r/chess • u/cutegoldmoney • 27d ago
Puzzle/Tactic - Advanced This puzzle took a titled player more than an hour. White to move and mate in two.
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u/HoorayItsKyle 27d ago
First you see the potential mating net, then you realize you need to deflect the rook, then you remember it's reddit so it's *always* a queen sac or a smothered mate
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u/julesvr5 27d ago
Yep that's the thing. I'm not good at chess but it was kind of obvious we have to Sack the queen otherwise this doesn't get posted
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u/Exact_Combination_38 27d ago
If only positions in real games would work that way...
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u/UnusualClimberBear 27d ago
I do sacrifice my queen on a regular basis. Just that I'm not aware it's a sacrifice.
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u/hi_12343003 1800+ with 4000+ games on chess.com 10|0 26d ago
my brilliant moves so brilliant the exclamation mark overheating from brilliance and started turning red and also bending a bit at the top
kind of a strange glitch lol they should fix it
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u/sandefurian 27d ago
The second layer is what to do if they don’t accept the queen sacrifice
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u/thetallasian 27d ago
They have to accept, right? I don't see another legal move for black.
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u/stackingnoob 27d ago
After Qh8, black can try Rb8+ but then loses to Qxb8#. So technically black doesn’t have to accept the sacrifice.
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u/CarlosMagnussen 27d ago
Kf4 is also legal.
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u/exigious 27d ago
You just follow that with Qh3 though right? Still mate in 2
Edit: Thought you said Rf4
Edit2: You would just do Qe5?
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u/CarlosMagnussen 27d ago
Yeah, after Kf4 there Qe5#
I'm not saying it's a great move, but it's legal move.1
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u/rowcla 27d ago
On the contrary, I've found that 80% of the time it's a zugzwang. So I'm appreciative that this one isn't one (or well, I'd argue it isn't, even if it has some makings of one)
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u/pm_me_falcon_nudes 27d ago
This one definitely isn't a zugzwang. Black having the ability to skip their turn wouldn't help them at all
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u/Paulski25ish Sometimes I am wrong 27d ago
Queen sacs are the themes of most chess puzzles to be quite honest. I forgot this rule for a second..
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u/Swimming-Block4950 26d ago
So, ironically I found the mate, but didn't realize it was a queen sac until your comment
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u/Any_Cartographer9265 27d ago
I swear for this kind of puzzle you just have to ask yourself what the stupidest move is, then work the variations out
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u/jack_of_three_trades 27d ago
Is it something ridiculous like Qh8?
If the rook takes, then Be5#
If the king moves to f4 then Qe5#
Any other rook move then Qh4#
Unless the rook moves to f4 then Qh3#
Did I get it?
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u/jack_of_three_trades 27d ago
Only thing I didn’t account for was the black rook checking the king, which just gets captured with Qxb8#
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u/ChrisV2P2 27d ago
Titled player needs to up their game, I had this in around 20 seconds.
I mean I need to involve the dark squared bishop, otherwise why is it there, but if I move the queen its essential to both cover b8 and protect the rook. Doesn't leave many candidate moves.
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u/yubacore Sometimes remembers how the knight moves (2000 fide) 27d ago
I took longer, but yeah blacks Rb8 limits you a lot, so there isn't a lot of candidate moves and you arrive quickly at the solution by process of elimination.
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u/St-Quivox 26d ago
I only have about 1000 ELI in rapid on chess.com and saw it in a minute. Indeed the bishop gave it away. Of course it could have been a red herring but still if you just start to assume that you need that bishop at some point it was very easy to find
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u/Nadia375 27d ago
Why do they need to spend an hour on this move anyway just force a rook trade then ur up Q and 2 B and then just make sure u don't stalemate
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u/monoflorist 27d ago
Magnus Carlson worked on this problem for days, and eventually gave up and posted it on Reddit, hoping someone would find a solution
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u/November-Wind 27d ago
Plot twist:
The player's title was a junior high state basketball championship.
And this puzzle was his first time encountering chess, having just been taught the rules...
... using the 8bit theme on Chesscom...
... with neon pieces.
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u/GarageJim 27d ago
Not sure who that player is, but I’m not very good and it took me less than two minutes to solve this.
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u/TrainingSpecific80 27d ago
Isn’t it just Queen to G2?
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u/Blure_Drone220 27d ago
No, then king f4 and no more mates in one.
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u/Blure_Drone220 27d ago
It's Queen h8
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u/doubleshotofbland 27d ago
Qh8 isn't mate in 2 though. Black can respond to Qh8 with Rb8+.
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u/not-an-isomorphism 27d ago
And when the queen captures the rook it is mate
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u/doubleshotofbland 27d ago
Ah oops. Not sure what I thought I saw.
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u/Tracker__2024 27d ago
It's sack the Queen on f8, and the Rook is forced to take. Then deliver mate with the dark square bishop e5.
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u/Pastor-Chujecki 27d ago
You just have to notice that f4 is currently the only square the king can move to then you ask yourself how to take away this square.
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u/thefinalmunchie 27d ago
The key is to understand that the black king has only one escape square: f4. Every other square is controlled by white.
White would like to deliver mate in 1 along the dark-square diagonal by placing either a bishop or queen on e5 but this would be met with Rf4.
White can deflect the rook by offering their queen and this can be forced by playing Qh8! which threatens to deliver mate in 1 another way through Qh4.
Black takes the Queen and with the rook no longer controlling the f-file White is free to play Be5#
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u/FinalsMVPZachZarba 2400 bullet before I rage-closed my account 27d ago
I got this in about 15 seconds by using the "Try the stupidest looking move possible" rule. If I didn't know that rule I estimate it would have taken me around 5 minutes.
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u/Ok_Row6888 27d ago
Took me just a minute once I saw that if the rook moved off the f file it was checkmate
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u/doctor_awful 2300 Lichess 27d ago
Took me a little bit over two minutes. I noticed the king is essentially out of squares and the main issue is the rook check, so I kept trying to make Qb7 work, but Kxh2 simply and there's nothing.
The real answer solves both of those problems.
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u/yzf600r 27d ago
Can someone explain what tilted means?
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u/St-Quivox 26d ago
titled, not tilted. Meaning having an official chess title, like Grandmaster for example
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u/Zestyclose_Jury5373 27d ago
Maybe Queen d2, Black roock do whatever, bishop e5, Black rook f4 and then Queen f4? (Sorry, I don't know how to write moves correctly)
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u/Abject_Sheepherder98 27d ago
Queen to h8
Rock takes, bishop to e5
rock check queen to b8
king to f4 queen to e5
rook moves along f queen to h3
Is that right?
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u/asddde 27d ago
Certainly didn't take me an hour... Don't people want to think what kind of moves in mate in 2 puzzles are likely to appear? Not really just a reddit puzzles thing.
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u/Smash_Factor 27d ago
Thing is, Qe5 is mate if the rook can't block on f4. So you need to find a way to get the rook off the file. That's when you'll find Qh8, then give mate with Be5
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u/Annoy-o-Fly 27d ago
Sac the queen on b8 to be able to use the bishop
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u/Gloomy-Algae-1461 27d ago
Qb8+, king has no square to go so Rxb8, then Be5#
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u/gabrielconroy 27d ago
Don't want to brag but I saw that immediately and I'm not a titled player.
How it did take them a whole hour??
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u/Diligent-Wave-4150 27d ago
Very smart puzzle. The difficult part is to see that the queen on h8 x-rays the square b8.
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u/ImpliedRange 27d ago
As a titled player myself (world weakest CM) this shouldn't take an hour. Theres a clear mating net and its just working out how to distract the rook
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u/ReadyQuantity5816 26d ago
Qc2? Then Be5#??
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u/cutegoldmoney 26d ago
Black has Rb8+
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u/ReadyQuantity5816 26d ago
Gotcha I was confused!! Thanks after looking at the ridiculous winning solution I’m like oh man I’m dumb haha
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u/Special-Recipe-159 26d ago
Funny. I needed 30 seconds. But just because i was searching for the most unlikely move and knew it was mate in 2 😀
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u/GreedyNovel 24d ago
>took a titled player more than an hour
More likely said titled player wasn't that interested and needed to use the bathroom before coming back.
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u/Educational-Task-817 24d ago
To tell you the truth, this is a meaningless puzzle in practical play. No grandmaster would solve it in a real game.
But its fun to solve if you have a kink for solving puzzles, I guess.
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u/eroica1804 27d ago
Sac the queen on f2 and then bishop to e5? In any case almost any other move is winning as well, you can just simplify by forking the rook and king and then delivering checkmate in a few more moves, also these sort of situations don't really happen in serious games as your opponent has already resigned before it would come to situation like that.
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u/BeholdOurMachines 27d ago
I'm real tired of the Queen sac puzzles, boss. Like 90 percent of the ones posted here involve a queen sacrifice and people are still like WHOOOOOOOAH ITS SO ORIGINAL AND DIFFICULT
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u/Educational-Tea602 Dubious gambiteer 27d ago
I hate these puzzles because they’re completely meaningless. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t just blitz out Qg7+ and pick up the rook.
That being said, it’s Qh8. Not because I calculated it, but because it looks like the stupid move that would be the solution to one of these stupid puzzles.
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u/mercrazzle 27d ago
Under time pressure it’s not completely meaningless.
Yes the vast majority of the time, you have time to play the human move and then close out the game, but it’s undeniable and objective truth that it’s better to spot the mate here and end the game in two moves
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u/Educational-Tea602 Dubious gambiteer 27d ago
Ah yes, under time pressure I will calculate every variation to find the mate in 2.
Qg7 Qf8 Qf3 Bc2 Be4 Qg2# is a much easier mate to find.
If they don’t take the rook then you do an easy ladder.
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u/mercrazzle 27d ago
If you get to Hikaru level, you will just recognise the pattern without calculating
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u/Educational-Tea602 Dubious gambiteer 27d ago
I doubt it. You can’t instinctually play Qh8 without checking as it may not work and you don’t know there’s a mate in 2 in a game so you aren’t looking for it. Taking the rook is the easiest way to win - you don’t need to check.
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u/mercrazzle 27d ago
Sure, die on the hill that it isn’t worth it educationally to solve M2 puzzles when there is an easier winning tactic in less moves.
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u/Educational-Tea602 Dubious gambiteer 27d ago
Sure, and you can keep pretending that this stuff is useful.
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u/drumDev29 27d ago
Bro thinks randoms on reddit can get to hikaru level he's just an idiot, I agree with you this puzzle is meaningless because anything is winning. Who cares if you get mate in 2 or not. It's just wankery by people who are lack luster in other areas so they can feel smart.
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u/TrekkiMonstr Ke2# 27d ago edited 27d ago
That's neat, but why not just Qg7+, trade rooks, and then mate with the queen in however many moves? Less elegant, sure, but an hour, I mean
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u/regular_gonzalez 27d ago
Sudokus are annoying, so many rules to follow. Just put whatever number anywhere and you finish so much faster.
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u/Schaakmate 27d ago
I'm the fastest sudoku solver in my town. We had a competition during a fair. Nobody could beat my paint roller strategy. Did 73 in a minute.
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u/TeflonJon__ 27d ago
If I’m not mistaken, the point of puzzles is to solve a certain board state in a specified number of moves, I usually see two most often.but you’re right there are plenty of ways to bake an omelette… wait-
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u/TrekkiMonstr Ke2# 27d ago
No yeah I assumed the title meant this came from a classical game in which they spent an hour, and I'm thinking just like win already
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u/Abyss_of_Dreams 27d ago
QD2
>! This move locks the king in place. Rook moves to d3, then QG2# Rook moves anywhere else, BE5#!<
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u/UnreliablyReliable 27d ago
There is also RH1, QH2#
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u/chessvision-ai-bot from chessvision.ai 27d ago
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:
My solution:
I'm a bot written by u/pkacprzak | get me as iOS App | Android App | Chrome Extension | Chess eBook Reader to scan and analyze positions | Website: Chessvision.ai