Strategic Capitulation on d5 | Climbing the Rating Ladder vs. 2109

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[@rithvik]

good game!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Ohh was that you? Thanks for the game!

[@rithvik]

@@JohnBartholomewChess indeed - and you are 100% right about being booked up more on e4 lines, it's something I need to work on climbing 2100+ learning more positional play. Great video and analysis, sucks I blundered the exchange but you positionally dominated me.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

@@rithvik Nice, I think fleshing our your lines against 1.c4/1.Nf3 will be great for you. Let me know if you need any advice in that regard; I'd be happy to give you my thoughts. Appreciate you dropping by in the comment section - gg!

[@yahyatoraman4486]

You know it's John when the game ends on the 18th minute mark in a 45 minutes long video! You may obviously not be the best player in the world but you are definitely one of the best - if not the best - to explain such complex thought processes in such a simplified manner on the entire planet, hope you too are content with what you get to share with the chess community! :)

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

So true 😂And thanks for your kind words

[@crclayton]

Mouse discipline, John! Mouse discipline!

[@GoodKnightChess]

The thumbnails are so high-quality and sleek😮‍💨

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thanks a lot! My thumbnail guy, Phil, is great :)

[@StoicTheGeek]

Nice to see an English opening. Keep them coming!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Cheers!

[@guillaumecornu9919]

My favourite serie on KZbin CTRL by John Bartholomew. Thanks for the content John

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Appreciate you watching!

[@yyguuyg]

Every time I see a new JB video, my day is immediately better.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

🙏

[@adamh6094]

Awesome video, John!! It’s uncanny. I’m 1300 blitz, 1450 rapid, and am only just starting to see the similarities between all the openings. To my eyes, it seems that certain openings seem to belong to a handful of groups. For example, there’s a lot of openings where black wants a queen on c7, others where that wouldn’t fly. Just depends on what white is doing. Your breakdown analysis really helps me (as a 38 year old learner, not absorbing knowledge and piecing it together like a young child or teenager) see this idea much more broadly. I do believe this is something that a master just feels intuitively. Most people I watch will just say “oh, that’s a bad move from my opponent” and leave it at that (confusing the audience. B. Finegold, 2007). I’m not sure you realise how powerful your type of instruction is, but thank you.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

That's valuable feedback - I really appreciate you writing that! You're absolutely correct, there are many openings and setups that look incredibly similar but are subtly different, and at a high level, this can affect the gameplay pretty significantly. Strong players can often feel that intuitively, as you said. I think if you're starting to pick up some some of these differences, that's a great sign - even if it's just stops you from playing on autopilot from time to time. Thanks for watching and commenting. Best wishes for your chess improvement!

[@adamh6094]

@@JohnBartholomewChess thanks John! The appreciation goes both ways haha. I definitely do assume that noticing these things is a good thing. The closest thing I can compare it to is when I learned German some years back, there was a certain stage where I could figure out that someone was talking about a cat, but not the context. I feel this is a good metaphor because it’s about nuance and subtlety; the finesse is lost on me, but I’m starting to grasp that there’s something there. Have a glorious day :)

[@Jan-fe9vr]

John, you are easily one of the top 3 educational chess KZbinrs. Thank you for your uploads, always love watching and learning from them.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thank you very much!

[@Victor-ji1rz]

Well played, Mr. Barthelemow

[@goldenlion3184]

Ah the English!! So nice to see! Actually such a relentless positional squeeze just seems to force black into difficult decisions. Very nice, smooth game, even with the mouse slip! Lol. Thanks John!

[@mattkim96]

I just wanted to say, loved your recent newsletter article! I'm a 2100 rapid player, just like your opponent here, and with more time I overthink everything. Especially when it *looks* like there's some sort of tactic I should be seeing. I can even lose an advantage when I do this. I'll try to play more practically when I have an advantage, less focus on being the machine I know I'm not and more focused on converting a winning position. Even if it's not "optimal". Thanks for the quality and informative newsletters and videos! Hopefully these two together will help me continue climbing the rating ladder!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

My pleasure. Thanks for subscribing to the newsletter! And the overthinking is real 😁Hopefully we'll both be able to fully live with your inevitable mistakes some day!

[@fernandopardo8272]

Thanks for so good analysis! I like how you take too much time to explain all your ideas and the position strategic ideas! Abrazo!

[@patsycline4019]

I love to see a new video from you, your content is one of the reason for the progress in my chess journey. Thank you John!

[@TheGrandmaster1]

Yes! First! Love it when that happens. Been a while since I got caught up with ol’ Uncle John and some chess.

[@JaysCigar]

great explanation of the opening considerations - fascinating stuff, John!

[@RockNightingale]

2:58: "I don't think this is anything Black has to panic about quite.... YET." :D

[@Suho1004]

Very educational game, John, as always! I've noticed that you haven't been talking a lot about your voice issues recently, and you seem to be doing OK in that regard. Hopefully this means you're recovered now!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thanks, Suho! Still not 100%, but doing better. Appreciate your well-wishes!

[@Alan.92n]

Good analysis after the game. Really helpful and hopefully my chess will improve. Only wish when I play that I could have "several optional moves!" Thanks for sharing, John. 😊 👍

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

You bet. Thanks for watching

[@marcr1652]

Subscribed on twitch today, been watching you all day 😂. Can't wait to catch you live

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thanks so much!

[@filomontani8683]

I find it bewildering how many profoundly different positions this opening can lead you to: borderline unplayable without a deep understanding of pretty abstract patterns etc (so I guess I'm never gonna try it)

[@steinanderson9849]

Hey John. This is Stein.

[@AryanR2004]

Imagine randomly getting pair with john 🧟‍♂️😂

[@naheelabrar2681]

5:47 why not capture the pawn?

[@craigmcloughlin9361]

"That look likes a big number, but this was a one sided game....." (beads of sweat form thinking of Kramnik finding it 'interesting' and doing the procedure......)

[@KF1]

Get Reti, it's time to play!

[@westofwahpeton4692]

John out for a Sunday Stroll against a 2100.

[@DrVeerjay]

John thats a great idea! Open it up to the public. I am public and i would love to play you

[@christophflock1921]

Thank you John! You look tired though. You need a strammer Max

[@jeroenw9853]

This has been (and will be) one of my favorite series. But I never really understand moves like Nd5. I do get that the resulting position is better for white, but isn't it just a fancy trade? The same with the center fork trick. I get that it works tactically, but I struggle to understand why it is considered so good, the opponent is basically lost. "Brilliant" seems a bit too much.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Nd5 at which moment - in the game, or the situation I was showing in analysis with the pin down the c-file?

[@jeroenw9853]

​@@JohnBartholomewChess My apologies, I meant in the analysis. I should've mentioned that 🙂. You explained it well, but there is a difference between knowing the reason and really understanding it (if that makes any sense).

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

@@jeroenw9853 Got it! The Nd5 swap in that instance may yield material equality, but White will win the bishop pair, open the position, and create some potential weaknesses in Black's pawn structure. Off the top of my head, those are the clear benefits - almost all strategic gains.

[@jeroenw9853]

@@JohnBartholomewChess That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for clarifying!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

@@jeroenw9853 certainly!

[@nosystem1098]

Don't gesture and calculate mate.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Very dangerous, yes

[@Kevstealsrooks]

hey John. i love your videos but i am upset. because i was talking to a GM I know that comes to my local club. the GM told me your games look scripted. he said all your moves are scripted and your games are fake because they are pre-planned games. i hope its not true because I kind of look up to you

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Is your GM friend Bobby Fischer? 😂