Tough Nuts

Extra Challenging

💡These are the compositions where Yerushalmi doesn’t just write a difficult problem — 🔀
he writes a problem that is difficult for people who are good at problems 🤓

These positions were designed with careful logic and with a sharp understanding of the psychology of solving.
(But even in Tough Nuts, nothing is added “just to mislead” and very piece on the board carries artistic purpose.)

The original audience for these works — Yerushalmi’s younger siblings — eventually asked him for a challenge that would be “as hard as possible.”
To deliver that, he had to think in a special way:
to get inside the head of solvers who know how to get inside the head of the composer.
The result is this level.

A note about the nuts: Tough Nuts aren’t necessarily the most spectacular creations 💎 (that honor belongs to Unique Gems),
but they are the hardest to crack.

Some of these creations kept seasoned solvers busy for over an hour.
Others hide their ideas so elegantly that you may be certain you’ve found the key — only to discover it was an impostor 🛡️

If you enjoy clever impostors, hidden lines, and the kind of surprises that make you sit back and smile at the craft behind them — you’re in the right place.
Take your time. Think twice. These nuts are meant to be cracked slowly. 🥜😉

All the works we classify as Extra Challenging are gathered right here on this page.

Scroll to Top