to move ur king and then discover check with bishop and even if he defends with rook it checkmate that would be amazing checkmate but also yea keep playing like u want guys

6:17 black should push pawn and play bishop g3…

Takes a while but Stockfish can solve it. It sees a mate in 47 with the bishop + knight endgame as the best resistance for black. Might be a slightly quicker mate than 47 if I let SF think a bit more.

9:51 "We literally don't even care" + that smirk hints that this is an obvious Hikaru reference

When I first saw the puzzle board I saw that you could move Bishop G4 checkmate.

6:09 what if black plays Ph4? and if Kh3 black can Bg3 and keep the bishop on the e diagonale? Would that help to keep the game a draw?

I think, Stockfish is actually right You just have to h4 earlier than you did at 6:11 and defend with bishop on g3 if necessary instead of trying to cut of the king. This means black can queen on h1 before white king get to c8 and gets the draw.

Wow that last one !

13:13 What if the black doesn't play rook and play knight on d6. That is better move then playing rook on b6.(correct me if I am wrong)

this puzzle only reminds me of hikaru "pick up the dept?" for the engine saying it was a draw position, and after a brilliant move he was suddently +7 up

Truly magical

It was weird as stockfish gives -0.2 and suddently sees the mate in 9 for white

One thing... black didnt have to promote and if they moved the bishop to prevent the checkmate, its a draw so stockfish is actualy right!!!

Hi, I appriciate the puzzle, but I have a question. Does not King to G8 make checkmate on 9:55 ? Thank you for the answers :)

At 3:52 please someone explain why taking the rook with the knight doesn’t work? He didn’t give it as a possible move in the video, but it looks like the best move for white at this moment

I like so much this kind of puzzles, and I appeciatte the way you explain the hiddden ideas. But I think is is also a good idea to name the authors of this artistics compositions, just as a sign of respect.

Great puzzle

Mind blown. If the strongest bot can’t see it, how are humans coming up with these puzzles. Unreal

personally i prefer seeing the mouse, hard to explain why

8:03 I think the only useful move for black here is putting the bishop on f4 and leave it there if the king isnt going to take it.

At 2:40 what about the move knight to c7?

But at 6:06, couldnt black just push the pawn 1 square so its defended by the bishop, and at that pointit would be impossible for white to make any progress

Challenge: play stockfish in this position

Can’t they just perpetually move the bishop so it protects the pawn by moving the pawn up one? So if the king moves then black just gets a queen if the king goes too far away

damn its crazy i still can't fanthom how it happened and how stockfish didnt see it

if you ever feel useless, remember the dark squared bishop in this game.

I wonder if black can force a draw by repetition. Need to look at this more. Might be why stockfish doesn't see the stated win.

That does surprise me at 5:39 stockfish still thinking it’s a draw. And mate love you showing that.

I'm all about smartypants Stockfish getting owned. Nevermind that I had no idea what to do, either. :/

6:17 why did you play be5 instead of just pushing the pawn?

Technology changes are very fast and now Leela + BT4 find it immediately with RTX 2060 or better and SF 17 dev 4 threads and 8GB hash find the solution in a few minutes. When I say find the solution I mean give the right move with > 2.5 eval. The right first move is found instantly with a bad eval first but it remains always in the main line for both engines.

Why black does not move pawn at H5 at 6:16 instead and than bishop to E7? In my eyes that creates a draw. We cannot proceed with king to check mate because we let black's pawn to go for a queen. We cannot take the pawn because it is guarded by bishop and only thing black has to do is to move bishop back and forth between E7 and F6. We cannot move anything else because we unstuck other black pawns and king. So isn't that a draw? What am I missing?

Latest stockfish can solve this. It took 11 mins on my server and result is +M53.

There are some people on here that say local Stockfish (meaning Stockfish installed on your computer and not the internet version) solves this, but local Stockfish does NOT solve it on my computer using 20 cores even after more than 8 hours with a depth of 104 and over a trillion positions searched: Stockfish_22121919_x64_bmi2: NNUE evaluation using nn-ad9b42354671.nnue enabled 104/82 8:17:49 1,314,424,433k 44,006k 0.00 1.Bf3xh5 c7-c6 2.Nb7-d6+ Kc8-c7 3.Nd6-e8+ Kc7-b6 4.Nc5-d7+ Kb6-b7 5.Nd7xb8 Kb7xb8 6.Bh5-f3 Bd8-g5 7.Bf3-g4 a7-a5 8.Ne8-d6 a5-a4 9.Nd6-c4 c6-c5 10.Ke2-d3 a4-a3 11.Nc4xa3 Kb8-c7 12.Bg4-f3 Bg5-e7 13.Na3-c4 Kc7-d8 14.Bf3-d1 Be7-h4 15.Kd3-e4 Bh4-e1 16.Ke4-d5 Kd8-c7 17.Bd1-e2 Be1-f2 18.Be2-d3 Kc7-b7 19.Kd5-e4 Kb7-c6 20.Bd3-e2 Bf2-h4 21.Be2-h5 Kc6-c7 22.Bh5-g4 Bh4-d8 23.Bg4-d1 Kc7-b8 24.Ke4-d5 Kb8-c8 25.Bd1-g4+ Kc8-c7 26.Bg4-h5 Bd8-h4 27.Kd5-e5 it is still stuck on 1.Bxh5

6:14 Why not play pawn h4 for later playing bishop g3 and blocking you from threatening the pawn.. that way the pawn would be one square further down the line.