Technique in the 3...Qa5 Scandinavian | Climbing the Rating Ladder vs. 1808
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- Опубліковано 25 кві 2023
- In this continuation of the "Climbing the Rating Ladder" series I take on players of various ratings levels while pointing out typical mistakes and spots for improvement along the way (possibly my own!? :)). Here I commentate a 10+5 game against a player rated 1808 on Chess.com. In the 3...Qa5 variation of the Scandinavian Defense, Black has two principle setups involving placing the pawn on c6 (the traditional "light-square restriction" structure) or developing the queenside knight on this square instead. In this game I opt for the former, seeking to poke and prod White's setup in the middlegame with my knight pair and pressure on d4. Though many positions are equal in such middlegames, it's easy for White to go wrong if they become overambitious - especially in loosening their pawn structure!
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Thank you all for the very warm welcome back!! It's truly a pleasure to make instructive content for you guys. This is the best I've felt in almost two months, and I believe it's because of your supportive comments and well-wishes ♥
Honestly, I was a little bit worried about you not posting for 6 weeks. Happy you are back, and take it easy!
@@a.j.a.dekruijf6691 Thank you - cheers!
@John Bartholomew I also were wondering why you haven't been posting. I watched one of E. Rosen's streams fairly recently and he played a game against you in a recent online tournament (you beat him). You withdrew halfway through that tournament, and I wondered why. I looked forward to your analysis of that game (they are always brilliant!), which never came.
My thoughts were you were maybe preparing for a GM norm... In any case, welcome back! You've been missed, especially since you'd gone back to this new (old 😂) 10-minute format! Am looking forward to the new games and your analysing them.
Hey John, I really like your channel. About your vocal stamina: I live in the UK and I guess we think Americans have too much to say in any case! As far as I'm concerned, you could say less and encourage us to think even more when watching your games. Perhaps the modern world of online content demands a near continuous stream of commentary. But, if you were forced to be more discerning in how much you say, that might even improve your videos from my point of view. Best wishes for the voice recovery. All the best from laconic London, England.
When the world needed him most, he returned.
It's so true
He’s the opposite of Aang
Sorry to hear about your health issues, but glad you were comfortable sharing, and you know we're all pulling for a full recovery - not sure what we would all do without the dulcet tones of JB
JB: “Hey guys….welcome back”
Me: “wait, who is it? WHO IS IT?!” 😭
Could be anyone!
A light in the darkness. A bud in the tree. A dandelion in the pasture. He has returned!!!
Good to have you back John, I can only rewatch videos so many times.
And I add best wishes on your health, get well soon! Take care of yourself!
From my days as a competitive runner I learned that trying to come back from injury too early or too aggressively can prolong recovery. As much as I love seeing you wield your teaching skills, take care of yourself. We will be patient if needed. Thanks for everything, John.
Sage advice. Definitely trying to pace myself
So nice to have you back, John! We missed you. But we also wish you a speedy recovery! Don't push yourself too hard and take good care.
Glad to have you back! Thank you for all your work on chess education. Hope you recover fully soon! Don't push yourself too hard!
Hi John this is guys, great to see you back. I never really comment but wanted to say couple of things: firstly hope your recovery continues well but don't push it too hard, and secondly a massive thanks for all the excellent videos you've put out to date. They've helped me so much, in addition to just being super watchable and relaxing (unless you're low on time in a winning position that is...!)
My heart sunk when you said "hey guys" without the "this is John"
I've had a John sized hole in my heart for these past few weeks. Thanks so much for returning with fresh content. I gasped upon seeing a new upload from you 😄
Awww 🥰
Analysis Gang here. Good to see you again, John! Sorry to hear about your voice issues, but I'm glad you're managing it.
How do I join the gang? Hopefully watching was enough. Count me out for any rough hazing
Glad to see you back John. Your loyal fanbase will continue to be here for you at whatever pace you manage so dont push yourself too hard if it will harm your recovery. I'll be here rooting for you.
Hi John! The loyalty of your viewers is completely deserved as you’re such a nice guy and your chess content remains the best in my opinion. Make sure to prioritize your health for a while. Wishing you all the best!
Man loving this lord of the rings 3 remake, The Return of The Scandanavian King, great twist on the original
The course I'm working on might be as long as the LOTR trilogy, too 😅
@@JohnBartholomewChess naturally, if want the course to pop you gotta invest in deep world building
Rejoice! John’s back and with a Scandi defense nonetheless. Glad you didn’t sacrifice your health to make videos, looking forward to years of quality instruction to come.
Sorry to hear about your health issues. Glad you are taking care of it. Greetings from Argentina. Fan of you content since 2014!
Cheers for watching all the way in Argentina!
looks like analysis is back on the menu boys
Analysis gang!!
Hey John, I also have muscle tension dysphonia (caused by LPR, a rare type of acid reflux). Glad you're back! I feel your pain, literally :)
4:30 I am indeed watching this video before Levy's recap of the game today 😀I did find out about the result already though. But Climbing the Rating Ladder gets top priority.
Welcome back John. Glad you're making progress health wise. Been missing your rating ladder videos.
John, you have an unrivaled ability to distill a complicated position into its important elements and explain them in a crystal clear way, all while maintaining a great attitude. Feel better soon, and thanks for the free lessons.
A speedy recovery to you Sir.
So glad to have you back, John! You’ve been missed. Glad to hear you’re doing better!
This is the first comment I've ever made on UA-cam. I hope you recover your health in voice soon. Whenever I see the notification that you made a video I like to see them. You have a very entertaining and pleasant way of making videos about chess
Thank you John. You are my favorite chess player out there.
Glad you are optimistic about your therapy. Do what you need to do! And thanks for being you!
I actually saw this video before the WCS match 13. Good to have you back, John, and nice analysis. I stayed till the end 😉
When someone is great, you don't call them the GOAT, you call them John Bartholomew.
You know you haven't made a video in a while when you forget your intro!! LOL. Welcome back!!
Very happy to hear things are getting better with your voice, John! Take care of yourself.
JOHN IS BACK!!! Loving it JB, glad you're back with a video as informative as ever. Hope you get to give adequate rest to your voice. Should we expect some classical music on the YT videos as well?😃
Happy to see you back, John! It surprises me to hear that you have a vocal issue, what with your soothing dulcet tones. Hope the therapy helps and keeps everything relaxed and functional for many years to come.
Omg it’s been so many years since I’ve seen the OG 🤩
We're so happy to see you again ! You're helping tones of people with your videos
Hey John, this video randomly popped on my home page 5 months after the fact. You probably didn't talk about your condition with the hopes of unsolicited advice from non-doctors like myself but I had a similar problem a couple years ago. It got progressively worse over a 6 or 7 year period with a peak during my early years of law school.
At the time I would perform breathing exercises and light exercise finding that these helped with the tension (enough to survive the day's demands), but these only went so far. The constriction was especially bad in the mornings and under tense situations. But as it got worse it would appear in normal settings with it taking little to set off its cascade. This time of my life was filled with stress, but on top of that I did a lot of things that I have since found compounded the problem. The first was black coffee early in the morning, every morning. And the second was a relatively ketogenic diet (although I hadn't even heard of the term at the time).
Weirdly, adding simple sugars (fruits, plain table sugar) back in my diet solved roughly 80% of my problem. Especially around the time of coffee, but also throughout the day. Coffee "uses up" the sugars you have in your system, as does a large protein meal, e.g. Thinking about the issue hormonally: when your blood sugar drops below a certain point cortisol and adrenaline are activated to create sugar in the body to accommodate its necessary functions (the brain is heavily dependent on circulating glucose eg). The body creates the necessary glucose by breaking down your muscles and fat, "gluconeogenesis," using these hormones. My severely constrained voice was very closely correlated with situations that would activate these hormones. My damage was intensified by dietary choices (probably also by an intense exercise regimen). The way I see it, the body has a rather high demand for energy, simple energy, and in its absence it is not able to fully relax. Usable energy in various tissues is probably the primary factor of relaxation. In the old days before blood tests doctors used to perform the 'achilles reflex test' for hypothyroidism. Patients with severe symptoms had a delayed period of relaxation after stimulation. Their muscle would lock up for a moment and slowly relax, as opposed to healthy people whose muscles would immediately transition back to the relaxed state.
I don't know if you'll see this comment, nor do I know if any of this will help your situation. I understand this is not conventional wisdom. But it has proven durable for me in a way that nothing else has. The problem has not returned (~4 years), and I've been able to refine my diet further in a way to improve the success of the intervention. In other words, I'm 'normal' now lol. I hate proselytizing about diet because it sounds overly simplistic especially when the fix sounds basic and rubberstamped. But I couldn't help but think about previous videos when you would take breaks from coffee, and I wondered if your reasons were similar to mine (I found that this would help at the time). [In addition to sugars, taking a low amount of asp, irin (somewhere between a baby and an adult size) around the time of a meal with sugar worked well for me. I felt I should mention this second thing because it was especially helpful at first, and I didn't feel a need to rely on this long term. (To a surprising extent A blocks the cortisol response and helps with the proper uptake of sugar.)]
I've been watching your videos since late 2016. I know its not the greatest rating in the world but earlier this year I hit 2000 on chesscom. I credit your channel with this success and with my love for the game. If I can help your problem in any way I'm happy to do it. My suggestion would be to buy some fruit, honey, and cans of sweetened condensed milk to add to your coffee; glucose, fructose, and sucrose I found helped, whereas starches I wasn't sure. Adding sugars to your diet has obvious drawbacks (calories, brushing your teeth more), but for me it was worth it. I didn't have to give up coffee after all and I got my voice back...
WOW, this is a hugely detailed personal account, Mike!! I really appreciate it, man. This issue must have been pretty debilitating for you in dealing with it for 6-7 years, and I can tell you've spent a lot of time thinking about it and understanding the biological role of diet/the physiological role of stress in vocal constriction. Were you ever formally diagnosed with something like MTD, btw?
Very interesting about the introduction of simple sugars into your diet making such a huge difference. I'm going to give that a shot (along with the baby aspirin), because although I've made some progress over the last few months with reduced vocal load and vocal exercises, I'm still having issues, and my pain/vocal fatigue can "cascade" (to use your apt term) pretty easily if I overdo it. It's unpleasant at some point on most days, especially as a teacher and video creator. I do love my coffee, but I always drink it black - usually two cups in the morning. I'll try your sweetened condsened milk suggestion there. I tend to have a low-sugar diet, and when I have sugar, it will typically be some fruit or yogurt later in the day. So that's already a clear dietary tweak I can make - frontloading/increasing my sugar intake in the morning.
Once again, I truly appreciate that you took the time to write up such a detailed account of what worked for you. It's a tough condition to find any solid info about...most of the advice is "well, rest and vocal exercises help - but it can be months!" I wouldn't doubt if diet and the timing of things like coffee and sugar intake make a noticeable difference, though, particularly in someone who uses their voice more than the average person. Thanks again 👍
Awesome to see you back John. The very best wishes from Devon, United Kingdom
Oh today is a good day - you're back on UA-cam! So glad you're feeling well enough to do the occasional video and stream. I hope you continue to feel better.
we missed you man good to have you back
Great having you back John! I was running out of your older vids to watch!
Welcome back John!! I’m glad you found a voice therapist! Protect your voice and do what you need to do!
Thanks, Daniel!
Hello John, thanks for all the chess info. For free too! That’s awfully nice of you. Just found this channel, Hikaru recommended you as the best in the biz for chess learning and he was right, my game is sharpening.
Thanks so much for your kind message! I appreciate Hikaru recommending my channel. Really glad my content is helping you - best wishes for your improvement.
Welcome back John, delighted to see this video today
This game you played John is a fantastic example of how top level players play chess. Keep up the good play!
Cheers, Kevin!
You working to provide us with such great educational and entertaining content all the while handling a health issue speaks volumes to your commitment to all of us in the chess world. Thank you John!
I can’t wait to pick up that Scandi course as well!
Welcome back man! I've used ginger tea in the past and it works wonders for sore throats and related issues!
Thank you, Nelson - I appreciate your comment! Ginger tea is great, agreed 👍
Fabulous to see you back John. Very instructive game. I have such a tendency to overpush, so I feel I learn a lot about patience from you.
We missed you. Sorry to hear about your health issues. Thank you for sharing and being vulnerable. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Hey John! I wanted to respond to you circa the loyal viewers: while we ARE that (😀) I think a bigger factor is you just pumping out quality content that naturally sifts to the top!
Glad to see a video from you- I haven't finished it but I'm confident it'll be as professional and instructional as always.
John!! So happy to see you on UA-cam, missed you! 😊
Woah woah woah, Mr. Finns, the last video I saw from you you said that you gave up on the scandi. Now its back?? I love to see it!! Always is a great thing to see a new video from you! I hope all goes well with the voice issues👽
Nice line at 25:15 taking an passant to next level :))
Qa5!! We all know John is a Qd8 guy. Thanks for the content as always, John!!
Thank you! 3...Qa5 was my first Scandinavian love!
Stay strong John! Love your content and the way you talk through your games and share your thoughts!!! Keep up the good work man!
Welcome back John. You are my favourite chess UA-camr despise you playing the Scandinavian :D
Hey John, this is guys. Happy to see you back!!
Hey John, nice to see you back. Hope you get well soon.
Back with a Scandy! What could be better? Welcome back JB!
#TeamScandi! 😎
Great to have you back on the internets, John! Take good care of your voice!
I’m intrigued by the Qa5 Scandy and will keep an eye out for your course.
Hey John, this is guys and I think we all wish you best! Welcome back :)
Not a fan of classical music so I'm happy to have you back on here 😜. Hope your voice holds out! Thanks for these videos (and twitch)! Learning a ton
Welcome back John!
Man, health conditions can be so frustrating when it seems like you're the only one experiencing it. I'm going through something similar. Get well soon John.
Great to see you back! Glad you’re feeling better. Always nice to get notified you posted content…think I’ve watched them all.
Glad you came back, I always enjoy your streams and videos.
Thanks for the video John! Missed you! Speedy recovery
Glad to see you back, and glad you're feeling better! Good luck with the voice therapy John! :-)
Wishing you a speedy recovery John! Take care and thanks for all of the content over the years
Glad to see you back! Missed your content
Wishing you a speedy and easy recovery!
Hey John glad you're back! Everyone missed you ❤
Oh, thank God you're back! My rating has dropped from 3200 to 800 since you stopped posting videos!
(I've actually gone up in rating, but I don't want you to feel like your content isn't helpful)
Glad you're back! Good luck with the voice therapy.
Above all, take care of yourself. Much to no one's surprise, neither Nepomniatchi nor Liren explain their moves as they play, so I'd click on you in an instant! You're the one I learn from.
Welcome back, John! I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. I'm looking forward to future videos. Your instructional content is exceptional, especially for a fellow strategical player like me.
Good to see you back and hope you have a speedy recovery
A pleasant surprise in the recommended YT videos today. Glad to see (and hear) you’re on the mend!
Very instructive John
Thanks
Welcome back
Awesome to see you back!
thank you for your videos and wishing you a speedy recovery. It is one of those things that are hard to identify and it's good to nail down the problem in the first place.
Finally another episode! I already watched all the others so I'm glad you're back 😅
Much love to you, John. Health is paramount and I’m sorry to hear about health issues but I’m glad it’s nothing too serious and it’s good to see and hear you laughing and playing again. Love your content, welcome back, and take care of yourself
Missed your videos so much.... couldn't find anything to take their place. You're incomparable.
High praise!! Thanks so much! 🧡
To your health🍻 Glad to have you back, love your vids with some coffee in the morning!
Glad your back John ♟️
Good to see you again John, thanks!
A 3.Qa5 course is a dream.
It wouldn't happen at your level, but it's so weird how often low rated players blunder their bishop on g5 after forgetting Queens move sideways
That's a great point I think I made once or twice in the course notes. Often happens with a ...Bg4 pin as well, removing the defending knight on f3 so set up ...Qxg5.
Great to see you back. All the best with the recovery! I had a similar problem with my voice after a nasty infection with what was very likely Covid in 2020. My voice would get fatigued after about 30 mins of speaking. Luckily I wasn't in a position where that happened very often, as social occasions were few and far between then, but I did find that eating fresh, tangy oranges helped a lot. I ate at least 2 a day once I discovered how much they helped. Good luck! 🙏
Glad to see you back, John! We've missed you!
Like Superman, he needed to take a quick trip back to Krypton. He's back, and the "S" stands for Scandi!!
"S" stands for Scandi... love it 😅
4:32 I'd take a climbing the rating ladder game over a WCC game any day of the week!
Haha cheers Justin! 😀
One of my favourite chess UA-camrs. My number one favourite Daniel Naroditsky.
Danya is great 💪
Good luck man. Can hear some of that speech therapy in waves. Lots of practice! Your accent makes it hard; American in general. You guys really push your vowels!
Thanks for the content, and have a good day. 😊
Thanks Adam! And that's probably true - never thought about the vowel-pushing before 😅 Appreciate your well-wishes.
Great to have you back, John. I hope you're back up to 100% very soon, but your content is some of my favorite stuff even when you're at less than 100%.
Thanks so much!
Glad to see you back in the saddle!
Yay! John back on youtube. You look and sound great!!
Thanks, Carl!!
Great to see you back John! Hope your voice improves
The GOAT returns! Hope your voice makes a full recovery!
With each video, I wonder and feel sad if John has stopped making videos altogether. Then suddenly he will return with a new one making everyone happy!
We all missed you while you were away but are glad you're back and getting the medical help your body needs. We will understand if you need to take breaks.
I love it when my opponent plays the Scandinavian. I think it's the opening I have the best score against. It's real bad for black. But somehow you win many games with it.