THIS Is The ESSENCE of Chess

Well, my record in solving these "pause the video" moments is that I'm not good enough to be an uncle, but should be given the grandmaster title immediately.

The last pause-the-video moment was surprisingly easy. I spent so much time thinking "wait, why is Rxa1 and Rd8 not just winning on the spot? GM material? Do I need to switch the move order or something?" But no, the straightforward answer is indeed the best answer.

Just 6 months ago, Daniel Dardha was 2575. Now that he won both the Djerba Invitational and the Sardegna Open, crashing into the top 100, his live rating is up to 2656.3 and counting. And he is still only 18! Remember that name, he is a future 2700. Proud of you Daniel, from Belgium.

Magnus: “Brief endgame?!? What’s that??”

Oh that last pause the video moment is so genius. This is why I love chess

And it was in this position, that Agadmator said, "Sorry about that," and resigned.

I think 'pause the video moments' are in reverse order. I was able to solve third one, second one was tough and first 'what was that'?

what a game to watch at the weekend

Those complaining the last “pause the video” moment was easier don’t realise we only got it because we knew there was a definite win for white in 4 moves. The genius is spotting it in the real game.

I showed the first pause the video moment to my uncle, and he said, "WTF are these diagrams?"

Nice difficulty levels but the last one was easier for me for having seen such positions, thanks.

Elegant closure!

Funny enough I only find the 3rd pause the video moment. There really aren't that many options and the tactic actually win the game on the spot (unlike the other 2) so I actually feel it's a bit easier

Daniel Dardha is playing very interesting chess, hopefully we'll see more of him on this channel 😀

The 3rd pause was kinda the easiest (?)

This game is why I love the Q-Gambit. There are so many variations that your opponent will have to be well versed in theory to be competitive.

The last pause the video moment was so mind crushing that agad lose his mind and thanks "happy birthday" 😂😂

Bobby Fischer would be proud of that amazing light square bishop on C4!! Great game 👌

One of the best games ever!. The last pause the video was by far the easiest starting with Rd8, not Rxa1 which is obvious to avoid a check to the white king. The first two pause the video moments were much harder because there were many pieces on the board and the lines were more than a few moves ahead. I found Rd8 in a couple of minutes but then realized that the rooks on the first rank must first be exchanged. I was unable to solve the first two pause the video moments because of there were too many possible lines to calculate with sufficient depth to determine which one was the strongest.

Well done Daniel Dardha! He puts Belgium on the chess map. I hope he finds a sponsor soon so he can make a living from chess.