Over 80% Of Chess Players Struggle To Win This "Simple" Endgame Puzzle | Can You Do It?
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
- As I scrolled idle on facebook, I came across this endgame position from one of my groups and much to my surprised a lot of people blundered this position and didn’t understand why their move isn’t the correct one. Even if at first, truth be told, their answer kind of baffled me, when I took a closer look I realized that not long until now, I was doing the same blunders, and honestly, if I am In a time scramble I am still doing them, even if I know the pattern. So I am hoping that by the end of the video you will know how to correctly approach those kind of endgame scenario.
I hope you learned something valuable from this endgame scenario. I always said that studying endgame is as important as studying opening and middle game, but for some reasons a lot of people neglate this part of the game. As usual, if you want me to discus a certain subject leave it in the comment and I will make a video about it. Take care! - Hry
Did you managed to win this endgame?
Not quite. after f6Kg8, f7+Kf8, I can't decide if white's winning move is Kd5 or Ke5. (see my OP for a more detailed analysis). P.S., that's before watching this video.
@@Lordmewtwo151 let me know your thoughts again after watching the video
@@ChessCrafters-lk4dv I didn't even consider Kd7 as the opening move, but like I mentioned, f6 is certainly the most natural. I'm pretty sure in human tournaments you'd probably see f6 most often in that particular scenario, even at super GM level (unless I'm underestimating super GMs). One minor point critique: If your opponent is not cheating, he will not always make the best move over the course of the game (then again, neither would you).
@@Lordmewtwo151 I feel like every person with 2000+ rating would find the correct move here, but mainly because they played a similar position much more than low rated player. Also this is why it's important to study those kind of positions, because chess is a pattern recognition game and by seeing this, next time it would be easier for you to find the right move
@@ChessCrafters-lk4dv Fair.
Always struggled understanding opposition. You're the first person to say "kings on opposite colors = no opposition." Don't know why it wasn't obvious to me without it being explained. Thank you for the good explanation.
I am glad you found the explication useful. This is how I learned as well and it was the most easy method to remember it.
Well, actually that's wrong. For example, place a White pawn on f6, the Black king on f7, and the White king on f5, with Black to move. The correct move to draw is Kg8. So in this case, you are going to the OPPOSITE colored square.
I think a better way to assess this position is to think in terms of corresponding squares. For this position, the corresponding squares are e6/e8 and g6/g8. Basically, when White's king moves to e6, Black's king must move to e8. The same goes for g6 and g8. Corresponding squares does often equate to what's also thought of as "the opposition," but not always.
@@zanti4132 unfortunately you are wrong. In the position that you mentioned if black would move to G8 it will be a blunder who will lose the game.
The drawing move is king to F8, with its the same color as the king on F5
@@ChessCrafters-lk4dv Sorry, I meant Kf8. My point still stands - f8 is a dark square, while the f5 square the White king stands on is a light square.
@@zanti4132in your hypothetical, 1...Kg8 2. Kg6 (opposition) and white wins (2...Kh8 3. Kf7 Kh7 4. Ke7 followed by f7-f8=Q; 2...Kf8 3. f7 Ke7 4. Kg7 followed by f8=Q). The way to draw is to stay in front of the pawn to grab opposition as Black, e.g., 2. Kg6 Kg8 (opposition) and now 3. f7 Kf8 and White either loses the pawn or stalemates Black by playing 4. Kf6. Useful to practice this one with 2 or 3 seconds on the clock against the computer until you can reliably draw through muscle memory alone. Gotta remember to step straight back and stay in front of the pawn precisely so you don't give White opposition.
It is very useful to learn the checkmates with knight+bishop, two bishops. There you understand that progress in the endgame is best achieved not through checks, but through zugzwang. Therefore, in endgames like this, the winning pattern is immediately visible.
Indeed, this is way I almost tell people to also learn endgame. A strong endgame understanding can help you navigate the middle game as well, so you would know what type of position are good or bad to enter with
I don’t know about this opposition stuff. Personally, I’m against it.
So, you're opposed to it?
What do you mean?
I believe he is being ironically oppositional.
@@plou0018 oh, was to focused on replying to the comments, that I forgot about sarcasm:))
I got the sarcasm a lot quicker than the answer to the chess puzzle
Amazing video man. I love puzzles like this
I am glad you found it interesting and useful
The first video of yours Ive seen and I like the clear and methodical style you have of explaining. And I also appreciate your emphasis on endgames since I like learning them because of their importance in getting those "w"s and also to me they are just fun things within themselves. Look forward to seeing what other videos you've made on them.
I am glad you found my video useful. Welcome to our community, I usually post puzzles regarding endgames so I am sure you will find a lot of valuable informations
2:46 is going to the left or right square will not lead to the same. In this case it is a draw since black has no places to move. But same pieces in the center of the board and then moving diagonal to the other king will loose. Opposition is meant by direction not colors
I think this is a great puzzle to explain the concept of shouldering. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
What a good lesson, thank you!
I am glad you found it useful
Please don't underestimate the value of your information on chess. The incisive and accurate description you gave of "The Opposition" had a new idea in it and I'm an old relic. Thank You.
I am glad you found it helpful!
My solution is Kd7; Kg8; Ke7; Kh8; f6; Pxf6; Kf7; Kh7 or f5; g8 and promote a Queen then I capture the black pawn and finally checkmate the black king
Congrats, those are the winning moves
Very nice video! Thanks!
Glad you liked it!
You did not mention the secret square. Secret because you did not focus on it and it is a critical square.
The idea is that in order to advance ANY pawn ending, the King must be ahead of the pawn and the King must first control a square on the 7th rank that supports the pawn on the 8th rank.
In this example, the very first thing we do is note that we need access to f7, so the pawn can go to g8. We must move FIRST our pieces such that the King gets access to f7. Remember, king ahead of it's pawn.
The only way to get access to f7 is moving King to d7 which forces blacks king back to g8.
We move again closer to e7 and black goes to h8.
Our next move cannot be the King to f7 because that will stalemate the game. So by default, we push the pawn to f6.
I won't finish the procedure but you can easily do so, always remembering the White King must finally land on f7 and don't stalemate.
You got this!
Edit: Also note that in alot of pawn endings, you give up the pawn closest to the opponents edge so you can drive home the other pawn. Don't try to bring both pawns or the first pawn home. This advice applies to 2300 and below.
Great video! some of these so called simple endgames can be bottomless wells. Thank you
I am glad you found it useful
Thank you very much!!
After 35 years chess-playing I understood the mail-point, "same color of the opposite-king" and not "In front of the opposite-king"
I am glad you found it helpful!
Thanks bro for good explanation
Always welcome
Kd7, Kg8 ; Ke8, Kh8(only move) ; f6, gf ; (if Kg8, f7+ wins.) After gf, ; Kf8 and the f pawn is free to move, f5 ; g7+ with Queen next move.
Interesting exercise is looking at similar positions with the black king on other squares of the eighth rank. It turns out White wins no matter where the black king is on the eighth rank, but it can be a little tricky to get there.
Your endgames videos are the best I've seen!
Thank you very much!
The endgame is where I suffer the most; how would you recommend to study them? I have started to do puzzles (in Lichess) but I don't get any m/any about end game positions.
In many of my games I also lose in the "transition" from middlegame to end game where it is not clear which move will lead to a winning / drawing endgame position.
For endgame study, I can recommend Silman's Complete Endgame Course. It's a great book!
I am glad you found them useful. I don’t really use lichess, I know on chess.com that you can select custom puzzles and select endgame. I think you endgames practice as well on lichess, i know for sure that you have checkmating patterns exercises. Google “lichess endgames practice” and you should found them.
Also I recommend some books about checkmating patterns, i could write some if you are interested.
Another option is from chessable I think, were you buy a course with explanations and exercises
Practice Practice Practice 😊
at 5:41 the move Ke8 also wins after ......Kh8;f6 gxf6 then Kf7 or Kf8 transpose back into the lines after Ke7.
Based on viewing the thumbnail for 2 seconds and just intuition with no calculation, I’m saying Kd7. So after 30 seconds of calculation I got 1.Kd7, Kg8, 2.Ke7, Kh8, 3.f6, gxf6, 4.Kxf6, Kg8, 5. g7, Kh7. Then you just move the king to protect and queen.
My first thought was Zugzwang because the black position is so limited in moves. That helped me to find the solution with driving off the black king pretty fast. Only important thing is F6 to not get a stalemate and free up the way to g7 and win
Congrats on finding the move. You have a good thinking process
Nice video, thanks a lot. 👍👍
I am glad you found it useful
Great lesson!!! Question, I hear has a new player it is better to master the end game first be learning a opening. Thoughts?
I am glad you enjoy the video. I think it's more important to study endgames, rather than opening theory, because up until 1000 elo, you only need a few basic openings strategies, not a specific opening repertoire.
And by knowing how to fully maximize your winning chances in an endgame, you will know how to proceed in the middle as well
1. Kd7 Kg8 2. Ke7 Kh8 3. f6
if gxf6, then 4. Kf7 f5 5. g7+ Kh7 6. g8=Q+ Kh6 7. Qg6#
if Kg7, then 4. f7+ Kh8 5. f8=Q#
I think you miss tipped the annotations for the first case, but those are the correct moves. Congrats
Nice explanation...
I am glad you found it useful
Kd7 was my first instinct, but I had to work my way from there with trial and error, I didn't know about 'opposition', thanks, that'll be useful ... if I can remember at the right time !
After 1.Kd7, opposition plays no role at all.
I am glad you found the video useful
If you are amazing at endgames, your mid game strategy can just be to get into an endgame and then brutalise your opponent from there. Which is a great strategy, like Capablanca.
Indeed, having a great endgame can help you in the middle game as well, because you would know how you wanted your pieces to looks like and how to create a easy win
Over 99% of YT videos post BS stats in their titles.
over 98% maybe
103% use BS stats.
Nice, congrats
Thanks!
I solved it right away. D7 forces Black into the corner so that white has control over tempo.
Congrats on finding the right mvoe
I'm proud that I solved this quickly
Congrats for finding the right move
suggestion: start by saying who's to move.
Sorry for not mentioning it, I usually do, but almost always in those kind of studies it's white turn to play
Thanks sir
Welcome
My first intent was to move the pawn to f6... but my second thought was to move the king to D7. It pays off to take your time and think.
This is exactly my point for this video. The most natural move in that position is F6, but this end to a draw, so it’s better not to rush thing and always look for better moves
Good demo
I am glad you liked the video
Good points
I am glad you found the video useful
Opposition is the most important thing to understand in this endgame. Its the difference between winning and drawing.
Indeed, it's a must known for everyone who wants to get better at chess
More endgame studies, please. BTW, I thought of K-D7 immediately.
More to come on the channel
When you said 'win the game like so,' you then went on to make an incorrect move.... Qg6 was not the move there but Qg3.
I may just be bad, I had something more along the lines of f6, Pxf6, Kxf6, Ke8 looking to escape, g7, Kd8, g8Q+ or Rook, equally with check, KC7 and on for a bit hoping to bait a mistake.
Now that you saw this video, it would be easier for you to make the right choices when faced with a similar position. Chess is a pattern recognition game
It doesn't mean you are bad, but if Black is smart they will try to stop you from getting a queen, which would be a nearly certain loss for black. So they wouldn't try to escape. Besides, Black wants to be trapped because if he has no move then he has a stalemate which is a draw. In fact, they wouldn't even capture your pawn because they are looking for a stalemate.
I want to learn a few end game tactics and techniques.
You are in the right place
I love king and pawn endgames. Its my bread and butter.
I am glad you liked the video
f6 seems like the obvious first move. If gxf6, Kxf6Kg8, g7Kh7, Kf7Kh6. I struggled with f6Ke8 for some reason (probably overthinking it, just play fxg7). Now for the problem: Kg8. f7+ doesn't work because of stalemate after Kf8...or does it? There is a way for white to avoid stalemate: Kd5 or Ke5. Then black must play Ke7 only legal move. Now for the question: in that sequence of moves, should white have the King on d5 or e5 when the black King goes to e7 at the end?
BTW, as of this long comment, I did not watch the video yet.
I hope all of your question will be addressed after you see the video. Let me know once you finished viewing it, because I covered all of your possible scenarios.
@@ChessCrafters-lk4dv Technically except Ke8 after f6 but just like gxf6, the win is fairly straightforward if black plays that.
Going to d5 or e5 may avoid an immediate stalemate but black can just move back to the 8th rank forcing repetitive moves which is also stalemate.
Love a video on opposition
Would definitely do one
I don't see how the "natural" move ends in a draw. You have king and queen vs king. It should be a simple win for white.
Because black wouldn't capture the pawn in that scenario, as a lot of players would assume, instead after the pawn push, black would play king G8, and that is a draw.
I hope it would make things clear now.
In the first variant, why would you play Qg6 at the end? Either finish it eight there or play Qg3...
I just made a random move, i only wanted to emphasize the fact that you already have a queen and checkmate is near to come
Wow, I actually got it right away :)
Congrats of solving the endgame
Loll this guy was like...if I put a thinking and focused girl on my thumbnail that will get me more views 😂
Please more end games 🙏 I don't do well 😭
I am working on them. Stay tuned
I doubt I'm at 900 level and I was drawn to moving the king in the correct position because I sensed some trickery if I moved the pawn.
Nice tactical awarness
Good to know Im in the 20%
Congrats on finding the moves
0:58 You would normally play Qg3 not Qg6 here.
He realized after saying 'Like so'. Irony..
Yea, i just made a random move there, i just wanted to emphasize the fact that white has a queen and checkmate is near
Thank you for sharing this and for your insight.
Glad it was helpful!
Immediately recognized the position. This is from Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca. Very instructive edgame position
Indeed, a must know study for everyone who would want to improve at chess
4:14 doesn’t look like it’s end in a draw, blacks turn and only has one valid move, king to h8, then white moves king to f8 and it’s checkmate as the black king can only move g8 and then captured by king or h7 and captured by pawn
Edit: watched the rest and that’s effectively what happens
In the position with black's king on h8 and white's king on f8, black doesn't have any legal moves (pawn is stuck, any king move would result in it being capturable) but the king is not in check. That's a stalemate, so the game ends in a draw immediately.
As @tomvennix said, in the position that you mentioned, it would be a stalemate. After king H8 if white would play king to F8 than black wouldn’t have any legal move, and if white see that and move to another place, let’s say E8, black will shuffle back and forth and white can’t make any progress
If king can't move without putting itself in check and has no other moves, then it's a draw
I managed to solve it. only difficulty is that if you only calculate captures.
congrats on solving it
Lmao I saw this position and immediately, without even a second to analyze , played KD7 . It boggles my mind that anyone over 1000 would push pawn here .
The average rating on chess.com on rapid is 632.6, so a lot of people would push the pawn there, especially when they are under pressure and in a time scramble
@@ChessCrafters-lk4dv wow , I knew that the average was low but I figured it was closer to 1200 . I wonder what the average on lichess is.
@@Strikerfm1 I only found a graph, but i don't really know how to read it, If I read it correctly for rapid 50% of people are 1450, but I think it's too much
I don't know how I got recommended this as I don't play chess and am not totally sure I know the rules, but moving the king northwest jumped out as me as the right move from a turn-based RPG perspective, to go for a flank and drive their king into the corner... have I been accidentally learning chess while playing video games?
You learned the principles of it, chess is a pattern recognition game, and once you see one pattern, it would be easier to spot in a real game scenario.
Also this position is a study, a created position to explain a tactical point, so it would be hard to find this exact position in a similar game
It's the other way round RPG creators learned from chess players. 😅
Yes...easy...Kd7...Kg8...Ke8...Kh8...f6...if Kg8...f7 and f8 mate...if gxf6...Kf7...f5...g7+ and mate in 2
Nice finding
Playing Kg8 by black doesn’t have anything to do with white king being on a light square (Kf5). If white king was on a dark square , let say King was on g5, still black should play Kg8 to be able to take the opposition.
yes, the most important thing is too keep your king in front of the enemy pawn, but I still think this color concept would help people understand this better
@2:20 that "same color square" strategy is not right. Suppose that the white king is at g5, not f5, and now according to your rule Black should play Kf8/h8 (both losing easily).
The strategy is much simpler: retreating your king when needed at the same file that the opponent's pawn stands.
The strategy won't work, because if black would go to F8 and white will go to F6, black wouldn't not a have a square that is the same color as white king to move to, so he would be force to move to G8 which is a light square, but you are right, the first thing is to remain in front of the pawn.
Mate in 9
What helps you to improve your strength in chess?
Studying, doesn’t matter what at first, tactics, endgames, openenings. I would recommend getting some books, or the chessbrah building habits series is very good for beginners to improve their game
This puzzle is ridiculously easy. Please put in much harder puzzles.
see the "impossible puzzle" on my channel. I dare you to find all the moves there
black to move also wins for white
correct
This game gives me headaches
I saw it in Seconds.
Very simple.
Greetings from Germany!
Ich auch
Congratulations, a lot of people will play F6 instead. Nice finding
I only just found about this channel. Am glad I learned something from your videos. Thank you 🙇♂️
I am glad you like the channel
من الان معنی اپوزیشن را فهمیدم. خیلی متشکرم. عالی بود.
I am glad you found the video useful
lol this ending is in Capablanca's Fundamentals, as everyone knows. Red thumb.
"as everyone knows", everyone at a higher elo level known about this, yes. But for people who just start playing, this is still a new concept for them to learn
It's so easy! 8 second to find it.
I am glad you managed to solve it this quickly
Nice problem, but easy to calculate
You are right, but it s a must know for every person who wants to improve their chess game
@@ChessCrafters-lk4dv For beginners, it might be good training to study this example. But leaving aside general principles that apply here, there is no need to "keep it in mind".
On 2:50 black Kh8 is lossing because whites plays Kf7, thats not a Draw situation.
Black king is forced to play Kf8
Shia laBeouf is really good at chess
haha, thanks, i don't think I resemble so much with him though
I think the end game Clint Eastwood played in A Fistful of Dollars beats this end game by far.😂
Clint Eastwood had grandmaster end game technique
@@ChessCrafters-lk4dv and that's why you have his poster on your wall.
Not viewing this video at soll, looks for me check mate in 8 🤔
Yep, it s a M&
i am horrendously bad at looking forward in chess positions but i solved this one in 15 seconds or so... trust me, i SUCK at chess lol
I don’t think you “suck” that much at chess if you found the solution in 15 seconds… you can give yourself more credit than that
I solved this in 1 try . My rating is 2250 lichess
Congratulations on finding the moves, also you have pretty big rating
Some of your lines lead to stalemate, but you don't actually show the stalemate pattern. You should!
I think that showing just once, it's enough, I didn't want to prolongue the video any longer than it already is
Ke7 ke8 both are same
Yes
Your "winning" move at 0:58 is not checkmate.
I know. I just made a random move, you already made the queen so checkmate is inevitable. I didn't feel the need to prologue the video longer with that example.
You named around 5 wrong squares in a 7 minutes video!!??
i can do better next time
I'm around 800 elo and find solution.
congrats on finding the solution
I got this straight away quick analysis for me was that any immediate pawn move plays out as a draw barring blunders which only leaves a king move where the best move forces the opponent into a move you dictated now in this position your in a far more favourable position sometimes the obvious move isn’t obvious which is why I suspect Magnus is so good because he always asks his opponent do you know how to handle weird unique situations
Indeed, this is why it’s important to always ask yourself if this is the best move in the position, because most of the time, the natural move isn’t always the best move. Glad you found it useful
K d7 first
Yep
Kd7
Nice
easy puzzle maybe 800 ELO at best
I think it's a little more high rated, also it's important to spot this in an actual game, when it's a puzzle you know there is something to look for. I still think it's a very important endgame for every beginner to kow
It is easy. Kd7 kg8; Ke7 kh8 ; f6 gxf6; Kf7 f5; g7+ kh7 ; f8=Q + kh6; Qg6+#
Triangulation 🤔
I was thinking on creating a whole new separate video for that
Du'h! 😂
Hope you found the video useful!
Hi
hi
it is simple not difficult.
I could do it
congrats on solving the puzzle
ez
I am glad you found the right moves so easy, this mean you have a strong endgame
wait, i didn't feel that the puzzle was tough it took me about 2 minutes to figure out every variation and i solved it perfectly.
Thank you, as it was a instructional one,
I am glad you found the right solution and enjoyed the video
I am sorry if i am being arrogant but i dont see the hardness in this puzzle? I did it in 5seconds without board.
Congratulation for finding the right move so fast. The hardest part is that most people will push the F6 pawn here, thinking black would take back and they have an easy way.
They usually play the move that feel most natural without looking for alternatives. Also in a real game will be much harder to spot it than from a puzzle.
Also this video is more for beginners players, so it maybe obvious for high rated players.
Any reason king to D7 isn't valid at 3:51?
NVM, I'm assuming en passant.
@@rust991100 No en passant possible there. If white goes K to D7 its just a stalemate^^ At 2:53 it was stalemate again and he was confused for a little sec ;D
@@reneflug4243 Give him some credit, I don't think he was confused about the position, but wasn't sure about what's the next point of the video :D
@@aradani3 I do :) No harsh feelings, also beautiful explanation of opposition
@@aradani3 And the lesson to learn here is to always get control over the promotion square :) If you keep that in mind the only square to go to is d7 since d6 allows black Ke8.
Kd7 Kg8 Ke7 Kh8 f6 gxf6 Kf7 f5. g7 Kh7. g8=Q Kh6. Qg6#
yep, nice findings
You are not correct....
why?
You talk a lot man
thanks