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

A chess grandmaster by the name of Jonathan Levitt cooked up this self-test to help you check how much you are familiar about the game of chess. You can learn more about this exam in his book, "Genius in Chess."

Prior to taking the quiz, you may have to understand the diagram of a chessboard using algebraic notation. Veteran players can skip the topic of chess notation and move on to the actual test. Algebraic chess notation utilizes numbers one through eight in line with each of the eight rows of the chessboard beginning from white's side. Beginning from left to right of the white side, each column is labeled with letters "a" thru "h." Every square, which is an intersection of a row and a column, is labeled by both a letter and a number. If you are on the "white's" side of the chessboard, the upper rightmost square, is h8. As you will see on the figure on my website mentioned above, the upper rightmost square is a1.

You can log on to my chess tips site. You can view a classic square checkered chessboard with the algebraic notation. The figure is located in the resources link at the bottom of the webpage.

Let me illustrate the quiz:

You would need to use 1 regular chessboard, 1 black queen, 1 white knight, and a clock or timer.

Put the knight on b1. The black queen is placed on d4. Every square needs to be visited by the knight moving in this sequence: c1, e1, f1, h1, a2, c2, e2, g2, h2, and so on until g8. You won't be able to visit h8 because it is attacked by black's queen. While taking the quiz you can't take the queen, and you cannot put the knight en prise at any time.

It isIt's all right to move to any of the squares in the list out of sequence, but only if you're using them to move from a square to another, for example, c1 to e1. However, the squares have to be revisited at the correct time in the sequence given above. The exam is time-constrained and needs to be completed only once. Levitt believes that anybody who can finish the test in less than 10 minutes shows "real chess talent."

Unwavering attention and the will to learn is what is required to pass the exam. You should think of the moves the knight has to take and do it as quickly as possible. Not everyone who took the exam made it passed c1.

I have provided the answer to the quiz to help you test yourself. You can find the answer in my chess tips site. It is located on the bottom of the website on the resources link. The results, shown in seconds, of some of the best chess players in the world are shown in the site too.

Give your pc a break and give this exam a try.

You shouldn't be discouraged if you end up finishing the test after the ten-minute mark. Mastering the test takes intense planning and not memorizing the moves.

It seems that there are those who would just memorize each and every move in chess. These people would surely have some trouble completing the exam. Real chess aptitude is determined only if you plan your move. Playing chess is about planning and how well you adjust. As they say, practice makes perfect.

Bio: Chad Kimball started playing chess at an incredibly young age. Besides playing chess, he has written, edited, and published chess books. He publishes his chess books on the Internet. He also offers chess courses online. He is the reason why we have "The Grandmaster Strategy Video Training Library." This is a very helpful resource found on the Internet.

This amazing training library is composted of twenty-nine training videos, fourteen training e-books, and some 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 best way to learn chess and beat any opponent is at your fingertips. Learn more about this amazing training set at the chess tips resource.