Take the Chess Aptitude Test and Find Out How Good You are in Chess

Your skills will be tested with the self-test provided by chess grandmaster Jonathan Levitt. You can learn more about this exam in his book, "Genius in Chess."

Prior to taking the test, you may need to understand the diagram of a chessboard using algebraic notation. Seasoned chess players can leave out the subject of chess notation and jump to the test. Based on algebraic chess notation, every row of the chess board is numbered from one to eight, starting on the white player's side. Every column is labeled by a letter from a thru h, starting from left all the way to the right from the white side. Every square is described by a letter-number combination according to the junction of the column and row which contains the square. Thus, a8 would be the designation of the upper leftmost square on the side of the white player. My website which I have mentioned above contains a figure showing h1 located on the upper rightmost portion of the chessboard.

I've included an illustration of a chessboard illustrating the algebraic notation method on my chess game strategies site. The diagram of the chessboard can be viewed by going to the bottom of the site and clicking the resources link.

Let me describe to you the test:

This exam requires some sort of timer or clock, a chessboard, a white knight, and one black queen.

The knight is placed on b1. Black's queen is placed on d4. The white knight has to traverse around the board, visiting the squares in this sequence: c1, e1, f1, h1, a2, c2, e2, g2, h2, until you reach g8. There are squares like h8 that can't be visited because the black queen is attacking it. At any time during the quiz, the black queen should not be moved nor can the white knight be placed in danger of being captured by the queen.

It's all right to visit any of the squares in the list out of sequence, but only if you are using them to get from one square to another, say, c1 to e1. Nevertheless, the knight still has to go back to the initial sequence. This exam is time-critical and has to be taken only once. Anyone who can finish the test in ten minutes or less on their 1st try has, according to Jonathan Levitt, "real chess talent."

What may look like an easy exam is actually an exam of extreme concentration and perseverance, especially for the beginners. You should plan the moves the knight has to take and do it fast. Up to now, not everybody who had taken the exam was able to even reach c1.

If you go to my chess game strategies site, scroll to the bottom, and click on the resources link, you can see the answer to the exam, as well as results, in seconds, of some very accomplished players of chess.

Give your computer a rest and give this quiz a try.

You don't need to worry if you finish this quiz after ten minutes because this quiz is about strategic thinking and not simply memorizing chess moves.

I know there are some people who would just memorize each and every move in chess. They are just taking the quiz for the heck of it and not to really learn chess. Real chess aptitude is achieved only if you plan your move. Playing chess is about strategy and how good you adapt. As they say, practice makes perfect.

Biography: Chad Kimball has been playing the game of chess since he was a small child, and is presently an editor and publisher, publishing chess instruction books and courses online. He is responsible for uploading an exciting resource to the web: "The Grandmaster Strategy Video Training Library."

This wonderful training library contains twenty-nine training videos, fourteen training e-books, and several bonus items. You can obtain all these just for the price of a single chess book that you can purchase at your local bookstore. The sure way to learn chess and defeat your challenger is at your fingertips. There is more information found in the chess game resource site