These kinds of tense, complicated, closed positions always get me. I get overwhelmed calculating all the variations, and inevitably make a mistake. It's good to see how John navigates them.
John, I found the analysis completely fascinating as we saw how "bad" some of your moves were from an engine point of view, and especially how well you took the feedback on board. I'm sure I'm not alone in dreading the analysis phase where I'm forced to confront all of my errors and start to get down on myself for "obvious" silly mistakes. It really helps to see how you acknowledge your limitations and take positive lessons from every analysis. Thanks once again for the amazing content! ~a guy
I'm sooooo delighted to see John making new standard games videos. He explains his thoughts during the game so clearly. Fantastic and very instructive content. I hope that new videos will be posted regularly :) Thank you mr. Bartholomew!
Great game & analysis John, this was one of your best content. Kudos to CarriCarri as well, he played an amazing game. As a ~2K lichess player, I generally don't want to trade my Q with two Rs. It feels like position will get sharp too quickly.
I could watch John show us cool mating patterns for as long as he was willing to. That position with the stacked tripled e pawns for both white and black was also nuts.
Wow. What a nail-biter! All kindsa possibilities in a mostly closed position. Don't think my nerves would last long in something like this. The draw was well-earned (and most likely welcomed) by both players. Thanks for instructive entertainment John.
Top notch video John! My thoughts on Q trade were that you’d have to eventually give up that b pawn to get the knight in the game (so technically even material) and if he can stay solid with his pieces by his king with his bishop protecting c8 his queen and extra pawn on the queen side seemed unpleasant. That said I’m sure you could still draw it. Keep up the great work!
Fantastic game and analysis! Watched from beginning to end and the hour flew by! Great to have you active on YT again! I would also have gone for the two rooks, looked good :) I was thinking rook f to c1 in order to have rab1 available to support b pawn push~ GG and well played by both :)
Great game and analysis! These slower time controls with tough pairing is really a treat to watch. I would have not gone for 2 rooks vs. queen, it seemed a bit difficult to coordinate. But I guess lower rated players usually don't take that road :) Great that you tube content is back, long time fan starting from those ICC games and three videos per day.
Thank you for all your content, John! Interestingly, 10. c5 fails to a surprising intermezzo 10... Nxf4! threatening a fork on e2, and white is forced to recapture 11. gxf4 if they don't want to lose either the b pawn (11. Qxf4 Qxb2) or the c pawn (11. cxb6 Nxe2+ 12. Kh1 Nxc2 13. bxa7 Nd3 14. axb8=Q Rxb8)
VERY instructive game! I particularly liked the middle game when you were talking at length about some positional ideas, like comparing the quality of pieces for both sides and how to think about the pawn tension. Highly valuable insights into the thought process of a master in an unclear position.
Wow what a great game John, fascinating to see how the pair of rooks stacks up against the queen, and then later the 3 pieces. Great tactics, great battle at the end. Please keep up these longer time frames & especially against similarly high rated opponents, it's some of the best chess content around. Thanks!
You're light years ahead of me and I've learned so much from you, but I never would have traded that Queen off because that Bishop to F8 just threw cold water on the Rook.
I really like this longer games format, made me want to play more classical on Lichess :D I saw b4 in a game btw and struggled to explain to myself why you weren't worried about it, decided I'm not smart enough to see how tactically you had it covered or something. Glad to see the engine says I was right :P
I've been watching your standard videos for years now and the past few weeks I've been watching the most recent ones and I gotta say, the 15+15 time control has made for absolutely fascinating games. I watched #300 Ruy Lopez Rumble the other night and it's my favorite so far. It slows the pace down just enough for a pinch of extra quality over the 15+2/15+10/etc. other time controls on this playlist. If you ever start making these again I would definitely vote for this pace. As a much much lower rated player I've noticed that you really try to push some ideas, not necessarily to their limit, but much further than I do myself. I was shouting for a Rfd1 early on simply because it seemed that was the only piece not doing anything and development is drilled into my head but you kept doing other things and they usually end up being correct. I saw Qf1+ right before you pushed your f-pawn at the end and was heartbroken, but shows I've learned something after watching so many of these since I think that's the first move I've ever noticed myself that you missed, which is saying something considering how many of these I've watched (and how much easier it is to notice things when you're not actually the one playing).
Great example of how complicating the position can be useful especially when you're down, because it got so complicated towards the end that you both made mistakes. One of my favourite games I've watched on this channel.
Wow! This was a crazy game. To answer your question in the video, I definitely would not have traded the queen for the 2 rooks but the appeal is definitely there with the knight covering the f7 square. I think you mentioned earlier in the game that you were the one with the positive tension and I think that makes sense as to why you should play some sort of rook move like Rfd1. Great content as always John!!! Keep these coming!!!
It's been 4 or 5 years that I do the treadmill at the gym watching these standard videos. I've watched them all at least twice. Nice to have some new ones😅 You are aewsome John! Btw, my online rating always goes up when I'm hitting the gym more often
I immediately didn’t like the Q trade for the rooks. I liked Rb1 to just keep building tension! If you invert the board and look from your opponent’s pov (I do that often, even otb in tournaments I will get up and stand behind my opponent on occasion quitely to see) I’m sure thinks it’s quite intimidating! I think he was relieved after the trade. But I’m not quite an IM and wasn’t under time pressure 😊
To answer your question around 56:27 I was thinking of closing the position with c5, then maybe capturing on c6 and rerouting the a3 Knight Personally I would've been skeptical going for the imbalance of 2 rooks for the queen unless I was sure it led to mate or something
What an interesting game, and so well explained. I was thinking of 13b4 to gain space, as if Qxb4 then 14Rb1 picks up the b pawn. If 13...a6 you can guard the b4 pawn and line the R against the Q with Rb1, and strengthen the pawn advancing to b5 at some stage. I think your opponent's long think at move 17 was over the idea 17...dxc4. After 18d5, which you well discussed, he has the move Nxe5 with Nf3+ to follow with a discovery on the white queen. If here 19fxe5 Bxe5 20dxe6 Bxc3 21Bxb6 Bb2 it looks like a roughly equal mess, but 19Bxb6 Nf3+ 20Rxf3 Bxc3 21Rfxc3 refutes the whole line. He had also to calculate (in this line) 20Qxe5 Qxe3+ 21Kh1 Bxd5, and be sure that it was winning, all of which is why I think he "went into the tank", and finally played the better rac8.
Anyone else watch this with engine and look directly at john to try to figure out whether or not he is seeing the evaluation? I know that's not what is happening since he is a master, but watching the game in this way is very entertaining on a human level. Always watching these vids with the engine and skipping around is the way to consume chess content best! Cheers all!
To answer your question at 57:00 John, I evaluated taking both rooks as better for black just because I couldn’t figure out how to deal with this knight on a3 which seemed pretty permanently bad
Wow, what a game! So sharp that both sides had to use almost all of their time. Too bad about losing the f-pawn, but also shows how universal it is to make a move and immediately go "oh no!"
Great stuff as always John! My intuition said not to go for the two tooks for the queen but then again my intuition said fxe in that previous game so I thaught you knew best here as well. My style would have been c5 (also even before b5) there but my slow style has often got me in positions where eventually I do not know what to do anymore.
Hey John, great video as usual! Thanks for all the content lately ;) also I do have a weird request, I commented on one of your videos a while back (standard #103) and asked for a book you mentioned in the video. I come back every once in a while and check (pun intended) for an answer, would definitely appreciate it if you find time to go back to the video and help me out ;) love you John!
Wow fun game to watch, tons of interesting positions.. unfortunate the clock came into play otherwise it would have been fun to see some imbalance technique.. personally I like the queen over two rooks since it seems like a trickier piece to have.
Love it! Youre right longer time formats are best. For me (~1600 rapid) it is more educational when you play higher rated oponennts like this one. Watching you destroying 1000 lower rated enemy doesnt give me that much.
Incredibly interesting game. I will say I did not agree with the Queen for 2 rooks. In my head I just didn't see it the same way. The way I looked at the position, blacks rooks were quite dormant and doing very little in cramped space while your queen was synchronizing a lot of the harmony of the white position. Because of this the trade struck me as wrong, and I didn't see the rooks being that dangerous as there wasn't much room for infiltration. That's my take purely on the Queen exchange. During the vid I was quite sure the engine would disagree it was better for white, however you clearly proved your point by creating havoc for black to deal with. Awesome game! - NM David Mbonu
I personally dislike the Queen for 2 rooks decision. With more time black may have figured out a concrete plan to exploit white’s lack of coordination which is the key issue here. For example, the knight stranded on a3 does not leave a good impression which struggles to find useful squares. In the meantime black is quick to coordinate and launch an assault on the White pieces. However with less time, this option is certainly plausible to me. Also in making such a decision, the context of my opponent and tournament also matters.
I wouldn't have traded the queen for two rooks because your king is honestly a little too unsafe and the position is a little too open for me to trust it. Reminds me of two games: Carlsen - Nepo WCC game 6, and the online banter blitz where Dubov and Nepo are doing hand and brain. In the second one, Nepo is like "don't you like winning material?" to Dubov, who replies, "but you're down a queen!"
Wow, what a cool game. One of the more interesting ones on your channel. Unfortunate ending, but you played a great game. I would not have traded the queen for two rooks, but only because I’m not confident at playing those positions
Hindsight is 20/20, but I think there is a way to rule out the option of trading queen for rooks: The knight on a3 is badly placed and should be improved before making the game open and unbalanced. During the game I thought the current position was pretty confusing, so I would have maybe also gone for the trade of queen for rooks just to clarify things. Cool game!
This was awesome John. I agreed with your decision to play c x d5 and play two rooks against the queen. But I’m merely 1750 rapid on lichess so what do I know. Keep up the great work
White's objective is to form the en potence at once and afterward to establish the grand left oblique, while the minor crochet covers the right wing against the adverse major front echelon. The minor left oblique refused is inferior to all strategic fronts directed either by the right or by the left or by the right refused..
Playing 7. NA3 I thought, I'm going to need something stronger than coffee to get this. In fact, there were precious few moves throughout the game that I might have predicted.
Great game, though vid was hard to watch. I noticed a lot of interruption ads in this one compared to the usual pre and post ads. Will make sure to watch on a device with adblock for next time so I can follow without interruption
Gives me immense pleasure to tell you that I never would've gone for that queen for 2 rooks decision. Also that I spotted the Kh4 idea to avoid checks. Your videos kinda make me feel like even I could be an IM if I took my time thinking about the moves ...
There was a video from ChessDojo, in their endgame sensei series. Two IMs were playing out the endgame against each other, an endgame from 2 world class players, one of which was a world champion Petrosian. After the game, GM Kraai asked them what do they think Petrosian played in a certain position. They thought for a while and got the answer wrong. On the other hand, I guessed right a backward knight move that puts the knight on the 1st rank. Sometimes one could see a move that very strong players don't, especially when one is watching the video and is under no pressure. I was happy of course, but in itself it doesn't mean much. John has this logical style, at least it looks that way to me, and his moves seems natural, so when you are watching, you have the illusion that spotting those moves is easy. But then you sit and play yourself and you play in accordance with your own strength (doesn't matter if that strength is 400 or 2200). You might find one move, maybe even 5 moves or even more if you are a very good player, but you can't be consistent like that throughout the game. And if you are really great amateur player and you get one such game, you need to do it in another game, and then another... That kind of consistency is what makes him IM.
Great video. I would hope that John would play 2000+ players a bit more often. I have to say I don't find it very instructive or interesting to see him mopping the floor with a 1200 player. There just isn't much to say. Some comments about opening choices, maybe a comment or two about strategic choices, then typically followed by a blunder and game over. Here on the other hand, so rich, and so fascinating to follow his thoughts and weigh them against your own ...
59:21 Gonna put this position on my tombstone
I'm around 1800 FIDE. I greatly enjoy your blitz and bullet, but these classical matches are incredibly educational. Thanks, Mr. John!
I don’t play chess but I like watching your videos. Something therapeutic about it
That radio station voice 😆
Me 2
I do play chess, but I often have this on in the background...I like the ambience it creates and i find it very relaxing...
These kinds of tense, complicated, closed positions always get me. I get overwhelmed calculating all the variations, and inevitably make a mistake. It's good to see how John navigates them.
It's great to see you work through an incredibly complicated position like this. It helps to see how you approach the thought process!
John, I found the analysis completely fascinating as we saw how "bad" some of your moves were from an engine point of view, and especially how well you took the feedback on board. I'm sure I'm not alone in dreading the analysis phase where I'm forced to confront all of my errors and start to get down on myself for "obvious" silly mistakes. It really helps to see how you acknowledge your limitations and take positive lessons from every analysis. Thanks once again for the amazing content! ~a guy
I'm sooooo delighted to see John making new standard games videos. He explains his thoughts during the game so clearly. Fantastic and very instructive content. I hope that new videos will be posted regularly :) Thank you mr. Bartholomew!
The engine analysis was insane. Probably one of the most interesting games on the channel
Great game & analysis John, this was one of your best content. Kudos to CarriCarri as well, he played an amazing game. As a ~2K lichess player, I generally don't want to trade my Q with two Rs. It feels like position will get sharp too quickly.
Crazy that such an accurate game to my eye (barring the Qf1 move ofc) is such a blunderfest to the deific stockfish
It feels like you've posted more this January than you have all 2022 and it's great!
Thanks, John!
petition for john to show us cool mating patterns for 15 minutes
I could watch John show us cool mating patterns for as long as he was willing to. That position with the stacked tripled e pawns for both white and black was also nuts.
REALLY good standard game, John… prob the best one yet. real high level, tense chess!
loved the long form analysis of the end game, really starting to see how coordinating pieces even if you don''t have a clear plan can come in handy
Fantastic game and analysis! Instructive and complex
Thank you for your videos, John. They mean the world to us! Best chess content on UA-cam, period.
I love your rapid and classical time control games with heavy commentary, thanks John!
Awesome that you have been consistently videos again. Really enjoying it. Thanks 👍🏽
That was quite the wild west shootout! Losing that F pawn was devastating. Thanks for all the juicy content John
Wow. What a nail-biter! All kindsa possibilities in a mostly closed position. Don't think my nerves would last long in something like this. The draw was well-earned (and most likely welcomed) by both players. Thanks for instructive entertainment John.
Wow, what a game! Thanks for the recent UA-cam content. Very educational-as always.
So glad you're posting these longer games, this one was super interesting. You're analysis is without par. Thanks for all you do.
great stuff john, always really informative watching you play a skilled, high rated opponent
So glad your back regularly John! Loving the new videos. Keep it up man!
His back does what regularly?
Great video John. You presented perfectly your thought process. Very helpful and educative. Nice job!
I love these Standard videos!! Keep them coming, I learn a lot from watching these!
Thanks for another amazing video John. These longer format games are so valuable.
Always grateful to learn something from your explanations, John. Keep it up!
Really helpful to hear your thought process, especially here, since I play these openings for white and for black. Thank you!
Top notch video John! My thoughts on Q trade were that you’d have to eventually give up that b pawn to get the knight in the game (so technically even material) and if he can stay solid with his pieces by his king with his bishop protecting c8 his queen and extra pawn on the queen side seemed unpleasant. That said I’m sure you could still draw it. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for your comment and feedback, Jonah! Hope you've been doing well lately - appreciate you watching.
It's quite nice to see you again on a regular basis 👍 Nice sweater by the way 😎
Another amazing educational game, commentary and analysis.
Fantastic game and analysis! Watched from beginning to end and the hour flew by! Great to have you active on YT again! I would also have gone for the two rooks, looked good :) I was thinking rook f to c1 in order to have rab1 available to support b pawn push~ GG and well played by both :)
Always a lift in my day when I see a standard video!! Thanks John :)
Great game and analysis! These slower time controls with tough pairing is really a treat to watch. I would have not gone for 2 rooks vs. queen, it seemed a bit difficult to coordinate. But I guess lower rated players usually don't take that road :) Great that you tube content is back, long time fan starting from those ICC games and three videos per day.
Really interesting game, it's really instructive to hear your explanations and thought process during it)
Great to see you posting new content to UA-cam again!
Thanks for uploading these regularly, i was starting to miss them :)
I'd long since given up hope. What an unexpected pleasure this is.
Thank you for all your content, John!
Interestingly, 10. c5 fails to a surprising intermezzo 10... Nxf4! threatening a fork on e2, and white is forced to recapture 11. gxf4 if they don't want to lose either the b pawn (11. Qxf4 Qxb2) or the c pawn (11. cxb6 Nxe2+ 12. Kh1 Nxc2 13. bxa7 Nd3 14. axb8=Q Rxb8)
This one was very enjoyable to watch. The complexity of the game and the depth of the thought processes were astounding.
Love these, John! Thank you!
Not qualified to comment on the queen vs the 2 rooks here, but this was SO FUN to watch! Thanks for talking through it.
VERY instructive game! I particularly liked the middle game when you were talking at length about some positional ideas, like comparing the quality of pieces for both sides and how to think about the pawn tension. Highly valuable insights into the thought process of a master in an unclear position.
Thanks for another quality & instructive video JB
Wow what a game!! SO instructive :)
Wow what a great game John, fascinating to see how the pair of rooks stacks up against the queen, and then later the 3 pieces. Great tactics, great battle at the end. Please keep up these longer time frames & especially against similarly high rated opponents, it's some of the best chess content around. Thanks!
You're light years ahead of me and I've learned so much from you, but I never would have traded that Queen off because that Bishop to F8 just threw cold water on the Rook.
Those tripled pawns made me laugh so hard
I really like this longer games format, made me want to play more classical on Lichess :D
I saw b4 in a game btw and struggled to explain to myself why you weren't worried about it, decided I'm not smart enough to see how tactically you had it covered or something. Glad to see the engine says I was right :P
I've been watching your standard videos for years now and the past few weeks I've been watching the most recent ones and I gotta say, the 15+15 time control has made for absolutely fascinating games. I watched #300 Ruy Lopez Rumble the other night and it's my favorite so far. It slows the pace down just enough for a pinch of extra quality over the 15+2/15+10/etc. other time controls on this playlist. If you ever start making these again I would definitely vote for this pace.
As a much much lower rated player I've noticed that you really try to push some ideas, not necessarily to their limit, but much further than I do myself. I was shouting for a Rfd1 early on simply because it seemed that was the only piece not doing anything and development is drilled into my head but you kept doing other things and they usually end up being correct. I saw Qf1+ right before you pushed your f-pawn at the end and was heartbroken, but shows I've learned something after watching so many of these since I think that's the first move I've ever noticed myself that you missed, which is saying something considering how many of these I've watched (and how much easier it is to notice things when you're not actually the one playing).
Great example of how complicating the position can be useful especially when you're down, because it got so complicated towards the end that you both made mistakes. One of my favourite games I've watched on this channel.
Thank you - glad you enjoyed it and found it instructive!
Wow great game, fun to see one with no early simplification.
I didn’t realise you were uploading more often, need to get that notification bell going!
Thanks for turning on notifications!
You are the best, John. Keep up these it is way better against high rated oppnents
Wow! This was a crazy game. To answer your question in the video, I definitely would not have traded the queen for the 2 rooks but the appeal is definitely there with the knight covering the f7 square. I think you mentioned earlier in the game that you were the one with the positive tension and I think that makes sense as to why you should play some sort of rook move like Rfd1. Great content as always John!!! Keep these coming!!!
It's been 4 or 5 years that I do the treadmill at the gym watching these standard videos. I've watched them all at least twice. Nice to have some new ones😅 You are aewsome John!
Btw, my online rating always goes up when I'm hitting the gym more often
Great, thank you John!
I immediately didn’t like the Q trade for the rooks. I liked Rb1 to just keep building tension! If you invert the board and look from your opponent’s pov (I do that often, even otb in tournaments I will get up and stand behind my opponent on occasion quitely to see) I’m sure thinks it’s quite intimidating! I think he was relieved after the trade. But I’m not quite an IM and wasn’t under time pressure 😊
I struggle in super closed, sharp positions so I found this video especially interesting. Thanks John
To answer your question around 56:27
I was thinking of closing the position with c5, then maybe capturing on c6 and rerouting the a3 Knight
Personally I would've been skeptical going for the imbalance of 2 rooks for the queen unless I was sure it led to mate or something
Agreed. I liked Rb1
What an interesting game, and so well explained. I was thinking of 13b4 to gain space, as if Qxb4 then 14Rb1 picks up the b pawn. If 13...a6 you can guard the b4 pawn and line the R against the Q with Rb1, and strengthen the pawn advancing to b5 at some stage. I think your opponent's long think at move 17 was over the idea 17...dxc4. After 18d5, which you well discussed, he has the move Nxe5 with Nf3+ to follow with a discovery on the white queen. If here 19fxe5 Bxe5 20dxe6 Bxc3 21Bxb6 Bb2 it looks like a roughly equal mess, but 19Bxb6 Nf3+ 20Rxf3 Bxc3 21Rfxc3 refutes the whole line. He had also to calculate (in this line) 20Qxe5 Qxe3+ 21Kh1 Bxd5, and be sure that it was winning, all of which is why I think he "went into the tank", and finally played the better rac8.
Anyone else watch this with engine and look directly at john to try to figure out whether or not he is seeing the evaluation? I know that's not what is happening since he is a master, but watching the game in this way is very entertaining on a human level. Always watching these vids with the engine and skipping around is the way to consume chess content best! Cheers all!
To answer your question at 57:00 John, I evaluated taking both rooks as better for black just because I couldn’t figure out how to deal with this knight on a3 which seemed pretty permanently bad
This was one of your most interesting games. Lots of fun and wacky stuff. Thanks for the videos!
Wow, what a game! So sharp that both sides had to use almost all of their time. Too bad about losing the f-pawn, but also shows how universal it is to make a move and immediately go "oh no!"
Great stuff as always John! My intuition said not to go for the two tooks for the queen but then again my intuition said fxe in that previous game so I thaught you knew best here as well. My style would have been c5 (also even before b5) there but my slow style has often got me in positions where eventually I do not know what to do anymore.
Hell yes. Keep em coming!
Hey John, great video as usual! Thanks for all the content lately ;) also I do have a weird request, I commented on one of your videos a while back (standard #103) and asked for a book you mentioned in the video. I come back every once in a while and check (pun intended) for an answer, would definitely appreciate it if you find time to go back to the video and help me out ;) love you John!
Wow fun game to watch, tons of interesting positions.. unfortunate the clock came into play otherwise it would have been fun to see some imbalance technique.. personally I like the queen over two rooks since it seems like a trickier piece to have.
Man i would've collapsed in that middle game lol. So much tension, awesome game!
Thanks john that was really interesting
Love it! Youre right longer time formats are best. For me (~1600 rapid) it is more educational when you play higher rated oponennts like this one. Watching you destroying 1000 lower rated enemy doesnt give me that much.
This - this is the reason we love John.
Incredibly interesting game. I will say I did not agree with the Queen for 2 rooks. In my head I just didn't see it the same way. The way I looked at the position, blacks rooks were quite dormant and doing very little in cramped space while your queen was synchronizing a lot of the harmony of the white position. Because of this the trade struck me as wrong, and I didn't see the rooks being that dangerous as there wasn't much room for infiltration. That's my take purely on the Queen exchange. During the vid I was quite sure the engine would disagree it was better for white, however you clearly proved your point by creating havoc for black to deal with. Awesome game! - NM David Mbonu
Great vid. Love the standard chess series
Thank you for the videos. I missed the standard time formats.
I personally dislike the Queen for 2 rooks decision. With more time black may have figured out a concrete plan to exploit white’s lack of coordination which is the key issue here. For example, the knight stranded on a3 does not leave a good impression which struggles to find useful squares. In the meantime black is quick to coordinate and launch an assault on the White pieces. However with less time, this option is certainly plausible to me. Also in making such a decision, the context of my opponent and tournament also matters.
Almost John's immortal game!
I wouldn't have traded the queen for two rooks because your king is honestly a little too unsafe and the position is a little too open for me to trust it. Reminds me of two games: Carlsen - Nepo WCC game 6, and the online banter blitz where Dubov and Nepo are doing hand and brain. In the second one, Nepo is like "don't you like winning material?" to Dubov, who replies, "but you're down a queen!"
Wow, what a cool game. One of the more interesting ones on your channel. Unfortunate ending, but you played a great game. I would not have traded the queen for two rooks, but only because I’m not confident at playing those positions
Fascinating game. Thx for the content.
Hindsight is 20/20, but I think there is a way to rule out the option of trading queen for rooks: The knight on a3 is badly placed and should be improved before making the game open and unbalanced.
During the game I thought the current position was pretty confusing, so I would have maybe also gone for the trade of queen for rooks just to clarify things.
Cool game!
54:00 - I'm proud to have come up with b4 on my own :) I thought it was a nice way to build space without wasting time.
Great game
Super complicated position which could be analyzed for years. I learned a lot in the analysis to.
Yes! As humans we can only hope to scratch the surface in these insanely complex positions :)
Best series!
Good game. I think anyone would have gone for trading the q for 2 r given the time situation.
Excellent game!
This was awesome John. I agreed with your decision to play c x d5 and play two rooks against the queen. But I’m merely 1750 rapid on lichess so what do I know. Keep up the great work
Very interesting game. Kh4 is such a finesse move!
White's objective is to form the en potence at once and afterward to establish the grand left oblique, while the minor crochet covers the right wing against the adverse major front echelon. The minor left oblique refused is inferior to all strategic fronts directed either by the right or by the left or by the right refused..
Playing 7. NA3 I thought, I'm going to need something stronger than coffee to get this. In fact, there were precious few moves throughout the game that I might have predicted.
This was a crazy one, yes!
I really like this guy, that was entertaining, well, I am ELO 1100, so it was over my head, but he talks clearly and intelligently.
Really interesting game! I thought 13. Rd1 was a good way to keep the coordination and tension. Overprotect d4 while not committing to anything crazy.
Great game, though vid was hard to watch. I noticed a lot of interruption ads in this one compared to the usual pre and post ads. Will make sure to watch on a device with adblock for next time so I can follow without interruption
Gives me immense pleasure to tell you that I never would've gone for that queen for 2 rooks decision. Also that I spotted the Kh4 idea to avoid checks. Your videos kinda make me feel like even I could be an IM if I took my time thinking about the moves ...
There was a video from ChessDojo, in their endgame sensei series. Two IMs were playing out the endgame against each other, an endgame from 2 world class players, one of which was a world champion Petrosian. After the game, GM Kraai asked them what do they think Petrosian played in a certain position. They thought for a while and got the answer wrong. On the other hand, I guessed right a backward knight move that puts the knight on the 1st rank. Sometimes one could see a move that very strong players don't, especially when one is watching the video and is under no pressure. I was happy of course, but in itself it doesn't mean much.
John has this logical style, at least it looks that way to me, and his moves seems natural, so when you are watching, you have the illusion that spotting those moves is easy. But then you sit and play yourself and you play in accordance with your own strength (doesn't matter if that strength is 400 or 2200). You might find one move, maybe even 5 moves or even more if you are a very good player, but you can't be consistent like that throughout the game. And if you are really great amateur player and you get one such game, you need to do it in another game, and then another...
That kind of consistency is what makes him IM.
@@nklristic You didn't have to break the bubble so soon
@@chessism93 Of course, all of what I've said doesn't mean you can't progress very far. :)
That was a cool ending
the vids keep coming! I am pleased.
Loving the videos John!
Great video. I would hope that John would play 2000+ players a bit more often. I have to say I don't find it very instructive or interesting to see him mopping the floor with a 1200 player. There just isn't much to say. Some comments about opening choices, maybe a comment or two about strategic choices, then typically followed by a blunder and game over. Here on the other hand, so rich, and so fascinating to follow his thoughts and weigh them against your own ...
Same here. Nothing like seeing evenly matched quality players going at it toe-to-toe.
Have you gone through all 298 standard videos yet? It's a goldmine and sounds like the exact thing you're looking for.
@@mikaelplaysguitar Pretty much yeah. Don't bother with under-1800 opponents though; don't consider them to be proper contests.