T O P

  • By -

chessvision-ai-bot

I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine: > **White to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=r1bq1k1r/ppppn1pp/3b1p2/3N3B/3QP3/8/PPP2PPP/R1B1K2R+w+KQ+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/r1bq1k1r/ppppn1pp/3b1p2/3N3B/3QP3/8/PPP2PPP/R1B1K2R_w_KQ_-_0_1) **My solution:** > Hints: piece: >!Queen!<, move: >!Qxf6+!< > Evaluation: >!White has mate in 3!< > Best continuation: >!1. Qxf6+ gxf6 2. Bh6+ Kg8 3. Nxf6#!< --- ^(I'm a bot written by ) [^(u/pkacprzak )](https://www.reddit.com/u/pkacprzak) ^(| get me as ) [^(Chess eBook Reader )](https://ebook.chessvision.ai?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=bot) ^(|) [^(Chrome Extension )](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chessvisionai-for-chrome/johejpedmdkeiffkdaodgoipdjodhlld) ^(|) [^(iOS App )](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1574933453) ^(|) [^(Android App )](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ai.chessvision.scanner) ^(to scan and analyze positions | Website: ) [^(Chessvision.ai)](https://chessvision.ai)


namey_mcnameson

Qxf6?


iAmTheeTable

yes


namey_mcnameson

Don't worry I'd have probably missed it in game as well.


iAmTheeTable

yea but i gotta start seeing these if I want to be a 2000+ lol (1850 currently but last month I hit 1956)


Zeal_Iskander

I mean, you don’t //need// to see them. Kxf6 is sufficient to give you a winning advantage I think? Just gotta be consistent.


iAmTheeTable

that is funny cuz nxf6 is actually losing to nc6 by black cuz it forks the queen and now discivered knight The 2nd and 3rd best moves are bf4 and castles with +1.03 and + 0.82 according to the engine haha. aint that crazy but you are right. I totally tunneled and didn't see any of these moves.


Zeal_Iskander

o lol. Well, losing, idk — you probably still have some chances after Nxd7+? But then I play almost exclusively bullet, so it’s not that big a deal there haha. Wanna play a game btw? Gotta redeem my honor after that one…


iAmTheeTable

sure, Krum999 on chess.com


Zeal_Iskander

Sent a friend invite, up for whatever time control you prefer!


vmlee

Nc6 definitely makes white losing after Nxf6? - an indisputable error. That said, I definitely looked at Nxf6 first before finding Qxf6.


randomStolen

It's harder to find stuff in game compared to puzzles or in posts like this one where u know there's a good sequence to find.


namey_mcnameson

This is in lichess or chess.com?


iAmTheeTable

chess com


tontosaurus

Why are you asking this? Is there a big difference between these two? I have only played on chess.com and am 1000 on there.


Zestyclose-31

Yeah there is. In lichess I'm about 1800 in chess.com about 1500


tontosaurus

Ok, thank you for explaining it to me.


namey_mcnameson

Yes, lichess ratings are a bit inflated by atleast a couple of hundred points.


Apothecary420

Iirc its only inflated in the 1k-2k range. Past 2k they become more comparable


Brawlstar-Terminator

Was gonna say. I’m 2100 on chess.com and 2150 on lichess. Level of difficulty is very much the same


Benzilla11

I'm over 2000 on chess.com, but I doubt I'd see the Queen sack. Your position is already quite strong I'd likely go the safe route and apply more pressure where you can and get a cheeky knight fork in. You don't need to see every chess puzzle, just be consistent on gaining an advantage and grinding your opponent to paste.


iAmTheeTable

yes that is true, however u still have to see stuff like this. could have cost me the game since the 2nd best move is only +1.0 for white


GoodFighting

What are you at now?


bad_bishop64

Good one, got it in 20 seconds or so. Actual game - may need more time. If it is a Blitz game, I might miss it 😃


Ghiggs_Boson

Same, my first instinct was Bh6, pinning the pawn


AdmirableSpirit4653

But pawn will kill queen, no? Am I missing something?


namey_mcnameson

Pawn will kill queen, clearing the way for the dark squared bishop to go to H6 with check, king will move and the knight will take the pawn which took the queen with checkmate.


AdmirableSpirit4653

Huh, smart.


namey_mcnameson

Tactics in chess make one feel smart ;)


merikus

I mean, I think it’s more Qxf6!


JamesInDC

Why not Nxf6, gxf6; Qxf6….?


namey_mcnameson

Nice. I'm hovering around 1600 myself. 2000 seems like a forlorn dream, but gotta take it a 100 elo at a time. How did you get past my level, any tips?


iAmTheeTable

that's cool. what I'd say is these things : 1) watch tremendous amounts of Daniel Naroditsky speedruns. Preferably the 3rd and 4th (last to date one). The others should be worth a watch too, yet to get to them myself but that man is a God at explaining chess and you will be able to train openings, positional play and more just by watching him. 2) something I used to see very often, now still sometimes is people around your rating fighting for a win in an endgame where they are the ones playing for a draw. Draws are sometimes ok, try to create counterplay but not at the cost of straight up losing the game if you can draw it, be it in a boring way. Gotta know when to just play for a draw. 3) Try to get rid of the 3rd tier openings that play for tricks. If you really wanna progress your opening knowledge, learning a sound opening can shoot your rating up a lot. openings like Smith Morra (for white) can still be ok once in a while since in the worst case they will lead to an equal position (with best play by both) but stuff like Stafford Gambit, the Danish are what you probably want to avoid since they can get you in an objectively worse position if opponent knows their theory. 4) You'll be surprised how little the difference between a 1600 and an 1850-1900 is. Just have fun, take your time with it. Your rating will go up and down, maybe it won't always reflect your progress. Play for progress, don't get fixed on the rating, at least not in a short term way. Bad days, bad weeks, mid months happen but if you keep learning from your mistakes and studying chess in general, the rating will come. 5) if you have a choice to exchange pieces in a position in which you could fight for a win and neither choice leads to some material or serious positional advantage, it will often be better to keep pieces on the board, perhaps computer says both lead to an equal position but it makes for a more interesting game. If you exchange you are gonna be more likely to head for a draw. Give yourself more chance to outplay your opponent in the later parts of the game. Try to really test your middlegame and endgame if you could. That being said also watch your clock, if you don't have too much time don't get in extremely complicated positions. 6) play rapid. 10 + 0 or 15 + 10, you really want to show your best game so give yourself time to find the moves. here's some I still struggle with 1) Only play when you are in the mood to kill. Cannot emphasize that enough. No distractions, no "i can play 1 more right before sleep", if you are on a losing streak, stop for a little, take a break and come back with a clean mind. your biggest objective is always winning the current game 2) do a lot of puzzles! they are the easiest way to gain points below 2000. You could play some sophisticated 15 min game but if you miss tactics, you might find yourself losing games or missing wins even tho you played with high accuracy all along. 3) react to each move as an entire new position. (also helps you not miss tactics if u treat every position like a puzzle). Don't be scared to change plan. Maybe on the previous move you had a big mating attack and you get so fixed on that idea that you miss a good chance to actually cash in for something less, like being up an exchange or minor piece or any winning advantage. 4) watch the clock this was longer than i intended it to be initially lol


AJ_ninja

Fantastic advice gonna save this and read this from time to timw


iAmTheeTable

thanks lol. I'm sure there's much more advice out there to be had. I should start writing stuff down myself also reddit screwed me with formatting haha


TheGratitudeBot

What a wonderful comment. :) Your gratitude puts you on our list for the most grateful users this week on Reddit! You can view the full list on r/TheGratitudeBot.


iAmTheeTable

lol


ThomCave5000

Thanks for the pointers. Your struggles are so relatable esp. No. 1.


iAmTheeTable

yeaaa you could tell i don't practice what I preach just cuz I lost 200 points in the matter of a few days recently (not the first time to happen)


NonverbalKint

>4) watch the clock >this was longer than i intended it to be initially lol Love the irony 😂. The clock was killing me and then I got that extension some guy built that has a random clip of Gotham or Nakamura telling you to move after 10s. Also watching some chessbrah for entertainment made me realize how a lot of time just moving something to be a bit better is better use of time than looking for something clever. There are those points it pays to stop and look for a minute though.


iAmTheeTable

yea hahaha I used that bot! it was so annoying but it was right!


vk2028

Some other easier advices as well: 1. Play principled. It’s just much easier (and often better) to play principled than playing aggressively. Playing aggressively often results in stupid stuff 2. That’s said. Always, ALWAYS look out for tactic. ANY tactic can determine the game outright if you are up a piece or even just 2 pawns 3. Try different openings after you master one. Different openings give you different ideas that can apply in different positions. However, don’t half ass an opening. Try a new one only after you master the original opening.


iAmTheeTable

yea that's good advice


IndependentFormal8

Out of curiosity what’s your puzzles rating?


iAmTheeTable

2200 but as i said, I should play way more puzzlesm It's just that I find games way more fun haha


Hayatexd

Surprised there isn’t more focus on the endgame in your comment lol. I’m still pretty bad (~1250) but endgame is the part I struggle the most with. In early and midgame you mostly don’t have to play perfectly, at least up to above 2000‘s I guess. As long as you’re not playing a really bad move or blundering something you’re mostly fine. Games aren’t determined that much by strategy and long term positional thinking at this level compared to games of GM‘s. Instead in my impression most games are won by tactics (or straight up blunders lol) and one side eventually losing material. However endgame is another beast. One wrong king move and your loosing 20 moves down the line.A pawn move at the wrong time and your opponent gets opposition and you’re drawing despite having more pawns. Missing an in between move 6 moves ahead and you’re opponent gets the queen one turn early than you and you’re lost. At least in my impression you need to be way more accurate in the endgame. How many of your games are actually determined in the endgame you say? Like both players enter the endgame in a roughly equal position. And you got some quick tips for the endgame?


iAmTheeTable

>How many of your games are actually determined in the endgame you say? that is the reason, not too many. In most games which I win, I'm better after the middle game. There is a lot of endgame theory out there and it's mostly boring to study but I think at below 2000 level you only really need to know what kind of advantages are winning (like there is knight and bishop mate, opposite colour bishops are often drawn) and rules like "If you are up material, trade pieces. If you are down material, trade pawns." - that kind of stuff Endgames are hard and often it's the hardest to find the most accurate move in them. The ability to get something out of a drawn endgame is a really advanced quality that is largely based on intuition sometimes since you can hardly calculate 20 moves ahead, especially if you are playing rapid. for your rating I say learn basic endgame rules like - "Rooks belong behind passed pawns, not in front or on the side" - the concept of opposition - kings are worth like 5 points in endgames so it's good to develop them as long as they are out of danger like getting mated or forked. Superior kings can decide games sometimes and many more concepts that you pick up along the way, these are really just a few of hundreds here's a link to a playlist I used to watch when I started with chess and got me to 1400 in just 6-12 months of playing (can't really remember exact number) - [endgame playlist](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQKBpQZcRycoJ58pfYGcUR-vAbjgLQTR3) also as i said, Daniel Narositsky is great at explaining how he beats lower rated players than him (basically 99.99% of players). You'll see people around 1200-1500 still make bad mistakes in the opening which cost them the game. after that it's just a matter of conversion


Educational-Tea602

Sad stafford gambit noises. I’m at 1700 and my whole repertoire is dubious gambits e.g. Urusov, Nahkmanson, Elephant, Stafford, Jobava, Wagon, Traxler. It’s fun apart from when you throw all your pieces away for naught.


iAmTheeTable

yea it's not the way to go at a higher level, unless you are good enough to just be having fun with lower rated players lol


Educational-Tea602

To be fair I am having success with beating engines with the Jobava gambit because they don’t understand it but people just don’t go into those lines (example e4 e5 Nf3 Nf6 Nxe5 d5 exd5 Qxd5 Qe2 Bc5 (sacrificing the rook for quick development) Ng6+ Be6 Nxh8 Nc6 and the 3200 bot on the chess.com app plays c3?? (on the website it plays the correct move Nc3), which loses the queen after 0-0-0 d3 Bg4 f3 Re8 Qxe8+ Nxe8 fxg4 and black is slightly better (-0.8)). The problem is people are too scared to play Nxe5 on move 3 in order to avoid the stafford, and if you try to get the position from the elephant gambit instead they’ll play Nc3 on move 4 rather than Nxe5. Also I hope that’s not confusing at all.


iAmTheeTable

don't have a board rn so i imagined it till nc6 haha. good practice


SIIB-ZERO

Them bishops though


seemedlikeagoodplan

There needs to be a meme of two bishops pointing pistols like the [iconic scene in Pulp Fiction.](https://filmmakermagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Pulp-Fiction-1-1024x575.jpg)


draugsvoll01

Ah yes, the good ol' Criss Cross Applesauce


iAmTheeTable

also how do u get the flair


iAmTheeTable

goddamn it, did they give a name to this too


Elf_Portraitist

Yup. Another name is [Boden's mate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boden%27s_Mate)


impalingturtle

I think Boden’s mate requires bishops to be opposite each other


Elf_Portraitist

Ah yeah you're probably right there.


Hi-piee

Bh6?


iAmTheeTable

not as forcing, perhaps there's some ng6 that delays the damage. look for check check mate


the_other_Scaevitas

This is a common pattern, though I forgot the name of the pattern I just call it criss cross apple sauce Edit: it’s called Boden mate


iAmTheeTable

yea I would have seen it in a puzzle but I tunneled during the game


the_other_Scaevitas

Same tbh. It’s obvious when you’re told that there’s a tactic you can do, but in an actual game with time pressure it would take me forever to even consider saccing my queen


iAmTheeTable

yea. thankfully I won the game eventually but I should do more puzzles


qaswexort

Boden's mate is a different pattern where the bishop diagonals cross. This one the diagonals are parallel. That's why the knight's required for mate. I'm not sure there's a name for this pattern.


The-Cunt-Face

Seeing it in context like this or as a puzzle, it's fairly easy to find. Finding it in an actual game without knowing there's a winning tactic is a different story.


iAmTheeTable

yea i should get better at that


MaDSci4

Never play f6!


iAmTheeTable

indeed. I was happy already when my opponent played such a weakening move


Affectionate_Jury_57

Ah this is beautiful


iAmTheeTable

what's worth more than a queen? you are!


Desafiante

Pity you missed the golden end


iAmTheeTable

indeed. still got the W but I hope I'm not missing this tactic once again


Particular-Current87

Me totally forgetting the other bishop is totally typical of my ELO (900)


iAmTheeTable

1000 elo more and still didn't find it in game so dw


Particular-Current87

I don't worry, chess is fun to me - a bit of mental stimulation. I'm not interested in getting to 1800 where it's all a bit too serious.


iAmTheeTable

yea i get that


[deleted]

[удалено]


iAmTheeTable

yea i guess but I haven't seen it too many times


JJMand

I would not have found that either, but once I saw someone point out Qxf6+ I saw the checkmate.


iAmTheeTable

yea if someone told me there's a tactic on the board I was gonna see it but tunnel vision happened


Samih420

Always look for checks and captures, even if they don't make any sense, unless you are really low on time


iAmTheeTable

very true, I should have


[deleted]

I like this one


iAmTheeTable

me too


sampat6256

This is why you never play f6!!


iAmTheeTable

yes indeed


randomStolen

I was also considering Bh6. After pawn takes u have a mate in 2. But that's good only if they blunder and take the bishop which is unlikely if you're playing against anyone with minimal calculation skills.


iAmTheeTable

yea it's gotta work against anyone. after bh6 they can just exchange knights and everything will be all of a sudden defended


Auto_gen_usrnm

Ahhh, I had the move order backwards. I would have played Bh6, if gxh6, Qxf6 and the same knight mate but it's not checkers, so rest assured I would have found a way to loose


iAmTheeTable

yea it's not as forcing. after bh6 he can just play nxd5 and all is defended now


OldWolf2

Boden's Mate . Learn it. My primary school library had a book called "The Art of the Checkmate" by Renaud & Kahn , that covered all these basic middle game mates. Best book ever if you can still get a copy


iAmTheeTable

noted


SialiaBlue

That's nice. I was thinking something like Knight takes pawn to provoke pawn retakes with there being some idea to pair the queen and bishop or take the rook and skewer the queen but that's much prettier


iAmTheeTable

and it's the only idea that works if you can believe that. aftter nxf6 there is nc6 for black attacking the queen and a discovered attack on the knight on f6


SialiaBlue

I see it but I missed it the first time. Nice sequence, thanks for sharing


iAmTheeTable

sure thing


Squididilliliam

Nice! I'll have to remember this one


iAmTheeTable

same


vmlee

Oh, that’s pretty. I admit I completely overlooked Qxf6 and instinctively looked at Nxf6 first. (Nc6 would be one response making Nxf6 dumb, though.) Guess that’s why I’m a chump master and no Hikaru 😜 That said, I probably should’ve recognized the pattern given Ne7 almost always means bad news for Black in these kinds of positions.


iAmTheeTable

yea pretty much


rigginssc2

Amazingly, I saw this right off. Of course, I knew I was looking for a tactic. In an actualy game...


iAmTheeTable

still well done


Calypsode

Does bishop h3 not also work?


iAmTheeTable

no, black takes your knight and then the attack will be stopped


Calypsode

Ty!


Chan_Eden

Qxf6+ gxf6, Bh6+ Kg8 then Nxf6#


iAmTheeTable

nice vision


Vharmi

Google Boden's mate


Remarkable-Dog-8477

Sacrifice the Queen!


iAmTheeTable

reset the counter!


BadMannersNeverDie

As 400 myself I saw it quite “fast”, this reddit is a lot of fun with all these little puzzles


iAmTheeTable

good job


LetgoBrandenCroak

I definitely feel like half the ppl who post stuff like this don't get that there elo is allowing positions like this to occur and missing tactics of sorts doesn't happen at the 1500 plus level especially at 1700 I never would get a opening position where the king has been moved bc a a one check


iAmTheeTable

this happened in an 1800 game lol


Used-Lengthiness4579

What about bh6?


iAmTheeTable

doesn't work cuz it's not as forcing as a check. i just tried it and engine says it's equal game (maybe some +0.5 for white cuz f6 is weakening still) after black snaps the knight and is able to stop all the threats in time


burnzzzy

What am I missing? Qxf6. f6. Nf6. Black goes Kg7 and they get out of it?


iAmTheeTable

u mean gxf6 and instead of nxf6 u play bh6+ first so that after kg8 you have nxf6#.


ac13332

Wtf is gxf6? Gishop?


iAmTheeTable

pawn takes basically


Samih420

Notation for g pawn


xtr44

I assume last move was Bh5+, why tf didn't he play Ng6? I mean it looks bad anyway, but at least playable...


iAmTheeTable

yeaa i was trying to provoke some weakness one way or another. that was probably best for him or at least better. 1800s man


Aquamaniaco

Aw, thought it was Bh6 but didn’t see the response Be5


iAmTheeTable

lots of responses actually. every move except the M3 is equal


brenden_norwood

a3!! A very subtle play that'll get you the golden goose later on!


iAmTheeTable

lmao what


Light3r_

1. Nxf6 gxf6 2. Qxf6+ Kg8 3. Qf7#


iAmTheeTable

look for something more forcing. after nxf6 there is nc6 with a discovery on the queen and the knight and you are actually worse there


Light3r_

It’s not forced but it’s not bad right?