Master-Level Chess Puzzles, Explained

In this video, I solve a series of Chess.com puzzles rated between 2200 and 2400, explaining the thought process behind each one of them in as detailed a manner as possible.

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125 Comments

  1. Never knew I needed this video till it arrived. Thank you so much! I've been stuck at 2100. Time to push on.

  2. Daniel is the only guy explaining puzzles as a GM ,such a legend 🙌🙌

  3. This was very useful, I found myself often seeing the first move, but either not finding the best follow-up or abandoning the correct idea too early.

  4. I was viewer number 1337, which describes my new chess puzzle solving skills after watching this video.

  5. Its weird cause I see these high level puzzles almost instantly, and can visualize the whole line, but not some lower ones on apps like chess tempo and lichess

  6. Great vid Danya ! This was real helpful, I get stuck after the first move and have trouble visualizing after that.
    Also, can you make a video on how to make/create middlegame plans out of seemingly dead positions, at various rating levels ?
    Keep up the great content ! Cheers #sssmok3r

  7. I've been loving your puzzle videos, your explanations are very instructives! Thanks for making them and keep up with the good work!!

  8. Easy you just have to "calculate 4-5 moves ahead". Ok, i'll work on that I guess 😛

  9. These videos are excellent, thank you for making them. Would love to see more content like you have been doing with Charlie as well, that's been by far the most instructive for me.

  10. Didnt realize the king himself uploaded its 3am…. I'll watch anyway

  11. Great video, would watch more. Would especially enjoy if you widened the range a bit, like 1800-2600. I'm 1600 in puzzles so starting to get 1800 puzzles which I don't always follow. Thanks Danya!

  12. I solved the first one in around 13 seconds👍…proud of my 1400 rating

  13. In comp sci dfs is better than bfs. But this is chess

  14. it is by and large. not by in large

  15. In the last puzzle, I was thinking of rxd5 then white has to take with the queen because of the checkmate threat so qxd5, then qg4+ only h1 left for the king. Then nf6 , queen has to watch the diagonal so qxb7 then ng4 bd5 are coming. I thought I had mate somewhere, the attack is just so dangerous.

  16. Nardotisky: Tries to speak for 2 minutes
    His vocal cords: So you have chosen, death.

  17. Personally I'd find it fascinating to what you solve problems that are difficult for you – most GM content for chess shows them effortlessly understanding everything, but seeing how you approach situations where you are challenged would be very instructive, I think

  18. On one of the later problems (17:16) with the underpromotion, doesn't Qh4 win the enemy Queen?

    f8=N+!, Kxh6, Qh4!, Kg7, Qh7, Kxf8, Qxb7

  19. These are not master level puzzles. Most of them had an interesting twist but Kd6 was the only one that required somewhat deep calculation.

    That's something to keep in mind when you look at puzzle ratings. Having a reasonable incorrect answer can increase the rating if enough high rated players fall for it. E.g. the first puzzle is my no means difficult, but probably a lot of people went for Qa2+ Kh8 Nf7+

  20. Amazing! your tactical explanations are gold worth. I suggest you maybe try explaining positional thinking, which is the key of chess for the 1900 – 2200 rating range (maybe even higher, im just not that high). No site has them, because they could have multiple solutions, but the solutions dont matter, the asspects of the position and the way a GM thinks about them could very well be not only for me, but for a lot of people a serious breakthrough in their chess careers. Most people dont understand the importance of positional play, which makes my claim of the rating breakthrough even stronger. Just something to consider… keep up the amazing job!!! I appreciate it more than you can imagine. Thank you so much!!!

  21. Yay a new tactics video! Thank you!!!!!

  22. 9:52 nice reference and very well used as someone whom learned these algorithms recently to solve code problems.

  23. Meanwhile Nakamura: Takes takes mate is good…

  24. Can you please do a video for tactics in the 2500-3000 range? I can solve most of the 2200-2400 problems correctly, but I struggle to go any higher than that.

  25. I would recommend reading Forcing Chess Moves by Charles Hertan. It's a great book that covers a lot of what was talked about here and more

  26. Is Daniel a CS student? He is talking about DFS and BFS.

  27. the fact Hikaru does these basically instantly is insane

  28. Skip between the first minute and the last minute and compare the difference in hoarseness lol!

  29. You made me like on don't call mr Shirley joke.

  30. who on earth downvotes these? they are amazing. Thank you!

  31. 4:40 'a queen and a knight can produce many different mating patterns' ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

  32. Is it weird that I crush puzzles on lichess and have a 2300 puzzle rating, yet suck at chess and can’t break 1000 on chess.com?

  33. Sometimes I think I have it all figured out, and then the move order screws me

  34. As a programmer and chess enthusiast, hearing you say depth/breadth first search was heart-warming. Cheers

  35. I got the first one right away and was like oh damn I'm kind of good at these higher level puzzles, and Then was completely lost on all the next ones lol

  36. Keep this type of videos its very good

  37. You can shift click, alt click and control click to get different color arrows and highlights?!?!!?!? how did I not know this… Amazing video like always, extremely instructive

  38. 12:02 If King moves to e7 there is mate??? I don't see it. I only see a mate if king moves to e8. Someone please help. Where's the mate???

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