A Puzzle That Tells If YOU Have The 'Chess Talent'

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Do you have what it takes to become a strong chess player? Do you have the so-called chess talent? In this video lesson, GM Igor Smirnov shows you an interesting chess puzzle which was used by the former Soviet Union chess coaches to determine whether their students have the so-called chess talent or not.

This old Russian chess puzzle (also known as the "Soviet Test of Chess Talent") consists of a White queen and 4 Black pawns. The task for you, as White, is to capture all the Black pawns before or when they get promoted.

By the way, a question that you would probably have is "Is it true or a myth? Can chess puzzles determine if one has the so-called chess talent or not?" Well, watch the video lesson as GM Igor Smirnov has answered that as well with a nice story.

Feel free to pause the video, try to solve this puzzle, and see if you have the "chess talent".

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► Chapters

00:00 Chess Talent Test
00:12 Soviet/Russian Chess Puzzle
01:03 Can you solve this puzzle?
01:39 Is it true or a myth?
03:38 Which pawn should the queen capture?
06:25 If White plays Qxd3
08:04 Did you solve the puzzle?

#IgorNation #ChessPuzzle #ChessTraining

[nathankeel]

I saw QxD3 as seemingly the best move vary quickly but it took a 2-3minutes to double check everything to make sure it worked with every possible move order. Also I see alot of people say they did it in a couple seconds unless you are a titialed playier or have vary good patern your not seeing all possible pawn moves after your queen move in under like minute

[russeshe]

Ah, I see where I was getting confused. I misunderstood the failure condition and thought that allowing any pawn to promote was a failstate, so until near the end of your explanation I thought you'd made a mistake somehow but didn't want to be too assured of that, incase there was some other rule I was missing. It makes a lot more sense after seeing that the only condition was preventing your queen from being taken though, and it makes me feel a little better knowing I wasn't quite as oblivious as I thought.

[frankbeerbaum]

I managed it, at first I thought Qx3 would work, but I realized the problem, calculated the other line (Qxd3) and did not find a way for black‘s pawns not to be captured.

[FearedbuckYT]

Wow I think those puzzles helped. I seen the solution even from looking at the thumbnail. I’m a 1100 player trying to get to 2000.

[danser_theplayer]

I solved it in 10 seconds. And I'm sure I'm not a chess prodigy, this puzzle is kinda weak.

[darrylkassle]

This is certainly one of the best channels for learning chess. Really this channel should have a million subs as good as Gotham chess instruction wise if not as entertaining. Smirnov really gets to the core the heart of what to do and what to learn to improve

[stevenrenfro]

This is definitely for young players, because even though I started late in life and am not rated very high, I've been playing chess for long enough that this was a pretty easy puzzle for me to solve. I'm not bragging I swear 😂, I've just noticed that kids learn new things quickly, but usually only on a surface level, while older people learn new things slower but at a deeper level. That is why prodigies are a big deal, because it is rare for a young person to understand things on that deeper level. I know this is a random ramble, but I like to put these kinds of thoughts out into the world, and anyone who disagrees is welcome to give me their perspective.

[Shrekilator]

Hey Igor,
Nice Video! I don’t know if it means anything, but I found that puzzle surprisingly easy. It took me about a minute to calculate all the lines, including the winning one. I’ve never had a coach or any formal lessons. I just learned on my own and played with my dad when I was a kid. Do you think it would be worth getting a chess teacher at this point? I’m 17.

[magnusmarvik]

After queen takes either B3 or D3, I was struggling a lot to see what white could do after C2, completely missing Qc3. I was only able to eliminate taking on B2 because after C2, Qxa3, D2 you have to sacrifice the queen. After taking on D3 instead of A3 in the same variation, you can't stop promotion, and it even protects A3 in the end. Same would happen if Qxd3, C2, Qxb3, you can't stop promotion, and A3 is protected.
Very nice puzzle

[crucifiedthief]

I failed. My "solution" was that the position was lost. I needed the first move or two to see the rest of the solution.

[aukustmanner]

My intuition said after about 30 seconds thinking that eating the D pawn is best option but I couldnt figure out all of the variations for future moves. The last variation that you showed with black moving C pawn forward after white opening was the one I couldnt figure out even without time limit.

[rtclark]

that one kid who solved the puzzle from the thumbnail:

[genostellar]

Yeah, I got it. It becomes obvious once you work through each scenario and find that it's tougher to stop Black when you attack the B3 pawn.

[Poppy_AndFriends]

So I didn't pass but it gave me some insight on what's holding me back. I dismissed my own ideas because I expected counter-play, and was so sure there would be counter-play no matter what I did that I interpreted "no counter-play in sight" as "no counter-play that I am able to see, but is still there."

I've only played about 3 chess games in my adult life so maybe that's a factor. Either way, this was really nice to watch.

[kingu]

30 seconds! I was glad to hear that it was a "high level " puzzle as I consider myself a low end club player. Thanks!

[Hyan_]

I know I suck at chess when I thought the white piece was a king the entire time until he clicked the piece and called it a queen 😂

[SixPieceSuits]

I thought that was the King, so I went about it all wrong to start. Then I didn't know the pawns get upgraded if they reach the other side, so I had again solved off of faulty premises. Once I understood the rules, it seemed fairly straight forward.

[Zamiroh]

I think I roughly figured it out. A lot of it is body blocking with the queen and reacting to what is moved. Start with qd3. Then the rest depends on what black moves first. In some cases you'll go back to b1. Doing it this way will end in black promoting a piece but immediately losing it.

[animagamer]

I solved it. It took me around 25~ minutes. I think I could have shaved 10 or more minutes off that time if I was absolutely focused, but I was on the can and also talking to people in between working on it. I'd love to try my hands at some more of these! I always thought there was no point in pursuing chess since, even though I loved the game as a kid, I never had the opportunity to be good at it. When I was a kid, about 6 I think, an uncle I'd only met once before was visiting my parents. He'd brought a chess set with him and he thought me the rules. He gave me a couple free games, told me I had potential when I won, then proceeded to crush me in the next 3 so I wouldn't get a big head. He let me keep the board and I absolutely loved it, but no one else in my family knew how to play or was interested in learning. I lived out in the boonies so trying to find people to play with locally was just as impossible. I tried to play by myself for a couple months and begged my brother to play with me whenever I could, but neither of those options really went anywhere. The next time I'd have the opportunity to play would be when my family got a computer when I was 12 but by then my passion had mostly faded. The computer had a really cool chess game on it where the pieces looked line actual knights and kings and had these neat capture animations. I loved it and I played it every now and again but it was a lot more frustrating playing vs a ruthless PC than it was playing against the kids and adults I could coax into playing with me. I gave up on it after a while because it was too frustrating and I was way better at a ton of other games. Thinking back on it now, I really regret it. I know I could have learned and improved on my own if I had just kept trying. But as a 12 year old kid with big dreams, I figured all the good kids were already beating adults and winning tournaments at my age so it was probably too late for me anyway. Maybe it's still not too late, maybe I can at least get a respectable elo with some practice.

[AlphaPerson]

after roughly 3 minutes i got QXD3 C2, QD2 A2, QC1 and you win by force no matter what black plays. Even if black didnt play A2 they would still lose all the pawns.