The Hypermodern Alekhine's Defense | Climbing the Rating Ladder vs. 1404

[@JaysCigar]

Straight forward, fundamental, solid chess - outstanding learning opportunity!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Much appreciated, Jay!

[@themidnight-man]

Hey John I'm from India🇮🇳 and started learning chess this year seriously. I used to play chess with my grandfather but he is no more. I wish I could have played with him a little more. I'm loving your Fundamentals series and looking forward to all your content.

[@SuperChessGames]

Hi John - I’m big fan of yours! You have some of the best educational chess content on KZbin!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Very much appreciated!

[@anotherlane9441]

Thanks for the video,Alekhine is my dude!When I just started to play Alekhine,I had no idea,how powerful it could be...I have 71% winrate with it in approximately 2000 elo,generally because of people have no idea how to react.Scandinavian variation is also my weapon,so glad to see it make it to the video))

[@henry95]

a JB video to an european-friendly time... I'm hyped immediately!

[@banzaiburger]

Really love the clear and cogent commentary on your vids. Been seeing a lot more buzz around the Alekhine lately and it's piquing my interest

[@myhatisonfire]

Been watching your videos for a long time John, your channel was the first place I actually learned principles and have always been a fun way to learn this beautiful game. Thank you for your many years of hard work, we appreciate you!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Appreciate you being a long-term viewer!

[@BlakeBacchus]

Hey John, great video. Sorry to hear about your voice issues the past few days. The tip you gave about being paranoid about opponent’s attacks is probably the help I needed to hear most. I just came back to chess after a year and sucked at calculating and watched my games fade away, that’s a really key insight I’m going to carry forward with me. I love your videos more than any other creator because you also delve into the mentality and psychology of players rather than simply explain concepts, thank you for the effort you always put in!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Hey Blake, thanks for the thoughtful comment. Good to know my advice about being paranoid when calculating resonates with you - it's *such* a key mentality to cultivate. Appreciate you noticing the metagame aspects I like to discuss as well - I'll keep that up in these vids!

[@Ninterd2]

Hi, John! Thanks for your videos. I was at my first tournament in ages a couple weeks ago, and in my second to last game I played the Scandi to try it out and see what I remembered. I drew the game but had a better position for a long time. Thanks for promoting it, it was fun to play!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Awesome!! Hope you enjoyed the tourney.

[@joallen2004]

I’d love to play chess this smoothly one day

[@Karim-ik5ij]

Lol, you will if you play against 400's

[@festusidehen8386]

​@@Karim-ik5ij😂

[@CircuitBreaker256]

Smooth is the right word. I love jb's videos but they are a great insomnia cure!!!!

[@TonyRotella]

Me after 1.e4 Nf6: "MY DUDE!" Me after it transposes to a Classical French: *sheds a single tear*

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Haha!! What's up, Tony!

[@TonyRotella]

@@JohnBartholomewChess Same old ish, different year. Hope you're doing well, glad to see you're still YouTubing!

[@kele22]

Cool irt the desk change up. Another smooth game with great explanations. I love this series.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@6Xyzzy]

Is that a standing desk? Love the videos John! I had a great win against a 1600 lichess player yesterday who made some bad opening choices to play for tricks, and i almost had a john bartholomew style commentary going on in my head when i saw that. Won the game with 97% accuracy and zero inaccuracies, mistakes or blunders. I'm so happy! Thank you for the years of teaching!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Standing desk, yes! And I approve of JB-style smooth games, hahaha. Congrats on your victory 👌

[@robertgelblum5154]

This was a simple game, with a smooth conversion by John. About the Alekhine Defence (which I've played from both sides), I wouldn't recommend it for beginner or lower-rated players as Black. The play can get quite complicated and require a sophisticated understanding. But for at least middle-level up to strong GMs, it can be a nice specialty line, that many of your opponents haven't found the time to study seriously. And the faster the time control, the more playable Alekhine's Defence becomes (including by Magnus). Regarding the winning technique in this game, it is noteworthy that John had the opportunity to win a second P at a certain point, but he avoided this because he saw that it would lead to a position with opposite coloured Bs, which may still have been theoretically winning but could have presented practical difficulties in converting his advantage. This is flexible master technique in action: the strong player doesn't automatically grab more material, but first evaluates whether it will actually make it easier to win the won game.

[@michaelmorris4515]

Thanks John.

[@matteovrizzi]

Hello John! it's always a pleasure to hear the "hi guys" greeting. I hope you'll get the voice issues sorted out soon, best wishes mate

[@davidmasse2829]

Great game John. Please play more Alekhine games.

[@scheimong]

I particularly like this 4.e6 idea because not only is it an objectively good move, it also plays against your opponent's psychology. The thing French and Caro players dislike more than anything else is when white destabilises the centre before black can complete development (which btw, e6 seriously disrupts as well) - I know this because I play the Caro Kann myself. The fact that it brings the game into an unfamiliar structure isn't in black's favour either. And it's doubly (triply?) good because black cannot really decline it. Or rather, regardless of whether this pawn is accepted or not, black is always going to have exceptionally dangerous weaknesses on e5 and e6. Combined with slowing down development (and prevention of castling if exf7 is allowed), all this means that black is trotting a very narrow path to safety, and practically is always in serious trouble. So now when facing Bf5 in the advance Caro Kann, I play this crazy g4 e6 line which I stole from Ben Finegold after seeing him playing it on stream. It's no exaggeration to say that this is the single most effective opening weapon I've got. What's funny is that castling kingside in this line after you've played g4 g5 Bg2 is surprisingly safe 😅.

[@jaydub2971]

John playing a hypermodern opening makes me feel marginally better about my opening repertoire.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Yup, nothing wrong with Hypermodern openings. Some, like the Nimzo complex and the Grunfeld, are top-tier defenses.

[@Suho1004]

I noticed something different in the camera angle, but I didn't realize that you were standing. I've been thinking about getting a standing desk for my office, as I spend a _lot_ of time sitting and I know it's not good for me. Oh, and thanks for the great lesson in the Alekhine, too! 😀

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

The standing desk is a nice change of pace. You can try 30 minutes standing/30 minutes sitting; I've found this works really well and forces you to "limber up," basically (also makes work go by faster).

[@Gadzinisko]

He is back.

[@preeve4061]

Right away at the beginning of your video I noticed a positive change in voice. The standing desk, moving around, is a good 'chess' move!

[@brookelovett2847]

I like what you said about suboptimal openings, and how they are more relevant at super gm levels. I’ve been hesitant to play the scandinavian after hearing players like Bobby Fischer and Hikaru disparage it. You’ve given me a fresh perspective though!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Happy to hear that!

[@benedictineonchessable]

Great stuff as always!

[@davidpeak6103]

Good to hear from you! i was getting concerned something was wrong. Dave from Ohio

[@KF1]

Those bishops were a force! Standing desk works well for these vids, maybe more mobile like "thinking on one's feet" mode.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Great title for a series!

[@KF1]

That would be awesome. Do it to it! @@JohnBartholomewChess

[@jamesreed4483]

The Alekhine Defense often has great statistics on some databases. The interesting reason for this is that in 40% of the games white does NOT play 2.e5 but instead plays a passive option like in John's game. If white always played 2.e5 in every game I think the Alekhine would virtually disappear. As it is today the Alekhine is still a reasonable pragmatic choice. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[@DoronBarShay]

Naroditsky played the Alekhine's defense against Ray Robson in classical 2021, I think that game shows the main variation that prevents the Alekhine's from being played at the top level, at the same time a lot of Naroditsky's online play shows you that the Alekhine is a very strong weapon anywhere but classical top GM tournaments.

[@WhiskeySour89]

RIP Jimmy Buffett :(

[@danjeory3659]

I've just discovered that youtube breaks the videos down into tenths of the total video time, and pressing numbers 0 through 9 skips to the respective tenth! (Accidental find - still a great video!)

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Great tip! Had no idea about that one :)

[@rama_lama_ding_dong]

looking fit and trim there sir, quite dashing

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Thanks!

[@wellutopia2237]

I was gnna mention you standing right when you mentioned it. I cant sit for long periods. Takes a toll on my low back.

[@can8fig]

Came here because of Hikaru. Hope to learn a lot of stuff on your channel John :)

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Awesome, thank you!

[@SharpShoot3r_14]

I like Alekhine's defense, but it feels a little bit sharp for me. When my knights are being chased, l had to play them all the time and it feels like it somehow helps my opponent to develop and with gaining space advantage. However it also makes them making too much pawn moves and weakens some important squares for sure. But first l have to develop my pieces and then try to find a way to take advantage of this weaknesses. 😁

[@jamesreed4483]

I get good games with the Alekhine often winning a pawn but cannot convert these advantages. The games are too tactical for me and trying to hold onto the pawn is often not a good idea. However it is always fun to play.

[@pedermr5491]

I like when you post videos

[@NidusFormicarum]

Haha, I saw the engine line with Bxa2 (35:43 in the video), but it's difficult to find all the best responses by the weaker side in all lines. In general, I tend to miss strong continuations when I am clearly or easily winning, because there are so many tempting options and sometimes I get blind even if very simple possibilities. You might say it's silly to care about when you are winning whatever you do, but I disagree. I think it can be good tactical lessons from playing weak opponents and trying being as accurate as possible. Also, when I play extremely weak players - say under 1000, I get positions I would never get otherwise that test my visual and judgement skills.

[@thedarksoulsveteran]

I hope you get a chance to listen to ‘Fins’ in honour of Jimmy today John!

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Certainly did - multiple times! RIP to the legendary Jimmy Buffett.

[@dsatorius7810]

Hi, John. I've been learning about checkmate patterns and correct me if I'm wrong, but at the end you said Black has a possible Morphy's Mate if the f3 rook vacates f3, but wouldn't that be an Opera Mate? Isn't the Bishop the chaser in the Morphy's Mate whereas the Rook is the chaser in the Opera Mate and the Bishop is both the helper & guard?

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

You are absolutely correct - good spot! I often get Morphy's Mate and Opera Mate confused (probably because Morphy is central to both of them lol), along with Swallow's Tail and Dovetail Mate, haha.

[@marcr1652]

Oh....what a treat

[@johnstevenson9956]

Alekhine, to Scandinavian, to French. Maybe it's because I never see Alekhine that much, but I've never seen that particular order of morphing, almost like shape shifting.

[@davidmasse2829]

Please play more Alekhine defense games.

[@lukacalov1988]

Hey great video i always play alekhine 4...c5 can set a trap if 5.Kxe5 then cxe4 and if Qxe4 white is lost

[@Jaylooker]

John’s doing stand up

[@hemanttuli]

Great ❤

[@ayzax]

Hi John

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

🙋‍♂️

[@stoutlager6325]

I don't know how I feel about a standing John.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Mixed feelings, eh? :)

[@scottpatrick8645]

You gonna play on a treadmill next?😊

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Good idea! 😂

[@jinjurbreadman]

ok, that eyebrow lift at 0:04 is sexy

[@katis999]

🙂👍

[@baldeagle6531]

in reality noone plays alekhine's defence, you can allow it yourself only when you play against low rated opponent

[@theinacircleoftheancientpu492]

Doubled e pawns are a horrible opening setup to play with.

[@themandrew77]

At the risk of sounding pedantic, Alekhine's name is more properly pronounced as al-YE-kheen rather than al-YO-kheen. There can be some ambiguity between the two vowels, but the Russian language Wikipedia page spells it «Але́хин» and notes that the other pronunciation is "erroneous." Not really a big deal I guess, but if anyone ever tries to look smart by correcting your pronunciation you can throw it right back at them and thereby assert yourself as the most annoying person at the party.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

I will try to remember this! I feel like I re-learn this every few years, but the pronunciation of his name has become so garbled over the decades it never sticks 😅

[@bbbrown3408]

1400 players are stronger than this etc

[@rodiaz2709]

please play against higher rated opponents.

[@JohnBartholomewChess]

Hundreds of videos on my channel where I do.