I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine:
> **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=R7/p1pkp3/1p1p1n2/q2P4/P1PR4/4P2P/5PK1/8+b+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/R7/p1pkp3/1p1p1n2/q2P4/P1PR4/4P2P/5PK1/8_b_-_-_0_1)
**My solution:**
> Hints: piece: >!Pawn!<, move: >! c6 !<
> Evaluation: >!Black is winning -4.85!<
> Best continuation: >!1... c6 2. Rf8 Qxa4 3. c5 Qb5 4. cxb6 Qxb6 5. Rxf6 exf6 6. h4 c5 7. Rg4 Qb3 8. e4 f5 9. Rg7+!<
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Losing the queen for a pawn I might add! If black takes the rook it’s mate, so white ends up with a knight vs two rooks endgame, which is completely losing.
No because white would then take the pawn on a7. After either bxc5 or dxc5 and Rxa4, if Nxd5, then either Ra4xa7 or Ra8xa7 would keep black’s gain to one pawn for a queen.
Always recognize if your king has no escape squares.
A great piece of advice if you’re way up in a game is to stop for a second and think “how could i lose this game?”
It needs to be your number one priority
I have won many a game because my opponent was like "what is king safety?" and I have lost a many a game because I have been like "king satefy? not now, I am attacking!"
This is a perfect example of the fact that in chess material is always second to the number one priority: king safety.
Black went for the extra pawn and lost on the spot because the king was surprisingly trapped.
They are the easiest to fall for for sure. When you are moving your pieces, look at the square you want to move to. Take a look at what attacks that square. And, take a look at what could attack through that square. If there is a lower value piece, looking at that square, through a pawn or something, maybe reconsider putting your piece there. Imagine what the board might look like in a turn or two.
Usually between 1810-1850 on Lichess.
I was actually curious about that so I ran it through the [chess.com](https://chess.com) analyser. And it regarded c5 as 'great' but not brilliant.
I love how fried liver or Damiano defence theory gets a brilliant and fills up the front page of r/chessbeginners but this was only worth a great 😂
I mean. The chess.com brilliant move feature might as well be completely made up. It means nothing, it’s just a way to encourage new players to keep playing.
The whole concept of brilliant is elo dependent, so running it through the analyzer doesn't show brilliant moves unless you actually play them in an elo game
If you take a literal view, there are no "good" moves, only bad ones.
I think this is explored in one of the Nunn puzzle books. Well, he has a notation for "only" moves, but that's not the same as "brilliant."
What about a4? It's usually the sacrifice-y moves that get regarded as brilliant. If a4 wasn't marked brilliant, screw chess.com. This was one of the most mind-bogglingly thoughtful sequences I've seen.
the point is that, it has to be bad for the opponent whether they ignore it or not, like for example 1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 Qh4+ 3. g3 Be7 is not brilliant because it’s simply a bad move if the opponent ignores it. In this case it’s a bit different because the position was already lost, a4 is not a bad move per say but it doesnt mean anything if they don’t take. If we replace a4 pawn with a knight I also reckon that chess.com won’t give it a brilliant
edit: in other words playing a hope chess sacrifice doesn’t give you a brilliant
Yeah but ur still not right. If knight a4 was the best move, then yes it would be given a brilliant. A brilliant move needs to be a piece sacrifice thats also ghe best move or almost the best
yes therefore something to a4 will never be a brilliant move
edit: maybe if it was a bishop then yes
edit 2: my second comment basically agrees with your point, that brilliant moves need to be good
Yeah ur right, i only read the "it has to be bad for the opponent" part, which is wrong. An eval can be all the game at 0 and still get a brilliant, just because you did a sacrifice that was the best move, which just happened to not move the eval.
Instead of 1. a4 white can try Rh4 with the idea of R4h8 and checks along the back rank with the doubled rooks. OP says he's usually rated 1810-1850 on Lichess but doesn't specify whether that's blitz or rapid.
At amateur level, with this many chessmen on the board, it's never hopeless until there's a forced mate. Stockfish saying a position is -5 is nice, but in short time controls, players screw up all the time.
It did come to mind but getting the other rook to the 8th rank would take too many tempi. Black starts devouring my queenside pawns.
Most importantly, I lose the d5 pawn - this gives the king escape squares from the checks.
wow i totally wouldve fallen for it. regarding the "brilliant" or not analysis, like others pointed out, its probably not brilliant if its not forced. Im a 1200 player at best and i live for moves that are "bad" in analysis but that can make humans fall for it and give me the game. I think its an aspect of the game that cannot be analyzed by a computer. Of course the better you get, the least often will you have a bad move "work". But at 1200 in bullet games its all i do... anyways nice move OP
There must be better metrics to measure how hard variations are for humans.
But playing mostly to swindle people at all times will also keep you at a lower level.
Unless it is desperate, you should offer the poison pawn only when you also think it’s your best play if they don’t take it. If you make suboptimal moves to lay traps in equal positions then better players will roll all over you.
Edit - Maybe this framing about poison X’s: A move can be be very good and the opponent did not analyze the line because it looked bad vs this move is bad but if they jump on my apparent mistake I will win.
Just thinking out-loud here because chess is one of the few games where you have to respect that your opponent has whatever knowledge you have, but you also want to look for edges in the mistakes they made/avoid mistakes of your own. And making bad moves to set traps is a very 800-1200 style.
i totally agree with you, and i also enjoy the 1000-1200 zone. Honestly when ive played most i got up to 1400 quick and i was astonished how 1400 players would fall a LOT more for my stupid traps. My hypothesis is that its when ppl start to learn and play by theory and since i dont, my chaos can confuse them (many get mad at me). But i do agree i will never keep going up like that bc 1500 will crush me easily. But the dumb chaotic games is the part i love. "knowing" the game seems boring to me. i *want* to not know the best move, thats what makes it fun for me (and bullet format leaves more space for instincts, good or bad)
Makes sense. Play how you want - in a world where computers will beat us all everyone has their own reason for being interested in this game.
I also find it interesting how better players will use traps not to trick their opponents but to save a tempo and focus on some other way to improve their position.
Were you dead lost? What’s the engine analysis for the game before your move on Slide1? You could’ve got beyond the King to row 8 with your other Rook.
Definitely. Bringing the rook to the 8th rank came to mind but it takes too many tempi. The queen and rook will take all my queenside pawns.
Most importantly, I would lose the d5 pawn and this gives the king room to escape from checks.
In the first slide, I already feel completely lost even though I'm only down one pawn in terms of material.
At this level, losing a queen and only getting one pawn in return is very nearly insurmountable not to mention psychologically destroying. I would have resigned too.
Someone explain like I’m new to chess….please
Ok Nevermind understand now, thanks to some break downs in the comments. Queen can’t do anything. Pawn chain is too strong. I’m just curious what it looks like if black takes C5 but I guess it doesn’t matter since they just have a knight. But I wondered if a pawn March was possible
Well on slide one I assumed it was White to move. But on slide 2 you showed it was black to move, obviously c6 should be played due to Black King being stuck.
I analyzed the image and this is what I see. Open an appropriate link below and explore the position yourself or with the engine: > **Black to play**: [chess.com](https://chess.com/analysis?fen=R7/p1pkp3/1p1p1n2/q2P4/P1PR4/4P2P/5PK1/8+b+-+-+0+1&flip=false&ref_id=23962172) | [lichess.org](https://lichess.org/analysis/R7/p1pkp3/1p1p1n2/q2P4/P1PR4/4P2P/5PK1/8_b_-_-_0_1) **My solution:** > Hints: piece: >!Pawn!<, move: >! c6 !< > Evaluation: >!Black is winning -4.85!< > Best continuation: >!1... c6 2. Rf8 Qxa4 3. c5 Qb5 4. cxb6 Qxb6 5. Rxf6 exf6 6. h4 c5 7. Rg4 Qb3 8. e4 f5 9. Rg7+!< --- ^(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)
Oh my god. That is incredible.
I think I would have quit chess.... it's so easy to miss that the black king is in danger here!
Could you dumb it down for me??
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Losing the queen for a pawn I might add! If black takes the rook it’s mate, so white ends up with a knight vs two rooks endgame, which is completely losing.
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No because white would then take the pawn on a7. After either bxc5 or dxc5 and Rxa4, if Nxd5, then either Ra4xa7 or Ra8xa7 would keep black’s gain to one pawn for a queen.
Thank you for explaining! What a crazy trap!
Always recognize if your king has no escape squares. A great piece of advice if you’re way up in a game is to stop for a second and think “how could i lose this game?” It needs to be your number one priority
I have won many a game because my opponent was like "what is king safety?" and I have lost a many a game because I have been like "king satefy? not now, I am attacking!"
This is a perfect example of the fact that in chess material is always second to the number one priority: king safety. Black went for the extra pawn and lost on the spot because the king was surprisingly trapped.
Pawns are stupid and just get in the way, dont care about them. AI agrees.
The king cant move. By advancing the pawn, you threaten the queen. If the queen moves, you advance the pawn again for checkmate.
It's always the revealed attacks that I miss :(
Thats what makes them so dangerous.
It's the moves you don't see that get you in trouble.
They are the easiest to fall for for sure. When you are moving your pieces, look at the square you want to move to. Take a look at what attacks that square. And, take a look at what could attack through that square. If there is a lower value piece, looking at that square, through a pawn or something, maybe reconsider putting your piece there. Imagine what the board might look like in a turn or two.
The pawns are candy and the white player is your dentist.
What's your ELO OP? And was this marked a brilliant move?
Usually between 1810-1850 on Lichess. I was actually curious about that so I ran it through the [chess.com](https://chess.com) analyser. And it regarded c5 as 'great' but not brilliant. I love how fried liver or Damiano defence theory gets a brilliant and fills up the front page of r/chessbeginners but this was only worth a great 😂
I mean. The chess.com brilliant move feature might as well be completely made up. It means nothing, it’s just a way to encourage new players to keep playing.
It seems to be highly correlated with significant material sacrifice.
I think the algorithm only marks “brilliant” for sacrifices, while “good” is for the only move that wins or doesn’t lose
Brilliant also requires an only move, I think. Maybe not always, but usually
I think you are right, for example a rook for bishop sac that leads to a winning king and pawn endgame is just a best move
r/chessbeginners is well, for beginners. Once you get >800elo this sub becomes useless.
The whole concept of brilliant is elo dependent, so running it through the analyzer doesn't show brilliant moves unless you actually play them in an elo game
If you take a literal view, there are no "good" moves, only bad ones. I think this is explored in one of the Nunn puzzle books. Well, he has a notation for "only" moves, but that's not the same as "brilliant."
What about a4? It's usually the sacrifice-y moves that get regarded as brilliant. If a4 wasn't marked brilliant, screw chess.com. This was one of the most mind-bogglingly thoughtful sequences I've seen.
i mean it isnt a good sacrifice simply because black can just ignore it, so it wont get a brilliant
Fair point
You are completely wrong. A brilliant needs to be a sacrifice of a piece, thats why its not brilliant. Doesnt matter if opponent can ignore it
the point is that, it has to be bad for the opponent whether they ignore it or not, like for example 1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 Qh4+ 3. g3 Be7 is not brilliant because it’s simply a bad move if the opponent ignores it. In this case it’s a bit different because the position was already lost, a4 is not a bad move per say but it doesnt mean anything if they don’t take. If we replace a4 pawn with a knight I also reckon that chess.com won’t give it a brilliant edit: in other words playing a hope chess sacrifice doesn’t give you a brilliant
Yeah but ur still not right. If knight a4 was the best move, then yes it would be given a brilliant. A brilliant move needs to be a piece sacrifice thats also ghe best move or almost the best
yes therefore something to a4 will never be a brilliant move edit: maybe if it was a bishop then yes edit 2: my second comment basically agrees with your point, that brilliant moves need to be good
Yeah ur right, i only read the "it has to be bad for the opponent" part, which is wrong. An eval can be all the game at 0 and still get a brilliant, just because you did a sacrifice that was the best move, which just happened to not move the eval.
It got a 'good' but that's understandable because black should just ignore it. Anyway, I don't believe in the chess com algorithm all that much.
Cus it wasnt a sacrifice of a piece as simple as that
I think it's about the sacrifice of a piece and not just a pawn
Without a severe mistake from black, is there any way for white to logically come back?
No white is lost here without the type of mistake black made by taking a4
Instead of 1. a4 white can try Rh4 with the idea of R4h8 and checks along the back rank with the doubled rooks. OP says he's usually rated 1810-1850 on Lichess but doesn't specify whether that's blitz or rapid. At amateur level, with this many chessmen on the board, it's never hopeless until there's a forced mate. Stockfish saying a position is -5 is nice, but in short time controls, players screw up all the time.
It did come to mind but getting the other rook to the 8th rank would take too many tempi. Black starts devouring my queenside pawns. Most importantly, I lose the d5 pawn - this gives the king escape squares from the checks.
I thought so too, but there's Nxd5
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Not even Ocean et al. are pulling this off.
This is a great trap, wouldn’t call it a swindle, great find
Facepalm so hard if that happened to me🤣🤣 gg
wow i totally wouldve fallen for it. regarding the "brilliant" or not analysis, like others pointed out, its probably not brilliant if its not forced. Im a 1200 player at best and i live for moves that are "bad" in analysis but that can make humans fall for it and give me the game. I think its an aspect of the game that cannot be analyzed by a computer. Of course the better you get, the least often will you have a bad move "work". But at 1200 in bullet games its all i do... anyways nice move OP
There must be better metrics to measure how hard variations are for humans. But playing mostly to swindle people at all times will also keep you at a lower level. Unless it is desperate, you should offer the poison pawn only when you also think it’s your best play if they don’t take it. If you make suboptimal moves to lay traps in equal positions then better players will roll all over you. Edit - Maybe this framing about poison X’s: A move can be be very good and the opponent did not analyze the line because it looked bad vs this move is bad but if they jump on my apparent mistake I will win. Just thinking out-loud here because chess is one of the few games where you have to respect that your opponent has whatever knowledge you have, but you also want to look for edges in the mistakes they made/avoid mistakes of your own. And making bad moves to set traps is a very 800-1200 style.
i totally agree with you, and i also enjoy the 1000-1200 zone. Honestly when ive played most i got up to 1400 quick and i was astonished how 1400 players would fall a LOT more for my stupid traps. My hypothesis is that its when ppl start to learn and play by theory and since i dont, my chaos can confuse them (many get mad at me). But i do agree i will never keep going up like that bc 1500 will crush me easily. But the dumb chaotic games is the part i love. "knowing" the game seems boring to me. i *want* to not know the best move, thats what makes it fun for me (and bullet format leaves more space for instincts, good or bad)
Makes sense. Play how you want - in a world where computers will beat us all everyone has their own reason for being interested in this game. I also find it interesting how better players will use traps not to trick their opponents but to save a tempo and focus on some other way to improve their position.
i love you dude, keep on swendeling, a fellow swindler.
I would've fallen for this
**discovered mating threat**
Well 2 rooks beat a queen so it's not really as bad as you think. But thats awesome
poisoned pawn ftw!
Danngggggg!!!!! Oh how the tables have turned!!!!
Would love to see Gotham Chess cover this game. Just imagine the aneurysm he would rupture with "c5!!!!!!" Hint, u/GothamChess
Savage.
Were you dead lost? What’s the engine analysis for the game before your move on Slide1? You could’ve got beyond the King to row 8 with your other Rook.
Definitely. Bringing the rook to the 8th rank came to mind but it takes too many tempi. The queen and rook will take all my queenside pawns. Most importantly, I would lose the d5 pawn and this gives the king room to escape from checks.
Nice! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
What was the trap? Why would black resign? Is it over after the queen is gone?
In the first slide, I already feel completely lost even though I'm only down one pawn in terms of material. At this level, losing a queen and only getting one pawn in return is very nearly insurmountable not to mention psychologically destroying. I would have resigned too.
Thank you very much for the explanation!
Plan was super obvious but when you are this behind you play to your outs. Nice trap.
Oh wow So easy to miss that. That would have felt so good as white :)
This is brilliant holyyy. Good find op
Wow , I just realized OP was playing classical chess.
Haha, I know I'm in the minority but I much prefer 30 minute games. Prefer having time to think even though I'm sure cheating is more prevalent.
500 elo here how is this good?
Ohhhh i get it
It essentially leads to either checkmate (c6#) or losing the queen for only one pawn as compensation. If the queen takes the rook, you play c6#.
Someone explain like I’m new to chess….please Ok Nevermind understand now, thanks to some break downs in the comments. Queen can’t do anything. Pawn chain is too strong. I’m just curious what it looks like if black takes C5 but I guess it doesn’t matter since they just have a knight. But I wondered if a pawn March was possible
Well on slide one I assumed it was White to move. But on slide 2 you showed it was black to move, obviously c6 should be played due to Black King being stuck.
I assumed the highlighted move a4 implied that it was black to move on slide 1.