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🔹 A Puzzle That Tells If YOU Have The “Chess Talent” –
Do you have the chess talent? Do you have what it takes to become a strong chess player? And if so, what is that level of your chess talent compared to other chess players? How can you determine how much “chess talent” you have?
In this video lesson, GM Igor Smirnov helps you figure that out with an interesting chess puzzle that was used by Soviet Union chess coaches. These types of puzzles are known as the “Soviet Test of Chess Talent”.
Your task is to maneuver the white knight from b1 to c1 without getting into the line of attack of the black queen standing on d4. Feel free to pause the video and try to visualize the knight maneuver. Also, set a timer to see how much time you take to solve this so that you can determine the level of your chess talent.
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► Chapters
00:00 Do you have the chess talent?
00:11 Puzzle to test your chess talent
01:10 Is this talent test legit?
02:03 Ability to visualize & calculate
02:38 1st solution: The Knight Maneuver
04:38 2nd solution: The Knight Maneuver
05:42 Your talent determined based on time taken
06:20 Improve your chess skills & talent
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#GMSmirnov #ChessPuzzle #ChessTraining #ChessPuzzles
5min .. 11moves
Me hitting the queen as a option to solve the puzzle
I found in 17 seconds the solution
Either I’m a genius or I’m a dummy cause I got 9 moves in less than a minute but went completely around the queen. I redid it for a time of about 5 minutes and found 6 moves 😳 maybe I did something wrong let me do it again lol
a3,c2,a1,b3,c1
I did it very quickly, about 20 seconds but I went completely around the queen in a circle, COUNTER-clockwise (in other words starting at the end square) with a little bit of a zig zag in the third quadrant to land on the proper square… 11 moves totally though. I then re-traced it twice forward to double check my work but those times were only about 5-7 seconds each. All of this while just looking at the board, no touching with the mouse…. I felt pretty proud of myself – and surprised, honestly. My visualization has improved greatly in the last year or so… I hadn't realized by how much. 😃
9 moves.
N-a3..c2..e1..f3..h2..f1..g3..e2..c1!
I took me 5 minutes.
30 sec
12sec
A3, B5, D4, E2, C1 😏
When there wasnt any king on the board,It confuses me so much lol cuz after knight A3 you have queen C5 and your knight have to go back to where it started
Thanks
Thanks
I got it in like 8 seconds but I probably got lucky, I’m like 600
So uhmm, I’m different 😂. I’m learning chess, extremely new so my mindset might be off.
Nevertheless, in my brain I went a3 first, thought for about 4 seconds and came to the conclusion that the puzzle only says I can’t move where black can’t ATTACK.I need to get to my objective, an I need to do it quickly….So I just took queen and went on my merry way and was BEYOND sure I had the right answer thinking this was a “thinking outside the box” puzzle…..I have much to learn.😂
The instructor said that the knight cannot land on a square "attacked" by the queen. Also, he didn't say that the queen could not be attacked. The square (d4) is not technically being "attacked" by the queen, because she is on it. Therefore, laterally thinking, the knight could move to d3 as part of its route to c1, attacking the queen on its way. So, I went Na3, Nb5, Nxd4, Ne2, Nc1. Does that count?
Too easy
I did it in five moves. You didn't say the knight couldn't take the queen. 😄
I found it in 30 seconds, but lost it on retrace, then found it again.
Every time I walk around the queen I find different ways of doing it. Found like 3 or 4
I did it in 27 seconds and did it in 5 moves
I did it in 5 moves, the queen was captured. 😏
9 moves, time 1:03
1 minute, 9 moves (dont need to go around the queen)
Just over a minute for me
Yesterday I was showing this to a friend in a pub, he couldn't solve it. Then another friend came and solved it in 30s. He doesn't play chess at all. 🤦♂️
I did it under 30 seconds in just 5 moves without jumping on a square defended by the queen.
15 seconds
I solved in 10 second but with 11 moves
did the c2 variation, solved it in about 35-40 seconds. tried going around the queen at first and that didn't work haha.
The presentation of the puzzle appears to have a flaw.
On my first solution I took the queen on my way, as a piece never attacks the square it is standing on. (1.Na3 2.Nb5 3.Nxd4 4.Ne2 5.Nc1)
During my second attempt I solved it in 13.37s (Yes I timed it because of curiosity), but noticed afterwards I stepped on an illegal square. (1.Na3 2.Nb5 3.Nc7 4.Ne6 5.Ng5 6.Nf3 7.N.g1 8.Ne2 9.Nc1)
On my third try I got it right after 10.13s. (1.Na3 2.Nc2 3.Ne1 4.Nf3 5.Nh2 6.f1 7.Ng3 8.Ne2 9.Nc1)
I looked on the position on the board without the red arrows.
Darn it! i did it in 5 moves in about 10 seconds and assumed I must be a genius. This is because I attacked and then captured the queen as you said the Knight couldn't go on a square attacked by the queen, but nothing about the square she was on. Now I know the solution so can't try it properly 😭 love you videos though, thanks for the tips !
You threw me a curve ball, pilgrim, by not having Kings on the board at first. I was figuring what the solo Queen would do in response to those Knight moves. Shame on me. Kings *exist*.
9 moves and less than 30 seconds but I'm very familiar with the Knights tour.
I did it exactly the way you first did it, the exact same logic etc, which was very satisfying to see!
I wouldn't say that I'm a God level player, but I will say that high level players really enjoy playing against me. You can see some of my games on my playlist "Chess."
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz4azdHbQ7mkWY65k558b2A6dbUtGsnnO
Not only I found the solution in more than 3 minutes, but after watching the rest of the wideo, I found out that it was wrong…
There was a 3rd way around the queen in 9 moves
In practice, I would punch my opponent, and use that distraction to move the knight 1 square. Zero moves! Booyah!
An interesting play… 9 moves. Wasn't too bad 25 seconds
I solved it in 5 minutes 30 seconds.
Here's what my smartass brain came up with:
Na3, Nb5, Nxc4, Nb3, Nc1. The puzzle rules only stated "the knight cannot be in a line of attack of the queen," it does not directly forbid capture.
Weird I did A3, B5, C7, E6, G5, H3, G1, E2, C1 in a min 40 secs. This is 9 moves so am I mistaken or did I just confirm I think like a weirdo? lol
There was a third solution it goes all the way around the queen It takes 9 moves to
E3
What about A3, C2, A1, B3, C1
5 Moves and I did in less than 20 sec.
Knowing how to solve problems in general really helps here. We can tell it's going to be 8 or 9 moves within a few seconds by noticing that the queen splits the screen into quadrants, each of which will have to be visited. At that point, it only takes a few seconds to map the required moves.
Na3, Nb5, Nc7, Ne6, Nf8, Ng6, Ne7, Nc6, Na5, Nb3, Nc1. Took me 30 minutes 😭
A3 C2 E1 G2 F4 E2 C1 i did it in 25 sec
I did it in less than 45 seconds and I’m not even good
a3b5c7e6g5f3h2f1g3e2c1 less then 10 sec. .. So sad.. I shd not play this game anymore..never learn any theory or opening, nd still can kick +2000 … not a bad game… but already to much study on it…
Went all around the board in a different solution to the one you showed: a3-b5-c7-e6-g5-f3-h2-f1-g3-e2-c1. 11 moves. 31 seconds, but I still loose every game