Nihal's Birthday Challenge

by Frederic Friedel
7/17/2020 – Last Monday one of our favourite chess prodigies Nihal Sarin celebrated his 16th birthday – not by enjoying a nice evening with family and friends. Nihal is no ordinary youngster! He is a full GM and rated 2620! On his birthday Nihal decided to spend roughly around an hour and a half with ChessBase India solving sixteen positions that IM Sagar Shah had handpicked for him! You can watch him doing it, and join him in his efforts. There is a lot to learn.

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Sixteen positions and studies to solve

On his birthday Nihal decided to spend roughly around an hour and a half with ChessBase India trying to solve sixteen positions that IM Sagar Shah had handpicked for him! The positions were not at all easy, and Nihal had to put in a lot of effort. But at the end of the day he was happy that he had learnt something new! "Time well spent," he said!

You too can make the best use of this exercise by solving the positions, along with Nihal. It took him 1 hour 29 minutes and 25 seconds to solve all the 16 positions (Although it must be mentioned that Nihal spent a lot of time in explaining his answers as well). Let's see how quickly you are able to solve them! Jot down your times and write the total in the feedback section below. And don't forget to wish the youngster a very happy birthday. You can also check the solutions in the video below, with Nihal solving them in real time.

In the following diagrams you are able to move the pieces, retract moves and try alternate lines. This makes it very easy to analyse possible solutions. At the bottom of the page you will find all the sixteen positions on a replay board where you can switch on an engine to help with the analysis.

Nihal's birthday problems

 
Problem 1
What is White's fastest way to win?
 
Problem 2
White to play and win
 
Problem 3
What does Black do after Rd2?
 
Problem 4
White to play and win
 
Problem 5
White to play and draw
 
Problem 6
White to play and win
 
Problem 7
Black to play and win
 
Problem 8
White to play and win
 
Problem 9
Black to play and hold
 
Problem 10
How can Black stop White's ideas?
 
Problem 11
How can Black defend?
 
Problem 12
Black to play and win
 
Problem 13
White to play and win
 
Problem 14
Black to defend correctly
 
Problem 15
White to win (tough!)
 
Problem 16
White to play and win
 

The Nihal 16th birthday challenge

Watch Nihal solve the problems in real time

New ...
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Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Position not in LiveBook
White is better, but what is the fastest way to win? 1.Qxc4! This is the strongest move. Qxg6 2.Qc5!+- is the key point! Loose pieces drop off.
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Problem 01-The fastest way to win?-2014
Problem 02-White to play and win-2014
Problem 03-Take the draw offer?-2014
Problem 04-White to play and win.-2014
Problem 05-How can White draw?-2012
Problem 06-White to play and win-1985
Problem 07-Black to play and win-2015
Problem 08-White to play and win-2015
Problem 09-Black defence?-2015
Problem 10-Best black defence?-2015
Problem 11-Black defence?-1982
Problem 12-Black to play and win-2016
Problem 13-White breakthrough?-2016
Problem 14-Black defence?-
Problem 15-White to play and win-2015
Problem 16-White to play and win-2012

As you probably know, in our replay board above there are a large number of functions you can use to really understand the game and the analysis. The biggest advantage is that you can start an engine (fan icon) that will help you to analyse. You can get multiple lines of analysis by clicking the + button to the right of the engine analysis window. The "!" key, incidentally, shows you the threat in any position, which is incredibly useful in the case of unclear moves.

There is one more thing you can do. It is a lot of fun, but also a serious challenge: Click on the rook icon below the notation window. This will allow you the play the above position against Fritz, at your level of playing strength (e.g. "Club Player"), right here on the news page. Note that your analysis, in which you can delete, move or promote lines, is stored in the notation as new variations. In the end you will find the game with your analysis in the cloud. So nothing is ever lost.

Anish Giri about Sagar's YouTube channel

Did you enjoy this and other Sagar videos we have posted? Well top-ten GM Anish Giri certainly does, as he effusively explains:

"At some stage I was watching only this channel, and I was laughing non-stop. His interviews are absolute gold. Sagar is a great teacher, he knows exactly what you guys don't understand and what is important for learning. It's really, really good stuff."

Entertaining links


Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.

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