Position 1
The solution is 1.Ra6!! threatening mate on a7 or…
1…bxa6 2.Qc6+!! Bxc6 3.Bxc6++
Position 2
White is up a rook, but black is threatening mate on b2 and 1.bxc3?? loses to 1…Rb6+ 2.Ka1 Bxc3++
How to cover the mate?
1.Qb5!! covering b2!
1…axb5 now the dangerous b-file is blocked: 2.bxc3 therefore wins now.
1…Rb6 2.Qxb6! won’t help black
Position 3
Material is even but the white pieces are much more active and black is already lost.
It’s time or white to open up the position while the black pieces are uncoordinated
and the black king is still in the centre.
1.b4 followed by 2.Nb5 is a sound plan, but there is something more powerful:
1.e5!! is opening up for Bd3 and also giving Nc3 a possible square on e4
The game Nimowitsch-Flohr, 1931 continued
1.e5 dxe5 2.Bg6+ Kd8 3.Ne4 Nc8 4.Bxh7 Rxh7 5.Nxf6 and black is completely lost
The game went on for several moves after this, but of course white won…
Position 4
This has been one of the toughest problems in the test!
The position is rather closed and although white has a space advantage it’s not easy
to find a useful plan for white. If he wanted a draw he could simply play 1.b5, but he wants
to win this one, right?
One should realize that to win this game we need to open up the position and this can only be
done on the kingside! Which moves do we have at our disposal?
1.gxh5 This is not good. Black can retake with the knight and later put that knight on f4
1.Ng3 followed by 2.gxh5 fails because of 1…h4!
Then we have 1.h4!
Is this any good? The answer is yes!
This perhaps becomes clearer after 1.h4 gxh4 2.f4!
after which the white pieces (Nd3 and Be2) are suddenly active, the white Queen can turn into an attacker very quickly and the black pieces are too far away to assist their King in time.
The game continued
1.h4 gxh4 2.f4 g5 3.fxe5+ dxe5 4.Nh2 Ne6 5.gxh5 Qh7 6.Bf3 Nf4+ 7.Nxf4 gxf4 8.Qa1 h3+ 9.Kxh3 Bb7 10.Ng4+ Kf7 11.Qxe5 Bc8 12.bxc5 bxc5 and black resigned. Landau-Schmidt, 1938
Position 5
Very tough one!
White is lost if he allows black to grab the white kingside pawns so he has only one shot left:
1.f6!! This actually wins!
1.f6 gxf6 2.f4 Kd5 3.g5 fxg5 4.fxg5 Ke5 5.gxh6 Kf6 6.Kb3 zugzwang!!
This position deserves a diagram. Black to move and he is lost- whenever he moves his king the white h-pawn goes for promotion!
Position 6
White has a decisive advantage!
Just compare the activity level of the white pieces to the one of the black pieces.
And black’s king is still dangerously exposed in the centre.
In the 1967 Soviet Championships, Gurgenidze, playing white against Lein, found the most decisive move in this position: 1.Nxf5!!
Black is lost in all variations:
1…exf5 2.e6! d6 3.e7
1…gxf5 2.Qh5+ Kd8 3.Rad1
1…Na5 (the move played by Lein) 2.Bd5! Bb7 3.Nd6+ Bxd6 4.exd6 Qc8 5.Bh6!
Position 7
Very unusual and very beautiful.
If anyone saw the complete solution to this one, then I’m very impressed!
The solution is 1.d6!! exd6 2.Kd3!! Bxg3 3.a5 d5 4.a6 Bb8 5.a7 Bxa7 Stalemate!!
Position 8
This is an example of Philidor’s technique of holding a R vs R+P endgame.
The important thing is to avoid ending up in a Lucena position and this is easiest done by
1.Rb3! Cutting off black’s king from advancing to the 3rd rank. Important!
1…Ra2+ 2.Kd1 The only way for black to advance is to push his pawn.
2…d3 3.Rb1! After black advanced his pawn white can activae his rook as the black king now has no shelter behind his pawn.
The position is drawn.
Position 9
The toughest of all problems!
Although white can win in several variations there’s nothing as decisive and beautiful as the power move 1.Rc7!!
1…Rxc7 2.Nf6 is leading to a quick mate
1…Rg8 2.Rxd7 Bxd7 3.Nf6 Rg7 4.Nxh7! Kg8 5.Nf6+ Kf8 6.Nxd7+ and white has won decisive material.
Position 10
This bishop endgame is of course won for white.
The quickest win comes after
1.Bxg4!!
1…hxg4 2.d7 Ke7 3.h5
1…Bf1 2.d7 Ke7 3.Be6 followed by g4
1…Bc6 2.Bxh5
1.d7! is of course also winning for white but not as fast…
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October 5, 2008 at 4:36 pm
davaniel
I gave only 3 correct answers, and got a rating estimate of 2049 - although the correct answers I gave were to positions 4, 5 and 9 - said to be the toughest. What happened?
October 5, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Claus Jensen
I have rated up to 7 different answers to each problem.
So even if you haven’t got a problem perfectly right, you may have found a good move and you will be awarded for that as well.
When I say that a position is tough, it’s based on how the solvers have been doing on that particular problem.
October 20, 2008 at 11:50 pm
ecs
I gave 4 correct, #s 1, 2, 6, 7, for a rating of 1986.
My moves for the others were:
#3: a4-a5 (preventing 0-0-0 but just marking time)
#4: b4-b5 (restricting pieces; forgot about 1…h4)
#5: f2-f4 (thinking 2.g4-5 won, not remembering that black isn’t obliged to play 2…h6xg5)
#8: d2-e2 (haven’t studied endgames)
#9: g4-f6
#10: f5-g6 (thinking i was getting both h5 & g4, but forgetting …Bc6 Bxh5,Bd7)
October 22, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Claus Jensen
#3: a4-a5 is a good move and is rated above your final rating (1986)
#4: b4-b5 is very unambitious! after black’s h4! position is drawn
#5: f2-f4 is losing instantly! But there are moves rated even lower than this one
#8: studying endgames is a very good idea! The problem is hat it is a little boring. But to REALLY understand chess you should actually start studying the endgames - this helps you understand middle and opening game strategies
#9: Your move is very natural, but unfortunately not very good. It’s almost impossible to fnd Rc7!!
#10 is of course not best move, but nt completely hopeless
Overall, you did very well.
I plan to do another test when I find the time…Hopefully in the near future!
Thanks for sharing your test results…!
Claus
March 30, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Matt Wyrick
That was a nice workout!
May 21, 2009 at 12:03 pm
John
nice test!
my answers were..
1) Ra6
2)Qd8.. i was thinking i could distract the bishop from the f6 square. But of course the bishop didn’t have to capture it!
3)a5..kicking the knight..gaining more space
after seeing the power of e5 i feel stupid now!
4)Bd1?? my idea was to make my bishop more active
5)g5?? another blunder but my plan was g5 hxg5 f6 gxf6 then my h pawn can promote duh
6)a4 i did not like b5 which would dislodge my bishop from that diagonal. b5 was just a ghost! i could have captured on b5. anyway i was more concerned about the bishop being trapped there than blacks king safety. Nice one.
7)d6 for all the wrong reasons! my plan was to go Kd5 instead of Kd3 intending to block all the diagonals for the bishop to prevent my a pawn from queening. I would queen first the Qa1+ check would win the white queen on h1.
8)Rb1?? outright blunder
9)Rc7..yeah i got this one!! and i dont think this move is hard to see at all and i am not even a good player as has been proved by my previous moves.. white wants to get either Qf8 check or Ng6 threatening checkmate.. The one move which solves both these problems is Rc7 simple!
10)Be3 idea being if bxe3 then i could eat up the c5 pawn then use the principle of two weaknesses to get to the other side in time to gobble up those pawns and advance it to victory.
Very good workout. found out something really wrong with me! I assume too many things about my opponents reply which turn out to absolutely stupid. Looking forward to your next test.
May 24, 2009 at 9:35 am
Claus Jensen
Glad you liked the test, John!
I will do another one in the near future which I hope will be just as instructive but hopefully a little more accurate when it comes to estimating user ratings
Claus
February 23, 2010 at 9:54 am
Anonymous
Mr Jenses, I am very much dismayed and upset at what happened. In the first test, I got a rating of 2259, and in the second test, My rating was only 1457!!! Whats going on? Am I THAT bad? which test do I beleiev? please help me, Im very depressed.
Thank you very much, sir.
February 23, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Claus Jensen
First of all: Remember that these tests don’t claim to give an accurate estimate of your real playing strength - they are nothing but good fun!
Secondly, I believe test 1 is estimating too high, while test 2 is more on the low side.
So perhaps if you combine the two tests, a VERY rough estimate would be that you are in the 1600-1900 range.
Best regards,
Claus
February 25, 2010 at 9:39 am
Anonymous
Mr Jensen, May I suggest that you please check your second test for accuracy? Im a FIDE master, rated well over 2300, and I got a score of only 1620 in the aforementioned test. Naturally, I was much chagrined, and I would as such, beg that you take the necessary steps to ensure a little more accuracy in the same. Thank you.
February 25, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Claus Jensen
It would be a big help in identifying any problem if you could tell me your answers to the 10 positions…
Best regards,
Claus
March 28, 2010 at 1:31 pm
FM *********** ************
Do you really expect me to take the test again, just to provide you with the answers to this test, and satisfy your doubts as to wether Im really an FM? you are a selfish peice of work, sir. Go to hell, please.
March 28, 2010 at 1:32 pm
FM *********** ************
I have a good mind to report you, and this peice f junk that passes for a real test, to the US chess federation, with the petition that they forcibly close down this site. Thank you.
April 18, 2010 at 5:10 am
jessicafischerqueen
Mr. FM-
lol why are you so angry? You sound like an ill-mannered five year old.
If you are indeed a Fide Master, you are not a very good chessplayer’s role model.
This is a great chess blog I’m just exploring it now.
Hats off to Mr. Jensen for doing all of this great work.