Daily Chess Puzzles

[Leo Gura]

52 minutes ago, integral said:

its basically "is the bishop really free"?

I assumed it was a trap at first but then no trap materialized.

Black can win even without taking the bishop I think.

Try to win that game without taking bishop.

Edited yesterday at 01:18 AM by Leo Gura

[AtmanIsBrahman]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Puzzle 5 seems much more interesting if white's bishop at c1 was actually at b1 from the start.

Giving black a free bishop is too mich.

The point of this puzzle is recognizing your opponent's resources. You have to see that after black takes the bishop, white has bishop to c2, creating a checkmate threat while unveiling an attack on the queen from the rook. 

Here you have to see that Qg5+ is possible, saving the queen and forcing white to respond to the check. After that, black has many ways to stop white's checkmate threat.

Without seeing bishop to c2 and Qg5+, you could easily be making a blunder by taking the bishop.

Edited yesterday at 01:23 AM by AtmanIsBrahman

[Leo Gura]

6 minutes ago, AtmanIsBrahman said:

The point of this puzzle is recognizing your opponent's resources. You have to see that after black takes the bishop, white has bishop to c2, creating a checkmate threat while unveiling an attack on the queen from the rook. 

Here you have to see that Qg5+ is possible, saving the queen and forcing white to respond to the check. After that, black has many ways to stop white's checkmate threat.

Without seeing bishop to c2 and Qg5+, you could easily be making a blunder by taking the bishop.

That is a devious trap. In that case the puzzle should have blocked Qg5 so the queen is truly lost.

Very sneaky but not sneaky enough.

Qg5 is too obvious once your queen is so stuck. It's the only option.

Edited yesterday at 01:29 AM by Leo Gura

[integral]

49 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Black can win even without taking the bishop I think.

It feels really good for black because white's pieces are under developed and all tangled up uncoordinated.

Black got into this position by applying the pressure throughout the whole game, forcing white to constantly make concessions.

If black doesn't convert the advantage, it could easily slip away. All white needs is a couple of moves to equalize.

It's also two bishops versus two knights in an open board and white has an outside pass pawn that's gonna be pushed.

What would blacks move be then let's imagine taking the pawn in the middle?

Qxd4 Qxd4 Rxd4 Be3 and already White is untangling. So already we have to move our queen somewhere to avoid trading queens, and we can't take the pawn in the middle.

Black has a temporary positional advantage, but if there's no concrete conversion, then it's basically equal in less than a move or two.

Actually, white is up a pawn on a4 and it's an outside passed pawn, its going to be a tough defence for black.

Edited yesterday at 01:56 AM by integral

[LastThursday]

19 hours ago, Jannes said:

19 hours ago, LastThursday said:

My take on Puzzle 5. 

Black Queen takes White Bishop for free. White a3 Rook has to move away somewhere safe. Black Queen g5 check. Then black knight f4. Looking like checkmate unless the black knight is taken.

How does white respond to Black Queen c1 in your scenario?

Unless white wants to lose their Rook, they have to move it. There are only two safe squares for it, a2 or d3. Neither blocks the black queen going to g5 on the next move. White could just ignore the Rook threat and do Bishop c2 threatening mate, but Knight d7 to f6 stops that and threatens their queen in return. Even if white Queen g6 to avoid the Knight, black can do Queen g5 and things are looking equal after the queen trades.

[Joshe]

interesting position I was in earlier. How does black win? 

 

[integral]

@Joshe

Unless theres a trick im not seeeing, Bxg2 Kxg2 Re6 and its forced mate. White can try Bg4 Rg6 f3 Qg3+ Kh1 Rh6+ and its over

Edited 20 hours ago by integral

[Joshe]

18 minutes ago, integral said:

@Joshe

Unless theres a trick im not seeeing, Bxg2 Kxg2 Re6 and its forced mate. White can try Bg4 Rg6 f3 Qg3+ Kh1 Rh6+ and its over

Close. But Re6 allows Bh5. Still a winning position but not forced. 

There's a slightly better line, although still not forced if white plays perfectly. 

Edited 20 hours ago by Joshe

[integral]

5 minutes ago, Joshe said:

Close. But Re6 allows Bh5. Still a winning position but not forced. 

Right I looked at the both of them. I thought they were the same as long as there was no "trick". there was a trick... lol

This is when I would spend more than 15 seconds looking at the position.

Check this funny line: Bxg2 Kxg2 Re5 Kf3 Re3+ fxe3 Qg3+ Ke4 Qxe3+ Kf5 g6+ kg5 h6+ kxh6 f3#

Got to play f3 mate to be truly satisfied destroying your opponent. LOl

[Joshe]

14 minutes ago, integral said:

Right I looked at the both of them. I thought they were the same as long as there was no "trick". there was a trick... lol

This is when I would spend more than 15 seconds looking at the position.

Check this funny line: Bxg2 Kxg2 Re5 Kf3 Re3+ fxe3 Qg3+ Ke4 Qxe3+ Kf5 g6+ kg5 h6+ kxh6 f3#

Got to play f3 mate to be truly satisfied destroying your opponent. LOl

Holy shit, that line is badass. lol. 

My opponent didn't find Kf3. Here's how it went: 

I'm not used to playing in the 1600s, so I felt pretty good about myself, lol. I notice I always get a rating boosts on the weekends, but IDK how in the hell I jumped 100 points. Probably a fluke.

[Leo Gura]

@Joshe Queen g5 is devestating.

Edited 19 hours ago by Leo Gura

[integral]

16 minutes ago, Joshe said:

I'm not used to playing in the 1600s, so I felt pretty good about myself, lol. I notice I always get a rating boosts on the weekends, but IDK how in the hell I jumped 100 points. Probably a fluke.

Leo is boosting our will to play.

The Leo effect.

[integral]

18 minutes ago, Joshe said:

 

 

Nice, now dont forget to troll next time, always look for the troll when your winning. Pro tip. 

[Joshe]

40 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

@Joshe Queen g5 is devestating.

Neutralized by Bf3. 

[Leo Gura]

10 minutes ago, Joshe said:

Neutralized by Bf3. 

Not really neutralized. Capture that bishop with bishop and then return bishop back to rethreaten king, costing white a rook.

Edited 18 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Leo Gura]

In honor of you guys, I played a new game and posted it on my blog.

I forgot all about chess until I saw this thread.

Edited 14 hours ago by Leo Gura

[Stick]

Oh my god the blog is running again. I didnt even notice it. Yayyyy

[Leo Gura]

@Stick You missed a lot of good stuff.

[Stick]

I have been reading from the 10th page for almost an hour lmao. Awesome work btw
I hope I can also integrate spirituality into my job when I finish uni 

Edited 12 hours ago by Stick

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

On 22. 12. 2025 at 1:27 AM, Leo Gura said:

The single most important thing you need for becoming masterful at chess is fooling yourself that this is a good use of your time. If you can do that, you're halfway to grandmaster

You could say that about most things. Whether you enjoy a particuliar thing or not is the deciding factor. I mean look, you're saying you're not that interested in chess and yet this topic has probably one of the highest densities of your responses per page lol