Grandmaster Chess Tactics #1: Can you spot the line?

[Papajack55]

i definately love these vids.lets see some super hard to spot tactics,the harder the tactic is to spot for me,the more i learn when it is discussed.thks good chess jro

[GenuineViking]

saw the fork after 30 sec... then constructed the means...

[flybirdefly]

how is the bishop pinned???

[reallyflasshy]

@flybirdefly The White queen ...

[24cincyreds]

@flybirdefly because taking with his bishop would be illegal since the white queen is there.

[TheSwaggerCat]

I saw this b4 he said it! i feel like a winner lol

[bigglenn11203]

chess chess-master1.

[magiccards05]

I saw it nice play tho

[KillaNinja0]

so much for zukertort being the more tacticly wise player of the two.. i mean iv seen some of his games and he really played like shit i mean like sub 2000 level

[pipatoad]

at 4:00 why doesn't white simply capture the pawn that is being defended by the other pawn with his rook?

[ledzeppeman]

@pipatoad Because... It's black's turn??? If you're talking about the pawn on f6, It would not have been the best move, it would have been quite a terrible move actually. In short why would I "simply" make a move that isn't game winning?

[YsnipezYMw2]

patzers count in points lol

[KatiushaVN4]

Le Quang Liem no.1

[Saltistic]

I saw the line really quickly! :D

[Btpride305]

After the knight cap Rxh6 ignore rook and bring you rook to f8 defending the fork.

[rorye98]

i saw the line as soon as the diagram came up!!

[swedenviggo]

i saw the line after like 10seconds :)

[mirwel999]

what iam trying to figure out is did the person who was playing black not calculate this before he moved his knight to h6?

[YodatheJedi12]

I'd love to be able to pull this off in a chess match someday!

[justnofreakingway]

I feel proud cuz I spotted that line :)

[moviecritic6]

I'm proud of myself for spotting this line at a meager 979 rating

[Henryzhong01]

Chinese chess is smarter

[brynevsfischer1956]

excellent video...it's interesting to see what Zuckertort could have played instead of capturing the rook. According to my search engine - Bc8 and it really seems the only move. anything else will lose more material (even the queen) after white plays Rh4

[xNecroKey]

were they playing speed chess or wat... that was a pretty big mistake

[MoPar7055]

This only worked because black made a mistake by taking with the pawn. Black could have had a bishod in exchange for his weaker knight

[LuckynumberSlevin11]

i saw it yehhhhh

[aOmmyLuv]

???

[voncoolio]

Great analysis! What's your standard rating? I'll bet it's above 2000!

[skategod17412]

Don't wanna sound like a noob but why couldn't the bishop attack the knight.

[Thelegendkiller17]

@skategod17412 Because the queen would've been in check with the king (Y) 

[AContusionInside]

@Thelegendkiller17 Didn't notice that either, haha, thanks.

[GusCollias]

yes the position of the queen suspended directly above the king led to a desire to clear the file, and the critical defending pawn stood out as well as the possible forking double check....after some sacrifice...am becoming much more comfortable about sacs and concenrtrated on positional advantages...your lessons and games have been extremely helpful !!!

[ganjoy007]

After Rh6 ..f5! would save Zukertort

[ganjoy007]

@ganjoy007 I mean Rxh6 followed by f5!

[TuxedoKnightChess]

i didnt spot the line =( i feel so bad......

how i missed that ¬¬

well.. whoever is interested in watching a short game collection (fun games of GMs blundering and making brilliant moves at the begining)

you can visit my web

tuxedoknight.webege (dot) com

my logo is a knight... in a tuxedo :3

[oryxfreeride]

it seems weird that this is like grandmaster chess strategy... I would just call this a huge mistake on blacks part in not seeing the fork...

[Sherigami]

Can I play you? :D

[envisionluke]

Nice Tactic! THX!

[armatageshanks66]

jrobi your videos are absolutely amazing, keep them up!

I can't believe a GM made that blunder though. But once the rook took I think the result was inevitable.

Thanks for the awesome videos ! =D

[herbal1971]

Nice video. I wonder why black didn't castle long, though.

[lol8774]

this was easy, im suprised GMs do this kind of mistakes.,.

[xsjadobruce]

this was easy saw it right away but maybe thats cuz i just did like 100 puzzles from my tactics book



[crosswordpark]

Black was actually winning before it blundered.

[four2x4]

Been enjoying your tutorials for the past few weeks, now that I've come back to playing. This was one line that I saw right away, and felt good about seeing it! That said, I'm a very modest rated player that has moments of brilliance, but mostly blunder when playing higher rated players lol..

[dennosbebebe]

hey jrobi im only 14 and i don't talk english too good but still you are able too explain it to me and that's too awesome i love your vids

[kiddRasta]

this is very nice game

[mielord21]

jrobi!!! i have found the solution before playing the video!!! really i'm improving because of you!!! thanks!!!

[debsndave]

for a grandmaster level that was a little simple im not a good chess player and got it very quickly but absolutelyove your videos ty

[HellSaint1000]

It's weird that a Grandmaster didn't see that can't remove the defender of the pawn... O.o''

[vitofagos]

after rook to h6, then black plays pawn to f5, pretty easy...

[HellSaint1000]

@vitofagos ? After Rxh6, pawn to f5? Lol... And if after that the white play Ne5...?

[iHateNumbersInNames9]

I have been messing around with the kings gambit declined for a bit now, and i have found i like to remove that same pawn too, usally after they castle king side, just to give me a nice runway. what i do is normally use my black tile bishop as a gambit to open it up, so far it has worked ok.

Still, i think im some way off having any use for videos like this yet, im no GM.

[magicpillow25]

pawn up forward at the beggining of game website. cheseeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ECCLESCHESSCLUB]

My idea would be something along the lines of using the x-ray pin along the E file, so 1.RxNh6!! Seems to make great use of this! There is also a potential of a fork with black's King and Queen on f6. Looks nice!

[heirlume]

very impressive, a perfect string of moves. He obviously spent a while thinking before he launched his plan. Great video!

[m0onst9er]

If I already spotted those moves in approximately 2 minutes after first glance at the position of the board, does that mean I'm on a strong level of tactics?

[beluemma]

Nice

[mattfca]

ok paused... i'm going to say bxg6, nxg6, rxg6, fxg6, nxc6+ :)

[FalkonX3000]

wow, that was nice

[KBoogs719]

jrobi what is ur relative playing strength in terms of elo rating?

[godly04]

lol yah I find in Chess a lot of the time there's no need for elaborate questioning when you see a dumb looking move.

9 times out of 10 in pro games if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

[mooogles]

actually after the rook took on h6, there is no place for the queen to retreat. the queen will fall regardless of what the next move is.

brilliant!

[samuelsamuelp]

Thanks so much for the videos. They have really improved my chess :)

[ChessMaster453]

Great Video!

[SageonX]

Great Job, keep these coming!

[MrZingnigga]

The line I saw was Bxc7, Rc8, Nd6+, Nxd6, Bxd6 threatening Qxe7# on the next move. Kd8 is no good because the black rook is on c8 and the white bishop is still protecting c7. Black does have an escape in Kf8 but his defense is clearly compromised.

[rtx431]

Im only 1700 and i solved this in 10seconds lol

[Thymonico]

Hah! Solved in 5 seconds! I can't believe Zukertort fell for that!

I loved the line though, awesome! :)

[sandwichappy]

great video!

[diegofurlan92]

By the way thanks for the video keep posting plz!

[diegofurlan92]

Knights are for me the best in checks

[hundredandfour]

Hey I actually saw that one before you told us.

[Gamerzhut]

super trick ...

[606revo]

can anyone explain the pin for me in 3:08

[MrFedel]

white queen on e1 is pinning the black bishop on e7 to the black king on e8.

[westcliff148]

The white knight comes to the square f6 with check to the black king and also attacking the black queen. This is a fork. Now the knight is on a square where it could be captured by the black bishop, but if the bishop moved then the black king would be in check from the white queen. So the bishop is said to be PINNED to the black king. A PIN is where a piece can't move off its square as it will either put its own king in to check or lead to the loss of material or to a positional weakness.

[beansmaister]

Bishop can't move cuz it's blocking check.

[ricohorton]

i just have trouble remembering all the moves.

[mskw2]

Zukertort was a brilliant player. Silly mistakes happen to even the best players. That was almost elementary. Still, nice combination.

[VitalSigns1]

Good move

[dw1176]

Nh6 is an obvious blunder i saw it after 2 minutes before watching it....

[mitsushiro7]

why not white to d4? it can either take bishop or pawn of blacks or make black defend and eventually make the king vulnerable to a queen or just be a free pawn on b2. Another thing is that blacks b3 pawn is weak and free to kill from the whites bishop

[shift123]

why couldnt the bishop take the knight???

[Sp0rtsFan2008]

white's queen would have had the king in check

[xxxXM3talXxx]

Whites queen on e1 had blacks e7 bishop in a pin... It is impossible for the move Bxf6 to take place because you can't move into check

[BOYWONDER20090]

The bishop is pinned to the king it can't take the knght.

[sh4dowsl4y5r]

because when the white knight moved and created the check fork the white queen pinned the black bishop to the king

[Freshman000000]

I saw it. :D

Took me like 10minutes though.

[Freshman000000]

Wow, I already watched this.

I thought it was weird I saw it so quickly.

[Idneed30charforanick]

This is not what I would call "grandmaster tactics". Zukertort simply made an enormous blunder.

You can see real "grandmaster's tactics" in Tal's games for instance, or for a recent game, look for Morozevich - Vachier-Lagraeve, pretty impressive.

[dobsondale]

i thought they looked weak for GM too !!!!

[IHATENEDAH]

yes but you forgot to mention that this 1800 niveau today

[IHATENEDAH]

could you please change the format the board and the pieces are too wide its pretty annoying

[texasrwayne31]

Maybe I'm missing something, but why didn't black just castle to one side or the other before it got to this point?

[stuffyfreerunner]

perhaps because he hadnt the time to do so??!!

[PatrickvanSlee]

This was great, thank you for posting this. Your enthusiasm for chess is contagious, and your instructional tone is great.

[DryNogin]

Samuel, you really, really, need a life.

[SharpPolicy]

after f5.. then Rh4.. attacking the queen and white is ahead material

[fastr1337]

good catch

[elpaisitadeoro]

After white Rxh6 how about f5?

[Netherlands91]

I don't know for sure, but how about knight f2? He's attacking the queen, forcing black to move it to safety and white saves his rook in the next move. Black's still in a bad shape, but the queen is indeed not lost.

[conodelamadreputa]

Good move but after Kf2 attacking the queen the game continues with white having a knight down, and if some grandmasters surrender at one pawn loss, one knight would be a really hard game to win. Anyway im not sure if Kf2 is the best move if f5.

[AlTarik]

I just can't believe why the black didn't see that?

[jmkba]

maybe he just didn't want to play with a piece down

[flamingmonkey923]

This was a great video. You should expand on this series.

[Ashpotter200]

at first i was thinking, why can't the resigned grandmaster just take that knight. But then I saw that once he does, the knight can fork the king and the bishop again. I actually saw this move coming, but i didn't expect the queen fork :)

[Ep1cure]

I considered this, but was concerned with after: bxh6 .....nxg3

[xellos88330]

I saw it, but didn't expect black to take rook with pawn. That wasn't pretty.

[tubajedimaster]

I saw the line. But like you said, ignore the rook would have been the best thing,and then castle for black says Rybka.

[raumbus]

brilliant

[deonneo1994]

what is your website?

i wanna see it :D thanks!

Your videos are nice

[Drummerjoni]

Whats pinned?

[jrobichess]

A pinned piece is one that is being attacked and has another piece of more importance and value behind it. For example if it's the king behind it, it can't legally move and is completely pinned down. If it's a piece of more material value (like a rook or queen) then it can move but if it does the other more valuable piece will be captured. Rooks, bishops, and the queen can pin pieces as they are the long range attackers.

[ayrahcavaruas]

since the title says "grandmaster chess tactics" he probably expects you to know these basic terms

[thef1fan]

there is also a similer move to the the piin called the skewer it almost the same except that the piece being attacked has a less valuable piece behind it like a rook behind an attacked queen

[ganjoy007]

@jrobichess After Rh6 ..f5! would save Zukertort wouldn't that?

[dragonheadofthewest]

@ganjoy007 no it woultn its still fork and the queen is gone...

[FalkonX3000]

@Drummerjoni A pin is a a marijuana cigarette.

EX: "I'll be right there, I just gotta roll a few pins for the trip."

[mattfca]

@FalkonX3000 lmao. thats a pinner

[beanerforlife04]

@FalkonX3000 haha

i like the example

[vickoppa]

ya i did lol.

[PuzzledJoker]

Great video! I know have a 12 win streak.

[peckiledorf]

i wish i was smart

[BongBeastyPimp]

i had a deffrent varaition

[theledg3092]

I played around with the idea of those moves and got it as soon as you started to explain, but thats why you put these videos on right, to help people improve, so you are awesome and you're doing a great job, thanks

[jrobichess]

Thanks theledg3092! I appreciate the feedback!

[xxmax01xx]

i'm rated 1800 and i found this before watch in 7.4 second and the black opponent was not a GM if i found that..

[HoliCrapItsAllan]

You must be retarded...

[BipolarBowler]

I saw it before you explained it! Usually I'm not too keen to the puzzles in my chess book.

[jrobichess]

Good catch!

[auraelion]

Great Thanks!

[tave2344]

you rock man

[LukePettit]

Does this prove that the players in the 1800s weren't very good? How can this be a world championship match!

[jrobichess]

Well we need to remember that there has been a century of development in terms of chess theory since then, much to the benefit of modern chess players.  That being said, GM's still make mistakes at the top levels of chess, which is a healthy thing for the game overall.

[AugustKamppur]

To further your point, Luke should take a look at the games of Paul Morphy (played decades earlier).

[cclasby]

The Bxh6 was just a very good move in a very complicated position. Sometimes it is difficult to tell how things will play until they have. :)

[WorseThanFail]

It's not a particularly difficult move. I'm rated around 1700 and that move took me 4 or 5 seconds to find.

[cclasby]

And that's a straw man, you should read what I said... It is a good move, in a complicated position. There are quite a few threats and many opportunities to mischaracterize the threats, just as you have mischaracterized my comment.

[gpto17]

it must be a 1 min blitz game for a gm not to see that o.o

[justabrasilian]

From the paused position:

1. Bxh6 wins a piece, for example

1. ... Nxh6 2. Rxh6 and now Black must avoid the disastrous

2. ...gxh6?? Nxf6+ winning the queen

[fukiwow]

first i saw theposition i new already that black will gett forked!

[MangekyouRook]

i got bishop take knight, knight take bishop, rook take knight then pawn take rook (i got this from focusing on the knight) but from there i didn't get anything, but i assumed there was a good move i just hadn't seen - turns out there was - another great video jrobi 5/5

[UmbraShade8]

yeah it's like - Free rook hell yeah!

[nerfman09]

how does a gm not see that

[lilondra]

mistakes happen at any level :p

[nerfman09]

zukertort is a zukerTARD

[nerfman09]

i couldnt spot the line but i saw the  two 1st moves

[nerfman09]

ok thanks

[nerfman09]

what's a line?

[Rinsho06]

A sequence of chess moves, usually ending with a person either in a better position, a piece ahead, or winning the game.

[lilondra]

saw it ^^

[foxywizrad]

well it's really just like that sometimes we make mistakes even if they are obvious

nobodies perfect u know

[ihavemonkeysinmybutt]

they didn't have computer chess programs 140years ago

[abramo10]

what do you mean by pind?

[djhutchison]

He means that the bishop couldn't take knight because it would have exposed the black king to a check by the white queen.

[vijaysuri]

i couldnt spot the line.very simply....

[jerkhead777]

lmao, i laughed when i saw this

i saw that fork a mile away!

but wasnt he paying attention? this goes to show even grandmasters make mistakes...

[damasterofhoops]

why didnt the bishop take the challenging knight?

[lordgledhill]

bishop was pinned by queen on e1

[maurycy407]

Ya that was stupid. Took me about 20 seconds to spot that. People make mistakes that's life.

[BillyJackets]

Hard to believe a world class player would miss the queen king fork but he obviously did

[traveler900]

perhaps it shows how far chess has advanced from then like anything else: compare with athletics where the records of the passed have been brushed away time and again

[LittleChessElf]

I saw that the knight check and the bishop pin could have been used, but I didn't see that line. Nice vid.

[alb3586]

nice

[MiikalxD]

Wow.. It was so obvious..

[Broodjeaap89]

Can't believe a grandmaster fell for that :P

[casanova0102]

it was speed chess...

[Geppy23]

it was before Steinitz time,so good players didn't know anything about center, pawn structure,and something like 1.Nf3 was something what only weak players played. Before Steinitz it was all like cafeteria chess

[AugustKamppur]

This is not true at all. There were many good players before Steinitz, such as Le Bourdonnais, Adolf Anderssen and Paul Morphy. You can sit comfortably behind rybka and think people used to play cafeteria chess, but there were many chess geniuses in the 1800's.

[lutzzze]

How can a GM dont see that?

[Jack91484]

Tip for beginners:

Castle early!

[mahalyeng]

i AM NOT CHESS WIZ, BUT IN 3:59 POSITION I THINK THE BLACK NEXT MOVE SHOULD HAVE BEEN KING TO F7.

[k17dudeP]

king f7 white replies knight to h2 queen had two squares to move to (g6 or f5) either one leads to knight d3 check and the bishop will take the queen next move it's slightly better but not by much

[thesunassaulter]

When do you look for the decisive move. You can't do it on every move. I think It's a guess that you'll not get a better change than is now presented.

[Nunchucks67]

saw it from the beggining

good video

[honeybobkins]

Same here. Good vid.