Give me 15 minutes and one chess position, and I’ll show you something interesting about your real chess level. This chess puzzle is a position from a game between GM Jonathan Tisdall and FM Graham Lee.

White to move

But this is not just a test of whether you can find the correct move. What matters even more is how you arrive there.

Do you evaluate the position before calculating? Do you consider enough possibilities? Do you stop after finding one promising move, or do you check what your opponent can do against it?

Those differences reveal a lot about your chess thinking process.

In this video, I walk through the same position from the perspective of players at different levels — from beginner territory all the way up to Grandmaster thinking.

You’ll learn how to:

• Test your chess level with one position
• Compare beginner, intermediate, and GM thinking
• Understand what strong players notice first
• Choose what deserves calculation
• Check your opponent’s best defensive resources
• Improve your chess decision-making process

The biggest difference between weaker and stronger players is not always how many moves they calculate. Often, it is knowing what deserves attention in the first place.

Try the puzzle yourself first, then compare your thought process with the explanation.

Tisdall Chess Puzzle Video Lesson

Below, you can find the puzzle solution (complete game):

Pair these tips with pattern recognition. Browse the Chess Tactics Lesson Guide. Access lessons on tactical motifs, patterns and combinations across all phases of the game.

Many players can solve difficult puzzles and have puzzle ratings way higher than their respective game ratings. Often they get frustrated when they’re puzzle ratings go up but their chess rating remain stagnant and they don’t why. This is usually because they use a different thinking process when playing than when solving puzzles.

If this is your problem, then there’s a simple solution. You need to get a structured program that can help you develop a thinking system similar to the one you use when solving puzzles. At RCA, we have assembled such courses into a bundle that will help you achieve this goal and reach 2000 ELO. Check out our Boost Your ELO to 2000 Bundle.

Individually, the courses included here are valued at $486. But if you purchase them as a course bundle, then you can get them for only $197. That’s nearly a 60% discount!!