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♛ Find this chess puzzle from this blog-post –
In this video lesson, GM Igor Smirnov challenges you with a really interesting chess puzzle that will determine your chess rating level.
Feel free to pause the video, take enough time to calculate the variations, and try to solve this puzzle. After that, you can find out your chess rating level. Also, please let us know the variation(s) you calculated and your chess rating level.
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► 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?
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Interesting puzzle! But I don't think seeing the whole variation up to the end with Qxh4 aswell gives you a tactical rating of 2700, simply because I have solved it to the end in under 2 minutes, but I m just 2200.
Great content anyways! Post more of these!
The second commentary, this time with some value for other commentators and maybe for you, Mr GM Smirnov. Maybe I am blind: 1. …Bxf3, 2. Qxb4 Rg8, 3. Qf4 and after 3…Rg4 4. Qh2 and it will be only the change of the white queen for the black bishop and rook in every possible combination and the lost of one white pawn, so materially even after gaining of the white pawn on h4 not quite sa disastrous situation for further playing – white has two rooks, black only one queen.
I suppose that nobody will analyse my proposal of the defence of the white. And further remark: white will also gain the pawn e5, but is not check-mated. Further remark: I hope that most of the commentators see that after 3. Qf4 the movement of the black 3…Rxg2+, 4. Kh1 Rg4 goes to 5. Qxf3 and further to Qxh4+ which is the last move before checkmate.
Sorry for all this writing. I have not seen this before. This last movement of the black queen I have seen only now.
But Mr. GM Smirnov – this possibility was not commentated.
As a 600 rated, thank you for calling me a 2300
For the first one, I saw the queen attacking rook but, I said Bishop takes knight because after queen takes rook, you play the move Rg8 which unleashed an attack on the king, and soon after, you will bring your queen to help attack the king.
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.
Why is it that I could see the Queen 2700 move but I’m still only 800?
Bro I solved in in 2 mins 2700 😮
I found the 1600 but either because I didn't have time to notice or just didn't notice the queen takes rook. So I'm 1600 and 800 at the same time. Yay.
im 800 but also 1600 according to this 🤣
I am 1000 Elo because I defended my rook by playing pawn to a5
I calculated and found the 2700 variation. My otb USCF rating is 1293… Probably not an accurate appraisal, but a fun exercise nonetheless.
so i am 2700 rating????
Super cool Video, please more of those kind !!
I was thinking the heck with the rook, I'm taking the knight with the bishop, thinking the pawn would take back and open up the king, and then take the pawn with either the queen or (rook if the opponent didn't take the rook with the queen) and hopfully find a checkmate somewhere after that. I'm roughly 600 in rapid.. 😢
I’m somewhat of a super GM myself
Nice. My move was the 1600 move, but I completely overlooked that the rook was hanging 😂
That always happens to me. I see good moves, but blunder way too often.
I got 2700 but I'm 1200, I don't think this test is accurate
Me: 600 ELO
Also me: finding and planning to use the 2300 ELO checkmate method
Lol I'm 800 elo player and still found all the variations of 2700 elo…😂
WOW!! noteworthy chess video!❤ deserves millions of likes👍👍👍☺️
At 2600 rating, you forgot that white could sacrifice queen by taking black's rook on g4. White will be down materials but is now able to avoid imminent checkmate.
Damn. Got to the ~1600, 1800 LVL, but totally missed that killer Rg4 idea!
I knew how to do it so I win this position but Im still 500 on blitz
i got 1600 in like 3 seconds when i saw that puzzle (im 800 rating💀💀)
I'm 2100 FIDE and this whole variation took me ~30 seconds to find even with Qxh4. I don't wanna brag or something it just shows that those puzzles aren't even slightly close to the real rating. Any GM or even higher rated IM would smack me in probably any given position.
excellent!
me who found the 2700 line and has been stuck at 900 for a month:
Finally hard made me 1600+❤️but ya it's just starting
I saw rook to g8 first but didn't see the blunder of my other rook so not sure what this means
6:28 well actaully they cant take ur rook because if they do so Qg8 check Kh2 Qg2 checkmate
I knew i was like the entire time like taking with quenn was better
I solved perfectly, but OTB I am just 1900. I don't believe this works.
bruh I thought about Queen b8, is this then a 1000 rating cause Im defending the rook?
I got the 1600 option, BUT I didn't see the options lower than that. I didn't discount them; I just didn't see them. I was after moving that pawn, so I went for the Bishop sac so I could attack with the Queen. I also hadn't taken into account the rook that I could bring into the attack as well.
1600 was when I stopped calculating, could have been higher if I went further lol
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
Wow, I've overlooked the threat to my rook, but wanted to go Bxf3, because is mate in 2 if you capture the bishop and if you don't, Rg8… Am I a 1200?
Im 1600
My first idea was to trade the bishop. But i also totally missed the hanging rook. So i am both 800 and 1600?
i got the 1600 but I cant even defeat 600 people cause my brain always shuts off
Um
Yeah, this kinda tells me what I already knew, but that doesn't make it less weird.
I tend to sometimes see better moves – like the 1600 move of the bishop here, but for a completely different reason, which probably makes it a worse move in the end.
Because White's knight has a possibility for a fork in two moves between Black's queen and rook, so I wanted to avoid that preemptively, while I realised just afterwards that that'd still leave the rook undefended – which was the point in time where I'd already have made the turn with moving the bishop.
I found the 2700 rating one. However, my rating is around 300 in bullet🫠
I'm 1200 and I saw the 2600 variation. Wth?
Me doing the 1600 level because I like trains and didn't see a checkmate to lose the rook and getting double the level I was supposed to get
I am around 1600 level but I spotted the forced mate but I found the 2700 variation. It just requires you to know some key concepts.
I don't believe I am 2760 I am not even half the elo
I calculated ke7 💀
1.300 UFF…
i doing to "much" puzzels 😀
but in normal play i am a 600 XD
According to this video I should be 1300, but in actual play I can't get to 1100. So I'm not sure how accurate this test is lol
I saw Bxf3, but funny enough, im 600 lol