How to play 1D Chess

Learn the rules to the Gardner Puzzle game 1D Chess quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.

Play normal chess online for free here:

RULES:
The object of this single player puzzle game is to figure out how white can checkmate black’s king. On a 1 by 8 board, place white’s pieces from left to right: King, Knight, and Rook. Mirror this setup for black. The king moves 1 square in either direction. The knight jumps 2 squares in either direction. The Rook moves any number of squares in either direction. You are not allowed to castle. The game is a draw if you stalemate, have insufficient material, or repeat the same board position 3 times in a game. Can you figure out how white can checkmate black? Check out the link in the description for where you can play online for free.

[Hyblup]

Too complex for me, I prefer zero-dimensional chess, where the only pieces are black and white’s kings, both of which are in the same exact quantum position as each other (without a board), and neither can move. The game instantaneously ends in a draw the moment it begins.

[aryannagariya]

A moment of silence for those who learned the rules of chess to understand the varient

[MrCubFan]

0:33 “the knight moves like a normal chess knight”
Knight: (clips out of existence)

[RGC_animation]

Imagine someone who just found out about this channel and watched that whole 4 minute video explaining chess just for the rules to cut out literally all of them.

[ethanbotterill]

This is surprisingly easy for white, as Knight to square 4 is forced checkmate. Black has three options:
- rook takes knight:
This leads to rook takes rook, black's only move is knight to square 5, after which rook takes is mate.
- rook to square 5 (not taking the knight):
White moves their rook back to square 2 (a waiting move). Black can either take the knight, which leads to the same sequence of moves as the first option, or move the rook back to square 6, in which case knight takes rook, checkmate.
- knight to square 5:
White's knight takes the unprotected rook, black's only legal move is king to square 7, then white plays the waiting move rook to square 4:
-> If black moves the knight to 3 with check, king to 2, then white has to move the knight to either 1 or 5. If 1, knight to 8 is mate. If 5, knight to 8, king takes knight is forced, and rook takes knight is mate.
-> if instead of knight to 3 check earlier, black plays king takes knight, white has rook to 2 (waiting move), and black has to play either knight to 3 check (which leads to rook takes knight mate) or king to 7, leading to rook takes knight mate.

So it's forced mate as soon as you choose to start with your knight, in as little as 3 moves if black plays poorly, or up to 5 with perfect play from black.

[the_shiny_skorupi]

The solution I found was White knight to the 4th square, Black knight to 5. White knight takes black rook on the 6th square, Black king to the 7th square. White rook to 4, king takes knight. Either king to square 2 or rook to square 2 (rook can’t go to square 3 because the knight will take), black king moves backwards to 7 is forced and rook takes knight is checkmate

[Seydaschu]

Everyone playing 5D Chess with multiverse time travel; meanwhile, me:

[nicolasrededeo]

But wait, is en-passant allowed or not? You said regular chess rules apply, and you didn't mention it, so it must be

[callmeandoru]

I’d like to see a similar chess variant where the pieces can travel on a 8x8 2d plane, but the players are still only 1d creatures and can only see on that line. So you’d see the pieces clip in and out of existence but don’t exactly know where they go.

[hamizannaruto]

Spent a few mins on this puzzle. It's harder than I expected, but quickly figure after realize one piece is causing stalemate. Spoiler ahead

One of the key thing about this puzzle is that you can only checkmate with your rook. Using a knight is impossible to checkmate. Another to note is that knight Will causing stalemate thanks to it jumping move, making black king trap between the knight space.

As you can see, knight is nothing but a nuisance for this puzzle, so knight sacrifice is a must. With that being said, this is the solution:
WKn to 4, then BK to 5, then WKn eat BR, checking the king. Black King to 7, avoiding the check. WR to 4. avoiding being eaten. Black king eat White knight at 6. White king to 2, avoiding stalemate. Black king to 7 by force. White rook eat black knight at 6, checkmate.


Shorter form without explaination:
WKn to 4, BKn to 5, WKn to 6, BK to 7, WR to 4, BK to 6, WK to 2, BK to 7, WR to 5, checkmate.

[EDoyl]

This puzzle is how I learned about the term zugzwang.

[ktoon]

Yo I feel so good about finally solving it, took me about half an hour of trying everything.

[owenho]

I just wanted to know where to get these tablet pieces @0:24

[brfclan]

I figured it out. First move your knight to the only possible square, next take the rook, he must move upwards and you move the rook up one square closer to the black knight, he will take and you will move your king upwards, the next move you take his knight and checkmate him.

[honeyjuice]

mmm a very good chess puzzle, you should do more tsg it's actually a very good concept

[theomelettecuber]

Congrats on 100k! I hope you can get 1 mil subs one day!

[liammooney]

I was so sure it was unsolvable! Took me forever to get it!

[nemanjaperic]

Done it! it sad realy fun and enjoavble
Solution:









1st move knight:
2nd take black's rook:
3rd your rook one space to the left:
4th Move your King:
And the final move take the knight with your rook

[nightsky]

took a few attempts but here's my solution:
1. N4 1. N5
2. Nx6+ 2. K7
3. R4 3. Kx6
4. K2 4. K7
5. Rx5#

[doc]

lets say the boards coordinates are 1-8, 1 is where the white king is and 8 is where the black king is. then the move order would be. White Knight 4, Black knight 5, White knightXBlack rook 6, Black king 7, white rook 4, Black kingXWhite knight 6, white king 2, Black king 7, White rookXBlack knight 5. Checkmate