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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
1.ka3
2.kb5
3.kc7
4.ke6
5.kg5
6.kf7
7.kh6
8.kf5
9.kg3
10.ke2
11.kc1 puzzle is solved
I found solution 2 in 21 seconds lol
Just capture the Queen!
Me at 1480 and solving the puzzle in 23 seconds
…
35 seconds. So not great honestly. Edit: Ok mine wasn’t the fastest solution. So idk what that means.
I took a complete walk around the queen to solve it, but in less than 30s. I found it easy with a "tricky" maneuver near the end.
I took about a minute and did a similar maneuver, but in the upper right corner rather than lower right corner. Longer because all the way there and all the way back.
I have a better way:
A3
C2
D4 killing the queen
E2
C1
😉
11 moves, just under a minute and a half. After figuring out I needed to do a knight loop, I just went clockwise around the board, looped in the top left corner and kept going clockwise. Didn't even consider doubling back. Ugh.
I got the knight there in five moves. A3, B5, D4, note that the knight can't be captured by the queen because the queen has been captured. From there, just E2 and C1, and you arrive on the fifth move.
hmmmm, idk if this problem is a good one for calculation. Because you can just look for the endpoint and solve to get the knight there. Because all you have to see is that the only way to get the knight to c1 is by getting the knight to e2 or a5. The a5 route is probably the most deceptive though. But maybe that is part of calculation. I wouldn't know hehe.
Found the 5 move queen square solution in 6 seconds.
I did it in under 2 minutes, but in 11 moves, going all around the Queen.
you sure this test legit? i found the answer in 19 seconds exact this is an easy manuever with Na3, Nc2, Ne1, Nf3, Nh2, Nf1, Ng3, Ne2 and Nc1. Easy
Let's just say I would not have been picked by those russian masters that's for sure.
Is this April 1st? Wait, it's September. It took me about 2 minutes to see that the knight can't get to c1 (without the kings on the board which was the puzzle challenge) and the only hope is to repeat moves for a draw (1. Na3 Qa4). WITH the kings on the board the knight is lost on the second move. 1. Na3 Qa3+
10 seconds for first problem HOWEVER i feel very lucky i just randomly looked at safe jumps on the top left corner
After a lot of games it might be a thing you want to learn better. Finding a path for the knight for 1 square is certainly something. We can also detect a checkmate plan earlier.
This was pretty simple for me; I did it fairly fast, however it would be much harder visualizing this for me when there are other pieces on the board ):
I’m 800 rated and took me a whole minute, I got work to do lol. Atleast I found it
I was between 15-30 seconds but I went completely around the queen and it took 11 moves, so how many seconds penalty do I get? (a3 b5 c7 e6 g5 f3 h2 f1 g3 e2 c1)
11 moves but just over a minute. Probably about a minute if you subtract me casually putting down my phone and picking it up after to stop the clock. I went all the way around the queen though.
Wie kann man immer noch Fan von den Sovietrussen sein,nach allem was passiert ist?
What if I did it in 25 seconds but did 11 moves? A3 b5 c7 a6 b8 c6 e7 f5 g3 e2 c1?
Aku menemukan langkah Knight mengelilingi Queen, mencapai target square dalam 11 moves.
Nope…I quit.
I found Na3 because that's the only legal move Nc2, Nxd4, Ne2 then Nc1… I found this is in 13.41 seconds
37 seconds. I found it easier to start at the end square and work backwards. If only I hadn't wasted half my time trying it the normal way 🙁
It can be done in 7 moves
I had found an 11 move answer in between 15-30 seconds, didn’t even notice the other 9 move versions.
Nevermind, I lost in 4 moves
I did it in 11 moves, roughly 1 minute.
Yawn 🥱
I did it in 11 moves: Na3, Nb5, Nc7, Ne6, Ng5, Nf3, Nh2, Nf1, Ng3, Ne2, Nc1. 30-60 seconds.
I see Igor didn't mention the third solution (not involving a queen capture).
Well, 5mins. I never manage to quickly visualize knight moves
9 moves – 33seconds
I spent about 30 seconds but concluding that there's no way to do that without capturing the queen.
There is a third maneuver and it takes 11 moves
3 moves: c-1, e0, c1
Easy, EASY!!!
9 moves only
found a solution of 13 moves in 25 seconds
also found a way to trap the knight in 1 move by playing Qd3 by black even if its white play only safe move for white will be Na3 you can still trap it with Qd3
"Your knight can never stand on a square ATTACKED by opponent's queen" Therefor the simplest and quickest solution is Na3, Nb5, Nxd4, Nb3, Nc1 – 5 moves! d4 is OCCUPIED by the queen, not attacked by the queen!
7moves
I found the second solution in like 10 seconds
.
I found a solution in 11 moves… Na3 Nb5 Nc7 Ne6 Nf8 Ng6 Ne7 Nf5 Ng3 Ne2 Nc1
the movement with the knight was shorter then in my solution. I went to the upper left corner, where i did that manouver to get on the correct square and then i moved around the queen towards the upper right, bottom right and to the correct square
I did it in 5 moves…
I found the first nine-move solution about two minutes. After that, I found an 11-move solution by starting with a3 and b5 and circling clockwise round the Queen, but didn't look for a quicker solution after these opening moves.
bruh… this test wasn't hard, only took mere seconds for me.