Use This Simple Thinking System to Be Ahead of 99% of Chess Players

[@aussieandrew]

I learnt a lot from this 1 video more than watching 100 gothamchess videos. Thanks mate!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Wow, happy to hear it, thank you! :)

[@aznickTube]

*Learned

[@postscript67]

@@aznickTube "Learned" and "learnt" are equally correct.

[@gujo4351]

​@@postscript67he's already dead 😭😭

[@DreamWizard9]

Gotham Chess is just GARBAGE clickbait chess 'content'.

[@oloffagerstam]

I watched this video and immediately went and beat a 1500 bot for the first time in my life. Thanks a lot for the advice!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Fantastic! Happy to be helpful :)

[@ReligionAndMaterialismDebunked]

Congrats 🎉 👏🏼 🥳!¡ Nice. I've beaten the Hafu 1500 bot, and then struggled to win even once with the basketball girl 1450 bot, or this other 1500 bot, Wendy. Lol. Shalom.

[@darrylkassle361]

I watched it and went on to beat Magnus he was asleep and lost on time but still a victory is a victory

[@WakeUpBuildUpLevelUp]

Lol this is where I am at currently.

[@Ryzilla81]

I’ve been on chess burnout. Missing so many obvious moves and not considering the opponent’s plans. Thanks for this video.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you too! You could make a break from playing then, watch a couple of educational videos on the channel, get fresh ideas and then try again :)

[@yetto1277]

Same, I was in a tournament an hour ago and I missed so many checks and good moves. I was so stressed

[@nionioniosmeg]

The three rules of chess openings: control the center, bring your pieces into the game, protect your king. These rules were recited to me and my peers when we were in elementary school from our coaches like a prayer. It's the most fundamental stuff that I tell any beginner that ever asked me about chess and it brings instant results.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Absolutely! But still so many don't do it

[@2Oldcoots]

Thanks!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Wow, thank you! That's the first time someone does it :)

[@ApprehensiveResilience]

You're replying to every comment. Very commendable. This is my first video of yours that I'm watching. Half way through, I'm liking it, looking forward to more:)

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks a lot! You will definitely learn a lot from the videos of you take it seriously :)

[@nadeemsaim1]

Wow what an excellent coaching. Thank you dear Sir for your golden guidelines ❤❤❤

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you for your kind words :)

[@rohan852]

Best explanation and tips. Subscribed

[@journeytograndmaster]

Awesome, thank you! Welcome to our amazing community :)

[@nilss0nDav]

The statement: "Never go back" can easily be corrected like this: "Go forward first only if you can, then never go back!"

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@nilss0nDav I like it :)

[@schwarzerritter5724]

"Try to avoid moves that allow the opponent to force you back."

[@elliottsmith9220]

Excellent information

[@bnelkin]

this was probably the most informative chess video I've ever watched... gonna go play a match now

[@journeytograndmaster]

Wow, thanks a lot :)

[@stevehoward9356]

So impressed with the straight-forward explanations, I immediately sigend up for the Opening Repetiore in 10 days course. It will probably take me more than 10 days to complete, but it looks as thought it will help my inner panic when faced with an opponent that plays something unexpected 🙂

[@journeytograndmaster]

Wow, thank you very much! I am sure, you will like it :)

[@kapilellawadi]

4:28 why didn't you capture the free pawn? Am I missing something?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yeah, you should be thinking about your opponents opportunities :) Black's bishop from f8 will eventually capture the pawn, you won't be able to defend it

[@abrahamk1408]

23:57 min of the video why not rc7+, bishop takes and qxn threating checkmate, is it a good move or a miss?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yes, it's a good move. Basically, at this point every reasonable move is winning. I just tried to avoid unnecessary complications like sacrifices

[@Jigaski]

i have a question, im a 500 elo chess player but wouldnt knight from d2 to c4 be the best option at 9:50?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Always ask questions! At least on this channel, they are always welcomed :) Unfortunately, that would be a blunder as black can take it (dxc). P.s. you don't win the queen, it's protected :)

[@chadsmith3171]

My favorite move of yours was a3. I probably would have jumped at b3 to easily fianchetto the bishop, but I really liked the idea of first going after his queen with the a3, b4 idea.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you!

[@executivelifehacks6747]

That's a Sicilian idea. Whenever my opponent moves his queen to there I attack the same way.

[@smitakhosla2715]

Wow you explain the concepts so clearly

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you :)

[@R.Akerman-oz1tf]

@@journeytograndmaster So. I've learned from You; let Me polish Your wonderful English. "...explain to You..." sounds more proper. If we don't know simple errors, we can't improve. I am indebted to You & your words of wisdom. Thank You so much.

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@R.Akerman-oz1tf thanks! If you notice more things like that I would always appreciate your help!

[@R.Akerman-oz1tf]

@@journeytograndmaster My pleasure, but so far so good.

[@Spiethstar]

Great video. I think now i understand maybe when the middle game starts. It's when a player got it's development done and is ready to put pressure on the opponent.

[@journeytograndmaster]

indeed. Thank you!

[@JuanPablo-wt7gs]

thanks! I really like your videos. Greetings from Argentina!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks for watching!

[@milehighslacker4196]

I love the concept, and the presentation! Alas, I tried it against Antonio and got bowled over! Please play Antonio more and provide some fine tuning to this approach in additional videos. thanks!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you!

[@ShaShaSha534]

Thank you!I never thought of using the a3, b4 idea when the queen/pieces are in the center over a fianchetto for the bishop. I only used it to trap pieces.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Nice! Thank you :)

[@rpd350]

I struggle with 5.dxc5 move being part of a simple system. My PC Stockfish gives choices 5.c4 or 5.0-0 (simple & understandable) & 5.c3 & only 5.dxc5 if left to run for several minutes. I think I call 5.dxc5 one of your "fancy moves" types. I do very much like your concept that playing logical & principled chess moves is good & will succeed over opponents who don't follow this (trying to attack too early or not thinking what the position needs & the importance of not wasting any move) & a good strength of this video is that it challenges you to think more deeply about chess ideas & moves. Nice, thank you ;-)

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yeah, I agree that dxc5 was not necessary. I just wanted to show how it might be possible to use opponent's mistakes. Thank you!

[@hqs9585]

Great video, What chess set are you using? with the screen electronic?>

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you! It's Chessnut EVO. The link and discount code are in the description :)

[@ex0duzz]

Nice, simple, logical game and also nice simply logical explanations for every move. While this is aimed at beginners, it's also nice to brush up on the basics and make sure you understand everything by reinforcing there basic chess concepts that make up the building blocks of every game. I'm not sure if you mentioned it or not, but "controlling the center" is also one of the fundamental concepts that every chess player should know and follow, just like developing your pieces as fast as possible and not wasting tempo. The point of controlling the center is to gain space, and at the same time cramp your opponents space. To put it simply, chess is basically about controlling tempo and space, and yeah.. ultimately it's about killing the king. Controlling and using space and tempo better than your opponent will ultimately allow you to kill his king before he can kill yours. Lol. Another good example of gaining tempo in this game was when white used a minor piece like the bishop and rook to attack the queen, just like what happened in this game. First with the bishop on c4 with a direct attack on the queen, but another good example of a tempo gain was when white X rayed the queen with Rc1 in this game, which would normally force black to respond to protect his queen if he had noticed the indirect threat which was a type of what I would call a "clearance sacrifice". It black responded properly by saving his queen by moving it somewhere safe, it would have meant that white gained yet another useful tempo that allowed him to improve his position and move his rook to the active c1 square. However black failed to identify or respond to the threat and so instead of just gaining a tempo and a positional advantage, white gained a whole queen instead for the cheap price of one bishop. It was a pretty instructive game for beginners, but also enjoyable enough for a 1900 player myself to watch.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you! I almost always talk about the importance of fighting for the center. I am pretty sure, I must have mentioned it in this video too but I can't guarantee it :) In every case you are totally right!

[@feizai245]

26:05 Rf4 mate faster, but not as fancy as Rh5+ though.

[@journeytograndmaster]

:)

[@foreropa]

What´s the name of the board you are using? It looks great! Also, what a wonderful video, I´m subscribing, obviously! And Antonio is NOT 1500, I wish 1500 played like that, he´s more like 900, specially for that mistake where he loses his queen.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you! The name is Chessnut EVO. The link and a discount code "journeytograndmaster" is in the description

[@tonynorriss379]

What is your chess board? I would love to get myself one of those with the screen interface on the side.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Chessnut EVO. The link and discount code are in the description

[@Robtmmartine77]

Great video. Please more like these at next level up.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you! Feel free to take a look at other videos, it's already on the channel. Also, more is coming :)

[@zengalileo]

Focus on the most "ACTIVE"(?) move you can make? I can't hear or underdtand that word. Or did you say "tactive"? Techtive? What's the word?

[@journeytograndmaster]

you got it correctly, it's "active"

[@blunderghostchess]

This is such a good video! Thank you!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Happy to hear it! :)

[@05echomike]

hey i like your chessboard. where did you bought it?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Hi! It's Chessnut EVO. The link and the discount code "journeytograndmaster" are in the description :)

[@ImCalebRosengard]

What is this board he’s using and where can I get it?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Chessnut EVO, the link and discount code in the description :)

[@joshuakonana9925]

Definitely best chess channel amazing content👌

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you so much! :)

[@R.Akerman-oz1tf]

Too early Q move, then too many same piece moves. I "might" have conquered. I must be catching on.

[@pikaso6586]

Watching Gothamchess videos for entertainment Watching your videos to learn about Chess

[@journeytograndmaster]

That was exactly the idea when I was creating the channel :) Thank you!

[@McBumbleFlump]

What board are you using?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Chessnut EVO, the link and discount code are in the description :)

[@dennisroijers]

19:50 Qa1 anyone? Winsca piece right

[@journeytograndmaster]

True :)

[@wolfgangwiesinger9502]

Fighting for Initiative and prophylaktic thinking is elementary, but to improve tactical training and endgame understanding is most important. There is no shortcut.

[@journeytograndmaster]

If it were elementary, there would not be tons of blunders in every game of 99% of people :)

[@ismetsulejmanagic3568]

Please let me know where to buy that chess board?

[@journeytograndmaster]

The link and discount code are in the description :)

[@tommymartin896]

Did you seriously hit every response? Lol this is my first time seeing you and I’m subscribing 💯

[@GamingStyleBFH]

Why did you never mention the threatening move b5?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks! Yeah, that was a very good resource. I haven't noticed it because I was focused on showing the importance of bringing all the pieces to the game and the attack. That could have been a very nice way to win the game for sure!

[@wb3213]

Thanks 👍

[@journeytograndmaster]

Welcome 👍

[@biggdogg99848]

Great vid 👌

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks!

[@ClarenceLeBlanc-xo6cs]

This is how I have been playing for weeks now and I am up to a rating of 537 in 10 minute games online. Awesome advice!!!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Is it sarcasm or not? :)

[@OmegaX907]

If watching from an iPhone, the KZbin channel seems to be named “Journey to Grandma.”

[@journeytograndmaster]

Haha, nice :)

[@nickgerow]

Be careful, little red riding hood 😅

[@kfcheah5697]

1. Focus on controllingl the centre. Don't not be distracted by counter-attacks along the side of the board by your opponent. 2. Once done, bring your pieces to the centre. This will have a paralysing effect on your opponent. You are now controlling the game.

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@kfcheah5697 sounds good!

[@franklinturtle9849]

Honestly, even better advice for low rated players is: "Be aware of threats." and "Do not hang pieces for nothing." Against low rated players all you need to do is shuffle pieces around until they hang something.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Here I agree with the first part. I don't like the philosophy of shuffling pieces around hoping for blunders as it doesn't make you stronger at chess. Which is what I am trying to help viewers with.

[@Spiethstar]

Agree, finding strong moves is better then hoping you opponent not to find them.

[@u2b83]

It's the blunders that get you. At my level, I'd say losing a game is 80:20 a blunder. If you make a mistake at 2 ply, forget about 3 or 4 or any advanced strategy beyond that.

[@MrSmoothasf]

At 22.15, that knight move bothered me. Why not knight G5 and then Queen to F7? I'm nowhere near your level, obviously but every move up till then made sense or i predicted you would do

[@FAITHneednotbeblind.-mh1id]

Because it is met with R-f8. But either knight move is clearly winning for White.

[@journeytograndmaster]

yeah, that would be also good. I just wanted to centralize the knight, as it controls so many squares, extremely powerful. So that you would try to get such a knight in your games too.

[@johnmahugu3527]

Danke Schön.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Bitte :)

[@igmpvgoa1837]

What chess board is this?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Chessnut Evo. The link and discount code "journeytograndmaster" are in the description :)

[@igmpvgoa1837]

@@journeytograndmaster thank you. This video helped alot.

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@igmpvgoa1837 happy to hear it!

[@Darcygr11]

Surely tempoing that knight on c6 made more sense than pushing c4?

[@ex0duzz]

That knight on c6 is going nowhere, and if anything is cramping his position. If you play b5 and tempo his knight, it gives up the a3/b4 pawn structure and positional domination of the knight. After which the knight can move to a5 or play Nd7 or anything, which black would have to play anyway since it's doing nothing from c6. But ok. After the tempo gain and your pawn is now on b5, what has white gained other than making his position more loose and made his structure weaker and the b5 pawn unprotected and potential target? White can play that tempo gain anytime, I also would have waited for a better opportunity and let black worry about how to bring his knight into the game rather than "ending the tension" so to speak and gaining a tempo for a pawn push that doesn't really do anything decisive and if anything would probably make me have to commit to playing a4 after and trying to cramp blacks queen side with my pawns. But like i said, blacks pawns might be more cramped but blacks knight now has more options and you basically let him out or made him reroute his knight which would lead him to a better future square which imo black would want to do anyway so to me it's like I wasted a tempo since I helped black to do what he wanted while I didn't really want to commit to pushing pawns to just try take one more rank on the queen side with my pawns which is completely symmetrical and hard to create any pressure or threat. Also, black had not castled yet and was still 2 moves away from it. it's better to open up the center and go for blacks king that was still there..

[@journeytograndmaster]

It's just a different strategy, more aggressive, both are for sure possible

[@cucurulo1945]

GREAT! blessings!

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@cucurulo1945 thanks!

[@AnthonyVickersSoulJahTYah]

Inspiring

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks!

[@ITWorksSoftware]

"I'm going to teach you", or "I'm going to show you", not "Im going to explain you". Thank you I appreciate this video. What board are you using?

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks! It's Chessnut Evo. The link and discount code "journeytograndmaster" are in the description :)

[@joeymurdazalotmore6355]

really helpful content

[@journeytograndmaster]

thank you!

[@timwoods3173]

Thank you

[@journeytograndmaster]

You're welcome :)

[@ahmedtg8063]

You are amazing

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you!

[@SSk5k]

I remember the first time I beat Antonio🤣🤣🤣

[@journeytograndmaster]

I hope it was a great game :)

[@SSk5k]

@@journeytograndmaster oh yess, it felt so great🙃🙃🙃

[@journeytograndmaster]

Nice!

[@kris_badass]

The idea that you want to simplify it down to two concepts/rules is good, but if you do a count on all the rules, tips and lessons you talk about throughout the video, I think you got through all of the general things and concepts that I widely known. I like the idea that there is a simple way of thinking that could make the game easy for you, but in reality I think it comes down to hours spent playing the game and not hours spent watching a video about a new concept. But thank you for bringing a new idea to the table 👍🏼😊

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you for your feedback! Absolutely, you have to play the games yourself to make it work. That's actually the point, I explain these principles and want you to use them in your games. Otherwise, it won't be that efficient, you will just forget most of the stuff. I understand it's not easy at all, chess is a very complicated game. Still, if you focus on the most relevant stuff, you can improve a lot in a short period of time up to a certain level. That is what I am trying to help with my videos :)

[@tommytigern1470]

put together all chess principless, this is old news dude

[@journeytograndmaster]

Then why I see that 99% of players fail to follow these principles?

[@JimJWalker]

I was looking at e4 rather than Rc1.

[@journeytograndmaster]

No need for fancy moves if everything is great

[@sikuan-f5b]

I think 20:13 is already mate in 3

[@journeytograndmaster]

I highly doubt that :) How do you want to give mate in 3?

[@franklinturtle9849]

"Never go back" is terrible advice. Retreating moves are some of the best moves. Better advice would be: "Never retreat without a good reason." Good reasons could be: Tactical threat, it's under attack, repositioning the piece, your king needs a defender, you can make a threat with a backwards move, they may gain tempo on it. I'm sure there are plenty of more good reasons than these. Retreating moves are the best move in many positions. Of course that does not mean you should just retreat all of your pieces back home.... Think before retreating.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you! I agree with the second part of your comment. I also add it sometimes. To be fair though, it applies to absolutely every advice: don't move your piece twice in a row without a good reason, don't leave the king in the center without a good reason, don't leave your pieces hanging without a good reason. Chess is a game of exceptions. So you can find hundreds of exceptions to every principle. In 99% of the cases move forward would be better than move back if there a choice so that is what I am advising. Every advice should be used wisely though :)

[@allanfifield8256]

To get beyond 1599, you will need to unlearn a lot of this.

[@journeytograndmaster]

why do you think so? I think you just have to upgrade it, and build on top of it. I have videos for that too on the channel :)

[@Beattie755]

I won 10 games in a row after watching this .

[@journeytograndmaster]

Wow! Really? :)

[@gorryman]

this 1500 is playing like a 750

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@gorryman I also have a feeling it should be stronger

[@madchessLeviathan]

Qg4 ++ is a mistake, g3 ++ is the right idea

[@journeytograndmaster]

Indeed! How could I have missed it? :)

[@DemetriusNunes1976]

Great video and super useful advice. I just wished my 1500 human opponents played as badly as this bot. 😂

[@journeytograndmaster]

thank you! Well, there are videos were I play against stronger bots, take a look please :)

[@iliadivinsky6106]

One move - One Piece is real

[@journeytograndmaster]

100%

[@direktedemokratieunchained2511]

Last Tower move is waist of time f7, g7, h7 with the dame

[@journeytograndmaster]

sorry, don't get your point

[@direktedemokratieunchained2511]

Tower move to c5 IS Not a must. You can imediality move the the dame to f7, ...​@@journeytograndmaster

[@journeytograndmaster]

Ah, okay. Sure, absolutely not a must. Pretty much anything wins at that point

[@paganizertube]

making it look so easy to beat a 1500 :/

[@journeytograndmaster]

So that you can do it too :)

[@executivelifehacks6747]

You have learned to waste less tempi in your presentation. ;)

[@journeytograndmaster]

I try to, thanks :)

[@trumplostlol3007]

Don't spend too much time on the chess board. It is just a game. I spend thousands of hours on chess. But I also spend thousands of hours on many different video games. I will never give up an entire forest for just one tree. LOL

[@journeytograndmaster]

Well, if you spend much time inside of chess, you would realise that it's an entire world and not just one tree :)

[@trumplostlol3007]

@@journeytograndmaster I spend a lot of time playing chess as well as many video games. And I also need time for my plants and animals besides all my other interests, like reading the Bible and Buddhist scripts. There are too many trees. In fact, I planted over 100 trees in the past 10 years. I spent my life in doing academic research and earning money. It is time to take care of all my other "trees". LOL

[@journeytograndmaster]

It's nice to have different hobbies, no question about that :)

[@DJF1947]

You cannot even fix the sound.

[@journeytograndmaster]

What's wrong with the sound?

[@DJF1947]

@@journeytograndmaster The problem is hard to describe without a diagram of the sound amplitude but, essentially, the 'attack' of each word is too strong but then drops off too quickly to allow the remainder of the word to be fully intelligible. I don't find this problem with any other video.

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@DJF1947 you mean any other of my videos? Because here are the same settings as always

[@DJF1947]

@@journeytograndmaster I hadn't seen any of your other videos. But now that I have checked, the sound is OK on some of them. OTOH, the Magnus Carlson video sound seems to make my entire laptop 'resonate'. I shall ask some friends whether they find the same problem, just in case it is my system which is at fault.

[@journeytograndmaster]

@DJF1947, Thanks! Could you please check the latest video (from yesterday) and say whether you like it more?

[@randomedge4558]

Definitely worst 1500 player

[@journeytograndmaster]

Well, that's the question to chess.com :)

[@jasonhighdale6690]

John 6:37 New International Version 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. Read full chapter

[@journeytograndmaster]

Sorry, I am not sure I get your point. What do you want to say with that?

[@jasonhighdale6690]

@@journeytograndmaster Jesus said in the gospel, that any one who come to Him, he won't turn him away.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Is it connected to the video somehow?

[@nickgerow]

@@journeytograndmasterit’s a bot. Probably Antonio, seeking solace in the Lord after you beat him 😂

[@cobalius]

lame. i'm 1550 and able to beat any bot below 2200. So, I need at least "an example" with a decent 1900 or 2000 bot. 1500 bots are a joke.

[@journeytograndmaster]

then the new video is perfect for you: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaeUiWSGe7Jkm8k

[@RD-uk6wt]

â guide like everyone else on youtube... u are number 1000+... thumbs down, dude, thumbs down.

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@RD-uk6wtOk, good to know :) I am just curious, have you read any of the other comments before writing yours?

[@RD-uk6wt]

@@journeytograndmaster no why i ahould?

[@journeytograndmaster]

@@RD-uk6wt sure, no reason :)

[@dlareggerald]

Very good

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks!

[@tommymartin896]

Did you seriously hit every response? Lol this is my first time seeing you and I’m subscribing 💯

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you! Well, it's my life, my passion so I am trying my best :)