Keep Calm and Create Threats | Climbing the Rating Ladder vs. jalapeno7 (1895)

[@williamhk1847]

Imagine the nerves this poor guy had, knowing he could convert a winning rook endgame 2 pawns up against an IM. I would have had a nervous breakdown...

[@od1n103]

Haha yeah exactly what I thought! Sweating bricks...

[@saxonchess3293]

@piggypigpig I highly doubt it

[@mikecantreed]

@piggypigpig Ridiculous accusation. Just bc John is an IM doesn't mean he's going to play that accurately in a blitz game.

[@TheLarsolini]

I had a winning position against IM Eric Rosen once. Got so excited I lost....

[@leftenanalim]

@KingOfBeatdown Very stupid assumptions. There could be many reasons of why someone do what they do and in all of many you have to pick the negative ones do you?

[@desthebest100]

Everyone saying he used an engine are delusional. He had some weird ideas that look like an engine wouldnt likely come up with. Not only that but John happened to blunder a few times and 1900 players capitalize on most blunders

[@malacor17]

I've blown plenty of winning positions but I think I would cry if I blew a -8 position to an IM. Chess is tough

[@shaun224]

Mate. You are really picking up your game with your content. I'm totally blown away. I've been following your coaching since your first few videos. The explanations you present in your though process is extremely valuable content. I just wanted to thank you, and remind you that your content has dramatically improved my online rating from 1200 to 1600+ in a very short time. Thanks mate, bloody legend.

[@raphabl1389]

I think the title of this video illustrates everything about John's channel: simple, creative and absolutely amazing!

[@promitghosh6681]

I found this channel yesterday, and to be honest, this channel is UNDERRATED. You deserve at least half a million.

[@lecobra418]

I like youtube's IM, you and Eric Rosen are chill, it's inspiring as a novice player to see you playing while sipping on a cup of tea/coffee. I especially love to see you playing against weaker opponents, surprisingly, as their lack of knowledge of the game is creating innovation. I enjoy seeing you trying to understand the logic behind a move who's, most probably, a blunder. x) Guess you got a new sub. :)

[@805atnorafertsera6]

Impressive by jalapeño, good save and great video Sir

[@reybarreto7979]

What an intense game, John. One of the most exciting games I’ve seen you play. I didn’t even need to see the board to know you were in trouble - your desperate and frantic refueling of caffeine told the whole story. I lost count how many times you drank from that cup. How could so much coffee fit in that little cup? Or do you have many cups lined up on the table? Anyway, this was a captivating game, as thrilling and suspenseful as any Hitchcock movie. Kudos to you for keeping your cool and finding a way to win what really looked like a losing game. I thought your postmortem analysis was highly instructive, but that sudden and beautiful checkmate at the end, that alone was worth the price of admission. Once again your cool nerves and that cup (or cups) of caffeine win the day! By the way, I analyzed the endgame and, just like you said, the key to winning with a king and queen against a rook, pawn, and king is separating the king from the pawn, all the while trying to maneuver your queen in such a way that you win the rook by creating a skewer situation. But you also used the psychological tactic of maintaining pressure on your opponent, hoping he cracks under pressure, which he did in the end. Nicely done!

[@katis999]

Very nice, John. What I like about this format is that not only do we learn so much from John, it looks like John is also learning something when he looks at the game afterwards. Thank you

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Absolutely! I learn a lot from these games.

[@gillrowley7264]

Your rapid and blitz games that you post are really helping me analyze my classical games, with the way you talk out your thinking patterns. Thank you again for the instruction.

[@N_B_123]

Climbing the ladder has definitely been the most useful study tool for me

[@ToddsDiscGolf]

Me too, it’s my favorite of his series

[@reidpattis9478]

Man, this community is so chill and supportive that it's like an online Starbucks.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Agree with you 100%!

[@peterkoinzell7983]

I got beat up by some cops in front of a starbucks. They didn't have their morning joe.

[@inomad1313]

John Bartholomew At 21:19. White to move. Is Ke4 winning?

[@rozziebrown]

Yeah, I agree, I think you set that tone yourself John, kudos to you!

[@danidiaz9510]

Spoilers!

[@cameronchristie4667]

BEST contentI’ve ever found for Chess You put this stuff out for free and it is AWSOME Dude, thanks for helping me improve at chess and the live rated games make it so entertaining and instructive at the same time, great videos !

[@chessism93]

42 mins video on a 5+5 game xD Super Instructive game!

[@RaoulConstantine]

Big fan of your laid back commentary that is always with an undertone of excitement

[@marlonbrando6615]

Black played extremely well, interesting endgame. Thanks for the upload John.

[@jebrondale7600]

Very informative and helpful advice John! "Keep calm and create threats" reminds me of what IM Kislik said in his first interview with you "Don't despair! Look for compensation!" So true :)

[@sweetwilliebloom]

Whoever says that chess is not an exciting game does has never studied it. This was thrilling. I enjoyed seeing how even an IM can blunder moves and still prevail. Well done, John.

[@user-wd4yj7ck6m]

Can you make a video on that endgame? It looks really interesting.

[@MjrLeegInfidel]

Totally agree! This needs a video to discuss this type of endgame

[@rhpmike]

Weird case of mutual blindness with that knight on g4 but really nice to see the 1900 player beating John pretty soundly for most of the middle game and no accusations of bots. John pretty much always gives people the benefit of the doubt but the comment section rarely does. Some big blunders but John shows why it's worth fighting on when you have fighting chances. Really complicated endgame. I'll have to look at that.

[@curtisw0234]

It's wisest to never accuse someone of being a cheater publicly. If you are wrong it looks bad on you like with the Kingscrusher backlash. It's also possible to receive legal action if the individual makes money selling chess books or streaming donations. The comment section will sniff out the cheaters without any help regardless

[@warneryoung5223]

Your superior knowledge of end game strategy won the day. A very instructional video. Thank You!

[@od1n103]

That endgame reminds me of some of the variations in 100 Endgames You Must Know.

[@hemanthkotagiri8865]

I really want you to start your next video like *Hey John, this is guys* 👊

[@dion3062]

YES

[@ophiolatreia93]

Hemanth Kotagiri I really want you to start your next comment with "hey this, John is guys"

[@SuperYtc1]

@@ophiolatreia93 what about “This hey, is guys John?”

[@tsonus]

That's been my favourite game of yours John. Exciting & instructive & at a pace I can follow. Many thanks

[@thomasstephenson4043]

yo this series is amazing, having a great time and learning a lot! thanks a bunch

[@josephdaffy]

Hey John, here's my brief analysis summary of the endgame. From after move 75 ... Kd1: (White queen is on e5, king is on f4; black king is on d1, rook on e1, pawn on d3). White aims to get into a situation with white queen on b2, king on f3 with black's pieces as they are, and white to move. Once you get there, Qc3 wins easily because it forces d2, after which you play Qb2. Trying to get to that situation, here's a sample line: 76 Qb2 Re2 77 Qb3+ Kd2 78 Qb4+ Kd1 79 Kf3 Re1 80 Qb2 (nearly the right position, but black to move here) ... Re2 81 Qc3 anyway and black's movements are extremely restricted. To save the pawn ...Rd2 82 Qc4 and black is busted; the pawn drops. The only move that saves the pawn from dropping here is Ke1 which leads to mate in 3 (82...Ke1 83 Qc1+ Rd1 84 Qe3+ Kf1 85 Qf2#)

[@TheRovardotter]

Very instructive how you chilled out in the middle game. I get frustrated and play too complicated. Thanks for the video!

[@BabyFischer]

so good to hear your chess thoughts it's like water for some worker under the sun

[@bluescanfly1981]

Thanks to your videos, i've climbed the rating ladder myself, but sometimes old bad habits kick in and I fall - Thank you

[@NoahBoah-hz8qn]

Great game! I can’t believe that didn’t end in a draw.

[@TheMarksT]

Good swindle and comeback there John. Shows how to recover from a human error like that. Thx good game!

[@rpg31415]

On move 39. it looks like Ng4 was a blunder because the knight it hanging, but still tense game :D

[@brianmarrero5147]

Yeah saw that too

[@connormonday]

I was like why can't he take the Knight??? lol

[@vertsang5424]

That’s the best move. -10 Black lose the two center pawns tho but the knight should give him the win if he avoid rook trades

[@ChessJournal]

Spectacular game! Very close though but you showed us how keeping cool is beneficial in the end. Thanks John

[@cabbanisgaming]

Thanks for making these videos! I find them valuable because when you play against lower rated players they (we) come up with some crazy plans and sometimes it becomes really hard to navigate through the chaos and we end up loosing a winning position because of some weird tactic. It's good to see how you deal with it. Keep your cool and do not panic!

[@anthonyflores5447]

Wow when you were going through the moves after the game I realized on move 39 Ng4 hangs your knight but the tension between the rooks took the attention away and resulted in a rook trade. Nonetheless excellent video, you are a natural teacher of chess!

[@SunbeamSmiles]

I was so surprised they didn't see the hanging piece. It seemed like the easiest tactic of the game to me. I started doubting myself and wondering if I was missing some refutation that was so obvious to John that he didn't feel the need to explain it lol. Awesome video of course, very interesting Q vs R and pawn endgame.

[@CharizardFan_og]

15:35 - would someone mind speculating why Rd4 did not take the free Knite g4? am I missing a tactic there?

[@CharizardFan_og]

Also I think on 23:26 - Kd1 might work, it should get the pawn closer at least?

[@z17seattle]

Double blind blunder

[@Insubordinate1204]

Wow! Remained calm and found your way on top!!!

[@kevinshih6714]

nearly got a heart attack from that one. wasn't expecting such a nail biter!

[@marekzawal1744]

Sweet taste of victory after deadly battle. Mindblowing combinations!

[@RyakkiBaka]

This was so intense. when that checkmate came in and john clapped xD

[@mikeschecter7880]

Great example of tenacious fighting spirit! Fascinating endgame too...would be interested to know if there's some theory about it.

[@MrUtubePete]

Interesting game and outstanding analysis, especially that endgame!

[@Into-The-Light]

I laughed a bit, when at 14:14 John said "Not my finest game, here".. I remembered that John is Minessotan. (IIRC) ... In Minessota," Not too bad" is better than "Not too good" 😁... Nevertheless, Good game!

[@danjeory3659]

The reason it jumps to -9 for black around move 36 is that the knight is also lost.... Your opponent missed 39...Rxg4, which you also missed in the analysis. Interesting game 😎

[@smhdpt12]

I rarely catch those things, but I saw the hanging knight immediately. Interesting he missed it, but then again, I miss most ideas in chess....

[@vertsang5424]

Black would lose both center pawns in exchange tho

[@shaheerbinarif]

if 39...Rxg4, white can play 40.Qxg4 the queen is defending the knight on g4.

[@styx85]

@@shaheerbinarif There are no queens on the board at that point.

[@NDakovic]

Well done to that guy jalapeno. If he dedicates to endgame, he'll improve his rating by miles! Top sport

[@SaintD382]

John was fortunate to escape defeat against this incredibly strong A-player.

[@williamsquires3070]

Hi John, can you do a video explaining the 50-move rule and how it would apply to a tricky, drawn-out endgame?

[@stefanholbek2449]

Don't see the French very often at my level, maybe due to the "bad reputation" at the very top ... but "normal deadly average morons" like me may actually encounter it ... and I recently found out that one of my clubmembers actually plays the French every now and then! I better be prepared for it! Thanx, John: Have followed your instructions for years! ;O)

[@emregeylani]

first i was like, hmm who is this CTRL playing vs jalapeno7 :) of course non the other than my favorite series in KZbin

[@scottpatrick8645]

Nice finish, I had to watch it twice.

[@TheCornerOne]

At 23:25 what's stopping your king getting up close to the pawn while his king cuts off the rook's attack?

[@leforite]

gg jalapeno. makes a nice change to see John against the ropes

[@curtisw0234]

Lol it's not a change at all to see cheaters on chess.com

[@RAFAELSILVA-by6dy]

Tough loss for black. He found so many winning moves just to fall for a sucker punch at the end.

[@RustedNation]

That time pressure too, good game!

[@Kelvinllovejr]

A 1900 blitz player should have been able to close out that 3 pawn up endgame against anyone in the world.

[@pamelahermano9298]

Whenever my opponent is up by 3 points, I usually resign. This game is a good example of continuing on. At the very least it’s getting practice defending. I get disheartened too quickly when I’m losing.

[@rajamehmoodulhassan5285]

Well played. Never give up it says.

[@nomvanhoutte1998]

Nice swindle Minnesota Fins. Jalapeno7 was hot today.

[@ipudisciple]

At 24:30 I think 89. Ke3 is winning. It's all about getting the king across the e-file. In more detail, there's a mate threat, so 89. ... Re1+. Kd3, Re2. Qa1#. Actually, there's another weird line, 89. ... Rf2, because 90. Kxf2?? is stale-mate, so 90. Qd3, Rh2. Qb1#. Did I miss something?

[@MyscBigdrop]

wow very intresting game, end game and analysis

[@cashew3370]

wow what an exciting match in the beginning...respects for being so cool!!

[@salinecountyclay8199]

John, I love when you shake your finger!

[@hthought]

John, why did you take with the f pawn ? What made you pick this over the h pawn ? I am trying to better my game and i need to understand the ideas :D

[@12jswilson]

I'm not an expert, but there's a couple things to consider. Taking with the h pawn makes you more vulnerable to attacks on that flank as you don't have the option of playing h3/h4. If your opponent has no way of easily exploiting that (castled without advanced pawns, your pieces controlling squares on the h file, etc), then taking with the h pawn should be fine. Taking with the f pawn gives your heavy pieces a file to attack on (also for your opponent as well, but it's easier to defend the f file than the h file usually), but weakens you against the dark square bishop. Once again, if your opponent no longer has a dark square bishop or it's stuck behind other fairly stable pawns on that diagonal, then it's usually much better to take with the f pawn. I hope this helped with some of the things to keep in mind.

[@enlightenedwarrior7119]

That guy played real good

[@hemanthkotagiri8865]

Hey John, this is Hemanth! 😘

[@zoomskirtpow4483]

Hemanth Kotagiri no homo

[@Hightower301]

At 23:08 you decide to Check on C5... i was thinking if F2 wouldnt be a better Choice? Maybe you can tell me your thoughts on that... otherwise Great Game

[@iambob300000]

19:38 missed a king - rook fork. would have made endgame so much easier had he saw it.

[@SeanieG69]

Re4

[@miladibrahim1068]

I feel bad for him, poor guy

[@MjrLeegInfidel]

Wow...what a game!

[@unitedchess4156]

What a great video!

[@josephsalmonte4995]

Great comeback 🙂

[@Morgyborgyblob]

Instead of taking the d4 pawn with the rook, why didn’t he take g3+, as it would have won the queen for a rook and pawn? Unless I missed something (which admittedly is quite likely)

[@wiplash8421]

Hello I'm new to this channel. I'm really amazed by your game and analysis thank u for your analysis that reply helped me a lot. And wish u best of luck. Love you bro

[@paulvater3793]

15:35 - the knight is just hanging

[@gghelis]

Climbing the Rating Ladder - CTRL. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!!

[@martinet1985]

conspiracy!!!

[@tommyhill34]

On move 77, when Black moved Kd2, would 78. Kd4 by White have been a feasible reply?

[@mstalcup]

On move 39, jalapeno7 missed Rxg4, winning a knight. Instead, he played Rxd1, just trading down.

[@michaelfortunato1860]

This should be called Miracle Chess

[@johnstevenson9956]

I was really wondering if I might see the 50 move rule kick in.

[@Jealod24]

Jalapeno7... 75% accurate this game, 90% accurate his last game... this guy is underrated

[@drumetul_dacic]

For sure. Also playing 10+ moves of opening theory at that level is quite impressive.

[@Jealod24]

Christoffer Sorry, I meant to say that given his high competition it’s impressive to see accuracy that high. When I play my 6yr old I’m up there as well, but if I play a titled player my nerves come into play, I overthink things, see threats that aren’t there and miss threats that should be obvious.

[@curtisw0234]

This **computer** is underrated

[@mr.prometheus3320]

My policy in that sort of endgame is if you have the material to threaten mate in one, you keep playing.

[@rmendeljacobs2832]

None of those moves looked unnatural or engine-esque. I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and just say he played a very good game. However, it is puzzling to me that someone 1000 pts higher rated can actually struggle to beat them.

[@numair8188]

I think John made blunders someone so high rated wouldnt make like missing Rf4.it happens to everybody so not blaming him but that is how chess is.one mistake affects the whole game

[@markrobs2954]

John is 500 points higher only

[@numair8188]

@piggypigpig he didnt cheat,all the moves he made made sense,They were not engine moves

[@numair8188]

And John straight up blundered 2 pawns Even i could give him a really tough time if he does that against me

[@numair8188]

@piggypigpig openings can easily be read.it is very easy to make engine moves in the opening.also John played the mail line of the tarach french so ofcourse he knew the lines. also John blundered his knight at move 39. How did he miss Rxg4 if he was using an engine

[@Uerdue]

lichess has built-in endgame tablebases in the analysis board. :p

[@SenthilBabuji]

At 19:28 he could have played queen e8 and captured the rook. After the check king could not have guarded the pawn anymore.

[@palamochi]

Rook blocks the check after Qe8.

[@krishnansuresh9206]

Awesome game!

[@atenism]

you're my favourite chess teacher!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thanks, Zach!

[@SaintD382]

Narrating your game while playing takes such a toll on your play that a 2700+ can get into a lost position vs. an 1895.

[@curtisw0234]

The 1895 was cheating, it runs rampant in chess.com. People get frustrated they can't climb and think they belong 100 or 200 rating points higher or something and are willing to cheat to get there

[@mr.prometheus3320]

John Bartholomew more like John Houdini!

[@JoWovrin]

40:44 body once told me

[@PeterUKTV]

Climbing the ladder and on the top of the ladder there is Magnus kicking everyone's down :)

[@jenishghimire261]

John please make chess fundamental series again

[@kevinbyrne4538]

Someone who was rated so far below you performed so well. I wonder whether he was running an engine on another machine.

[@WalyB01]

Some use 3 to 4 moves engine and then play them selves. Really fun to get those on the clock.

[@kolektivmozak238]

Really good game!

[@KF1]

Rockin a rabbit out of the hat Mr. B

[@threethrushes]

Oh man, I feel so sorry for Jalapeno. He outplayed you completely, which is surprising for a player almost 1000 ELO points below you. Good swindle at the end. I kept wanting you to move your King to e3.

[@SaintD382]

4:42 Argh! I wish John had explained why he chose to recapture with the f-pawn rather than the h-pawn. I can't see any reason to prefer this recapture, and it goes against the rule "capture toward the center".

[@mango251]

Same hxg3 feels much more natural than fxg3 I'll try running it through the engine to see which is better

[@biseln2002]

My guess is that the f2 pawn may become a target by the black rooks.

[@JinTsen]

15:35 couldn't he have done 39: ... Rxg4 and Knight would've been lost? What am I missing? (Edit: found in the commets other people suggesting same but don't sound too sure either) Btw love your videos and subscribed now too.

[@martinet1985]

you're basically talking to yourself now lol :D

[@AlexanderWeixelbaumer]

1:23 I think black should have sacrificed the rook there and then take on h2

[@Cruz0e]

at move 28. I was thinking e5 (and if needed Rxf3 exchange sac) , some1 will now check it with the engine and tell me why my move is so bad:D