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Can You Spot The Tactics That Puzzle World Champion Ray Robson Missed?

Can You Spot The Tactics That Puzzle World Champion Ray Robson Missed?

PedroPinhata
| 50 | Tactics

GM Ray Robson recently won the 2022 Puzzle Battle World Championship for the third consecutive year. To achieve this incredible feat, he had to outperform players like none other than GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Daniel Naroditsky, and more! Watching Robson speed through more than 50 puzzles in less than three minutes was indeed something special:

While most of us can only dream of being as sharp or fast as Robson, we shouldn't feel bad for missing tactics on our own games. Using Chess.com's Insights, we can see that even the greatest puzzle warrior in the world can falter from time to time. As chess coaches love to point out, puzzles in real games are always different from puzzles in practice. We all miss things in games that we would solve instantly in a puzzle.

Below is a compilation of some of the tactics that Robson missed in the games he played on Chess.com. Can you spot the best moves in each position?


Game 1: GM Ray Robson vs. GM Aram Hakobyan

Game 2: GM Ray Robson vs. FM Saidakbar Saydaliev

Game 3: GM Ray Robson vs. FM @catask

Game 4: GM Jorden van Foreest vs. GM Ray Robson

Game 5: GM Ray Robson vs. GM Sam Sevian

Game 6: GM Daniel Naroditsky vs. GM Ray Robson

Game 7: IM Arystanbek Urazayev vs. GM Ray Robson

Game 8: Naroditsky vs. Robson

Game 9: Robson vs. Sevian

Game 10: Naroditsky vs. Robson

This last puzzle could've made it this recent article featuring the hardest puzzles on Chess.com. With a few mind-blowing moves and less than a minute on his clock, it's no wonder the puzzle king couldn't find this beauty:


The puzzles above  show that even the greats can miss a few tactics. But that shouldn't keep us from playing chess and having fun with Puzzle Rush, should it?

Could you find the moves that Robson missed? Let us know in the comment section below!

PedroPinhata
Pedro Pinhata

Pedro Pinhata is the Writing Lead for Chess.com. He writes articles, feature announcements, event pages, and more. He has been playing chess since 2019 and lives in Brazil.

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