Yep. That’s official, I’m not a grandmaster at all. And I need an aspirin!

Insane... Now if you add on top of that the fact that they can play blindfolded and/or simuls and keep all that other stuff in their heads too - wow, a human mind is quite capable if pushed so hard in some direction

The mindblowing fact is that all these lines are after the rook and bishop sacrifices. To know that the sacrifices would work, the GM needed to calculate all of these lines plus the other lines leading to the sacrifices. Totally insane.

Moral of the video : I absolutely do not stack up against a GM. Not even close.

I started reading that book in the late 1970s and really struggled to get through the first chapter. When I put it away to wait until I could really study it, that day never came. Nelson mentioned it was in the "old" notation--my letter to Chess Life in April, 1968 helped start the transition to algebraic notation and first coined the abbreviations AN and DN.

Wow. A bewildering amount of options. Even just watching it gave me a headache 😂

I don't think grandmasters analyse everything, i think they eliminate bad moves much earlier, especially when they're playing other grandmasters.

this way of calculating is called DFS (depth-first search) in computer science, might wanna look into that (the other version would be BFS - breadth first search)

There are shortcuts to the analysis here. The shortcuts stem from pattern recognition. Grandmasters have seen similar positions many times. They look for certain key arrangements of pieces, answer a small number of detailed questions revolving around the more general question of "are my queen, bishop, and rook positioned in a way that i can keep checks alive before his king can escape or his pieces defend", and usually, the answer is clear from a limited analysis aided by comparisons to configurations they have intuition about. When the answer can't be intuited that way, then this full analysis is needed.

Need more of these, really amazing way to visualize

I really like the little detail you put in the video of the board behind you with the same setup. Keep up the awesome viseo's😊❤

This was very cool. I'd love to see more of these. I saw a lot of the other lines looked pretty good, but missed all of the complications that came from the Kg8 line.

If you do more of this, i'd recommend that you show what you are writing during the 5mins. Rather then tell people how this works and then go full silence mode, be open and talk about the process, and how you are performing/dealing with this. That gives better insight.

Great tutorial. Quite a feat to become aware of the subtle counterplay in some of the positions.

Great video. would love to see more like this!

Best video you've ever posted! Love to see more of this type of content.

5min wasn't close to enough time. I had almost all the lines on Ke7 and also saw that Ke6 transposed to the same branches because the queen prevents the king from walking forward. I didn't have any time to look at Kg8 or Kg7. I simply wrote them down as first branches that needed to be analyzed.

Thanks for the advice!! Great video. Truly have to admire grandmasters.

What a fantastic lesson! Mille grazie!

I build that position on stockfish. It says King to g8 is the only moove for Black, because everything else is mate in 10. Exept King to g7. Thats mate in 7

Didnt know members got earlier vid access

I did not stack up well at all haha. I find it hard to keep track of where pieces are after a few moves. It’s something I struggle with in general and is a regular reason of why I lose games when I try to get fancy! I like this form of practice though, and cool to see a member vid!

Very interesting. i did my analysis in the same order as you did, noticing that the king in the e-file led to more forcing variations than king moves into the g-file. I pretty much had all the analysis until 11:50, but then just didn't see the right continuation for white after Kg8 and therefore essentially missed out on the most substantial part of the analysis. Regardless of available time I would never have found some of those variations with bishop sacrifices and tactical tricks deep into the analysis.

amazing quiz! It was though to barely calculate enough just to see that its not even close to enough

Very insightful video

Really appreciate it, keep it up

I can trace half of the forced mates whether the king moves left or right by the 1.5min elapsed point... but at the setup point, I'd never think to sack 2 pieces to reach the situation that we're analysing.

WOW !! Thx for the Advice :)

Me seeing one potential line with a checkmate- AND HE SACRIFICES THE ROOOOK

Do you have any chess opening videos? I looked briefly but couldn’t find any.

I feel pretty good that I had a lot of the right ideas, and while I missed a lot of the specific calculations on the left responses I figured that with the rook there and potentially uncovering it with tempo on the queen, Kg8 was indeed the most dangerous line to ensure there was followup for. I definitely missed a lot of the non-check ideas that set up for future threats without immediate tempo, and absolutely was in "that's probably bad" or "that's probably good enough" for a lot of the branches rather than actually seeing the specific moves. Looks like there's simply no way around it, I need to just play more chess, I know the ideas but there's no substitute for actual practice 😅

Just goes to show how amazing the mind of a Grandmaster is... so many possibilities arising even from lines that look so forcing.

So crazy. The sacrifices alone show mastery

I got about 50% of it, and to be honest, a lot of it is pretty intuitive/natural, even the quiet Be3 or sacrifice Ba5 were relatively easy for me to find, because there are just so many natural forcing moves to consider. The crazy thing to me is that they can do this in calm positions, and assess each and every possibility to squeeze out the tiniest inklings of advantages.

Good exercise. I quickly worked out that the Ke6/Ke7 lines were answered by Re1+ and therefore I needed to only look at the 3 K positions on the d file because of transpositions, and they all had quick refutations. I also saw The Kg7 Bh6+ line quickly. Then I looked at Kg8, but, like you, I didn't spot all the lines after Qg4+. Even if I had, it would have taken me at least 5 and more probably 10 more minutes.

I also thought Kg8 was simpler and that Be3 would be good. I didn't have time to analyze that stuff though! Ba5 was the move I stopped at after Kd8. At 17:31 you need to interpose Rd7+ before taking the Q or you have to notice that the W Q protects d1.

Bd3 was my first thought. Just increase advantage a little more.

Game review reveals quite often I missed an M3.

I only looked at Kg8 then i would branch 1 move later because that was the only move that made sense then you can cut 1 move from the branch and you dont have to think untill the next move

I found all of the lines after Kg7, Ke7, and Kg6, but after Kg8 I didn't consider Qg4+ because I thought it would just repeat the position. Instead I thought of moving the bishop to e3 or even sacrificing it on g5, in order to play Rd7 on the next move and threaten checkmate on f7, which black has no good way to defend against in a lot of lines, but in both cases I missed that Qb5 by black saves the position (which is kind of odd, since I also considered Ba5 instead of e3 or g5, but dismissed it because of Qb5, but for some reason I didn't see how effective that move was in the other two lines).

I also way under-analyzed Kg8

Were you reading the lines and translating them into the moves on the board in real time as you explained? It was impressive

Funny thing is I intuitively immediately saw Kg8 as being the most problematic response to the queen move so I tackled that first and it ate up all my time going through that tree XD

Very intense video

I can't even write all those moves in five minutes.

I think I can only take care at this point.

With a grandmaster?! You must be kidding. I'm about 1200 ELO. He would beat me like an abandoned street dog in an Eastern European country. 😂

I could see Kg8 was the better move for black, but no way was I seeing half of what was to come from that line.

I have disregarded all the moves by king to the e file because of the Rook positioning there. I looked at the first position right away and immediately though "ok, if the rook goes to the e file, I'll bring up the rook and somehow checkmate from there, so let's just analyze the rest" then I correcly found the next 2 moves or something, but stopped analyzing a lot earlier than shown on this video.

Here's the pgn for anyone that wants to check it out with an analysis board: [Variant "From Position"] [FEN "r4b1r/pp3k1p/1qp2p2/8/8/5Q1P/PPPB1PP1/2KR4 w - - 0 18"] { [%cal Gf3h5] } 1. Qh5+ { [%cal Gf7e7,Gf7e6,Gf7g8,Gf7g7] } Ke7 (Ke6 2. Re1+) (Kg7 2. Qg4+ (2. Bh6+ Kg8 3. Qg4+ Kf7 (Bg7 4. Qxg7#) 4. Rd7+ Be7 5. Qg7+ Ke6 6. Qxe7+) Kf7 3. Qh5+ Kg7 4. Qg4+ Kf7 5. Qh5+) (Kg8 2. Qg4+ Bg7 (Kf7 3. Qc4+ Ke8 (Kg7 4. Be3 Qc7 (Qb4 5. Rd7+ Kg6 6. Qf7+ Kf5 7. g4+ Ke4 8. Qxf6) 5. Qg4+ Kf7 6. Rd7+) (Kg6 4. Qe4+ Kf7 (f5 5. Qe6+ Kg7 (Kh5 6. Qxf5+ Kh4 7. g3#) 6. Bh6#) 5. Ba5 Qxa5 (Qc5 6. Rd7+ Be7 7. Bb4 Qg5+ 8. f4) (Bh6+ 6. Kb1 Rad8 (Rhd8 7. Qxh7+ Bg7 8. Qh5+ Kg8 9. Bxb6) 7. Qc4+ Kg7 8. Qg4+ Kf7 9. Bxb6) 6. Rd7+ Kg8 7. Qe6#) 4. Re1+ Be7 (Kd8 5. Qd3+ Kc7 6. Bf4+ Kc8 7. Re8+) 5. Bb4 Qc7 6. Qc5) 3. Bh6 (3. Qe6+ Kf8 4. Bf4 Rd8 5. Rxd8+ Qxd8 6. Bd6+ Qxd6 7. Qxd6+) (3. Qc4+ Kf8 4. Bb4+ Ke8 (Qxb4 5. Qxb4+) 5. Qe6#) Qc7 4. Rd7 Qxd7 5. Qxd7 Bxh6+ 6. Kb1) 2. Re1+ Kd6 (Kd7 3. Qf7+ Kd6 (Kc8 4. Re8+ Qd8 5. Rxd8+ Kxd8) 4. Bf4+ Kc5 5. Be3+) (Kd8 3. Qe8+ Kc7 4. Bf4+ Bd6 5. Re7#) 3. Bf4+ Kd7 4. Qf7+ Kc8 (Kd8 5. Re8#) (Be7 5. Rd1+ Kc8) 5. Re8+

i analysed most lines for like 80% until going "okay yea looks good" (just like you predicted lol). i did see the perpetual check as "the best outcome for black" and figured that would be an outcome im satisfied with too, being down a rook. the other calculations were too much for me to handle so i didnt see there was a way to win in the perpetual check scenario

There is a very interesting video about Kasparov mind boggling calculation against Karpov. He said, that he saw many lines, but some lines only in the after the game analisys, but during the game his intuition told him, that regarding the number of attacking and defending pieces, he thought, that the attack has to go through. In the position of this video, when the GM sacrificed first the piece, then the exchange (means a full rook), he may not see all the winning lines, but he may saw, that the position is promising, he calculated some shorter winning lines, plus may calculated, that at worst scenario (after Qh5+, Kg8) he has at least a draw with perpetual checks, so if later in that promising position he will not able to find a winning line, still will not lose, but can get a draw at least.

My issue is, I can't visualize a lot of moves in my head. And if I manage a bit, then I cant go back to a previous position to see a different branch. I feel that if I could only improve my visualization, I would improve greatly. But I'm quite old for that to be anytime soon.

I didn't figure out how white could win, but I figured out how to force a draw, and then I later found out that I had missed a line

Started with Kg8 and rejected a few lines then the 5 minutes was up. Didn't even look at any of the other king moves yet.

Sorry my brain went numb, was there a best move for black after the first check?

I got like half of King to e file and then look at the last line and it feels like a lot to analyze. I was not wrong but I was not expecting it to be this many to analyze.

Excellent chess story telling. I enjoy listening to the author. I am 1500 Fide rated player.

Are GMs allowed to make calculation notes during a game? I feel like to remember all those permutations, even the best players would struggle to remember.

this convinced me to stop watching chess vids and playing against Fritz! Thanks. I can now reclaim the rest of my life!!!

FROM THESE MANY LINES I GOT 3 OF THEM ONLY AND THINKING ABOUT THE FORTH WONE

It was clear to me that any king move other than Kg8 would be bad for black, so I spent most of the 5 minutes analyzing Kg8. One move I came up with was Bh6 anyway, followed by Rd7. Have you considered that line?

To be fair, that book has been criticized because it claims grandmasters calculate line after line like a tree, when in fact they oftentimes don't organize their analysis either. Many say they do a chaotic, instinctive analysis in parallel to concrete calculation and even review already calculated lines the lines again and again. The video seems to suggest a grandmaster would come up with all that analysis in 5 minutes. But that doesn't seem to be necessarily true.

I play for fun. I can’t track this much of the mid game

I was only able to see three lines ke7 ke6 and kb7

@8:53 skip here to see the check moves depending which square the king goes!

My brain is hurting.

Here is the actual game, Boleslavky-Flohr, USSR Championship (1950): 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.d4 Nf6 7.Bd3 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Qxd4 9.Be3 Qd8 10.O-O-O Nbd7 11.Bc4 Qa5 12.Bd2 Qb6 13.Rhe1 Nxe4 14.Rxe4 Nf6 15.Bxe6 fxe6 16.Rxe6+ Be7 17.Rde1 Nd5 18.Bg5 O-O-O 19.Bxe7 Nxe7 20.Rxe7 Rhf8 21.Qg4+ Kb8 22.Qxg7 Qxf2 23.b3 Rg8 24.Qxh7 Rxg2 25.Rxb7+ Ka8 26.Rbe7 Qc5 27.h4 a5 28.Re8 Qd4 29.Kb1 Rd2 30.Rxd8+ Qxd8 31.Qe4 Qf6 32.h5 1-0

Got 3 out of the 4 but could not for the life of me figure out what to do if the king went to the top white square.

I got all the lines correctly! Though in the position in 11:27 Qg4 was shown but I wrote Rd7 which is cleaner I believe. So am I right?

You show the branching analysis for the black king, but every single position would have branches on the white side as well, for every possible move you could make. You'd have to analyze each of those, at which point you'd be performing the same minimax algorithm that computers use, which would only work for a human if there were a million years on the clock because the number of branches to analyze increases exponentially the further into the future you try to analyze.

11:28 isn't rd7 better instead of qg4+, i don't see how black stops qf7# or after bxh6+, qxh6, qg7#.

I did it without pen and paper but I think I missed 2 or 3 lines. Starting with this position is easier than before the sacrifices. It means that the GM calculated those lines before sacrificing pieces. That's impressive! But in tournaments are we allowed to write lines ? Or all is done in their head?

Yes for me too!!

Had an extra minute due to the add😂 didn't make it anyway. Although I was pretty sure black had to play G8.

The player in this game had to solve most of this three or four moves before the start of the puzzle, in order to commit to sacrificing a whole rook. I'm not sure how much they actually solved before concluding that it was winning, but it's pretty crazy that it's a whole rook's worth of confidence in any case.

Martin Challenge idea: Martin can move twice on its turn but you can t. If Martin checks you on it s first move you lose. Good luck

Very very good!

I knew g8 was the better move for the king that created the most unclear position, but I did not see even close this level of complexity in this move. Edit: After watching the rest of the video after commenting and hearing Nelson say the same thing, I'm glad I'm not the only one who overlooked the complexity of Kg8, but shows we all have room to learn and grow.

I still think that GMs will plan their play around two or three killer moves. For example, putting the rook on D7, or the decoy move bishop H6 which just might work if the opponent is low on time. But this is a very depressing video for anyone at my level! My lines were COMPLETELY different.

As a proud 2300 rated player I can say I got most of these right.

The thing is most chess players the way chess is played now do not have 5 minutes to think on 1 move... They don't even have 5 seconds. Everything is blitz or bullet now.

Idk how to calculate lines well

Well, I started to calculate from Kg8 right away, because it seemed to me like the best response for black, and I thought I could come up with something easily if he moves otherwise. So my calculations went like this: Kg8 > Qg4 > Bg7 > Bh6 > Qc7 > Qc4 > Kf8 and I loose the game, so this is no good. Kg8 > Qg4 > Bg7 > Qe6 > Kf8 > Bxg7 > Kxg7 > Rd7 > Kg6 > Qg4 > Kh6 and this looks bad for me. And then I remembered that I didn't even calculated if he won't block with the bishop. So I probably will be screwed in this game if I would have only 5 minutes)

Am I the only one who thought that Pac-Man game behind him was a Fluke multimeter at first?

I wrote down a descriptive analysis lol

Honestly the only thing my 700 ass was able to come up with: King jumping to the E column seems to a be a death sentence, didnt even see all the moves there but just didnt seem any good because of the easy squares for the bishop and the rook. When i was looking at G8, yeah thats where my brain just gave upon me since i didnt see a good move for white for that

I haven’t watched this yet, but I’m confused how a 5 min quiz takes 18 mins

Pls put chess adventures episode 43,i like to see it pls pls

One line I thought of: 1. Qh5+ Kg7 2. Bh6+ Kg8 3. Rd7. Would like to know what's wrong with that.

So u never showed the end move

What if after black plays Kg8 white still goes Bh6 with the idea of going Rd7 and Qf7#?

Yeaaaah, so, I had all 4 initial options, but I hard cut out after another 2 moves deep with summaries like "and it looks like checkmate will come soon" or "and the Black King is running to the left, so I'll need to stop that." C minus if the instructor is nice. F minus if they're being honest.

Kotov's 'Think Like a Grandmaster' was debunked by John Nunn and many other GMs. Using that book as a template for how calculation actually works in the mind of a GM or strong player, could well do more harm than good.

Playing blitz won't get me better at calculating these positions. With limited time I have to settle for "good enough." And even that is not possible unless I choose the correct subset of my opponent's options to examine.

Hahaha, calculated all the rest then come to Kg8, saw all the branching and just gave up 😂 as it is a puzzle, it has to ne winning, but damn, there is toi subtle ideas for my poor brain (side note, I had no paper, maybe I should have taken one 😂)

Well, I calculated that Kg7 is a checkmate :D

I have a challenge for you, his name is Kings Mountain, here are the rules: you have to get to the last square with the king, but if you are checked by the last three squares then you have lost. you are not allowed to promote any pawns or you are not allowed to allow your opponent to promote a pawn. If there are only three of the stronger pieces left then you are not allowed to kill any of them except pawns. Pawns from your opponents or from you can always be killed. (difficult version: if you are checked on the last five squares you have lost. If there are only five stronger pieces left with your opponents, you are not allowed to kill any more. You are not allowed to promote your pawn And don't let your opponent do that either. If you only have three stronger pieces left, none of them can be killed or you'll lose.) good luck

chess can be mind-blowing, literally jesus christ my head hurts

Definitely not a grandmaster , I failed at the start I didn’t even have a pen 😭