Watch This Before You Play Another Game | Chess Rating Climb 1141 to 1191

[@chadbishop-sr]

So many youtubers spend so much time analyzing for viewers that they end up crunching the time at the end. You do an excellent job of giving quick explanations and moving at the same time. As a beginning chess player, this is some of the best coaching I've seen on youtube.

[@Chunes3]

Nelson, speaking as a low-elo player I think you need to understand that we are not consistent. Sometimes I play with 90% accuracy and have no idea how I did that, next game I'm at 40. I don't find it surprising at all that a 1000 could have a really bad game

[@PMA65537]

Around 800 I had a tough even game against a player of the same level. Next game he collapsed like a 250.

[@chess26622]

I am 2100+ in Rapid, and the same happens to me as well. Especially some tricky opening like King's gambit accepted that I play against king's gambit, but I didn't learn it at all, and once I had an accuracy of 47%, and my first mistake was at move ~5. It happens to all of us

[@keithgrahammusic]

I am around a 1800 and I can have a 94%, I can have a 80% and I can have a 60% I am not consistent, it really depends on how I am on the day I play. If I lose my way at the start I'm not going to have a good game.

[@hummusdip2832]

​@@keithgrahammusicI'm a 1.2k player (moved up from 800 to 1.2k within 3 months as I am extremely focused on mastering 1 main opening for white and black. My best game was 99% accuracy pulling the fishing pole trap (found out about it when I showed my friend, no idea that this tactic had a name) and my opponent was playing poorly, which made it easy finding the best moves.

[@lol-yz8fh]

as a 1600 I played a 1630, blundered my queen, got away with it, the opponent proceeded to blunder their queen back, I took it and they resigned

[@matthewping6132]

It's very true that you see huge swings in the level of play for this elo. Some players are pretty lost if they don't get to play their go-to opening. Some are experimenting with new openings and lose their move order. And some just play pretty solid until they make a mistake or don't recognize a tactic. If you let them play something that they really know well, you're going to see those tougher games.

[@ashleyharris4114]

Some players you can tell have clearly memorised an opening and it's traps (Scotch seems to be a common one) but if you are able to survive they just seem to crumble apart when they actually have to play Chess.

[@matthewping6132]

@@ashleyharris4114 Absolutely, the Scotch gambit or the Fried Liver out of the Italian opening are mainstays for this elo range.

[@guntherham]

I'm between 1000-1100 for long now. Up down up down. You described me perfectly with everything you said. Sometimes I play 90 accuracy. Sometimes 40. I can dominate a game and then blunder my queen and lose. And I still fall for things like the fried liver even though I know it and how to counter, but I play too fast. Consistency is key. In my defense I sometimes play quickly taking a break while working, or on the phone etc. Those games usually end badly because the focus is not there.

[@praf1069]

5:50 The problem for us (around 1000 elo players), at least in my case, is that sometimes I play like 2000 elo players in my best day, but then proceeded to lose 10 games straight in my worst day. By the way, thank you for playing my fav opening (King's Indian), Nelson!

[@danielbillings1876]

Same

[@uendjipakuruuo44]

Same 😂

[@ThaddeusMcMonster]

There's also the fact that the mistakes the player made aren't necessarily the type of mistakes that 1100 rated players are going to be able to take advantage of. Nelson is good enough to calculate the mate- but he's also good enough to know to pause to calculate in the situation, and good enough to know that if he calculates for 2 minutes (already behind a minute) and doesn't find anything he can still win the game.

[@praf1069]

@@ThaddeusMcMonster Yeah, there's also that. I can't even remember how many times I was panicking over the move my opponent made and ended up making a blunder, just because how they don't even make any sense at all. And then I'm feeling silly after analyzing the game and it was +5 for me.

[@Peterkringle]

I agree - I’m 1650ish and it’s the same story. I lost to a 850 OTB the other day because it was a dry position and I hung a rook in a single move. I swear up until like 2200 it’s more about consistency than it is being able to calculate further down the line. There are definitely some creative moves better players find, but I think consistency is the dominating attribute.

[@artsandsportsify]

As an 1100 who’s rating doesn’t represent me on my best day, I can tell you that a lot of us are probably here due to consistency issues. I compulsively play a lot of games even when I’m tired or don’t feel like calculating. But when I’m in the right frame of mind I play like a 15-1700

[@tanayshahane5239]

literally me, just subtract all of the elos by 100* *except my actual rating

[@AjitDas-xr8rk]

Me too

[@AjitDas-xr8rk]

Add me as your friend- Premangshu123

[@BelowAverageChess]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Hahaha

[@efivos5362]

Same, here, after 4-5 games it's like I play candy crush. No thinking

[@TheNizzer]

I’ve been watching your videos since I found them. Very instructional, easy to understand. My rating is improving as a direct result. Especially if I avoid playing when tired!! Thank you. 👍🤝

[@dobromirgospodinov2042]

Playing when tired is my biggest flaw as well - just like playing with half the board obstructed by duct tape

[@NJDJ1986]

congrats on 100+, wins Nelson! Good game! @24:20 Nelson be pulling off the Eric Rosen!

[@R04drunner1]

Oh no, my Queen! Somebody call an ambulance... for my opponent. 😂

[@timm439]

Thank you, thank you for going to the end game - it gives us confidence to carry a single pawn majority into the end game.

[@FatWrekkd]

Thank you for all your teaching. You have helped me so much. Best chess KZbin page!

[@ericpetersman1389]

Ive been on a decade long hiatus and decided to get back into it. I was a solid 1500 when I walked away years ago.....ive been playing bots to knock the rust off ..and MAN....I am sucking out-loud with a capital SUCK!!! Lol....

[@MatthewHaydenRE]

24:27 Oh no! My queen!

[@gunshot_08]

I can't tell how much this series has helped me improve and develop that logical thinking. Always grateful ❤

[@cablestick]

Been waiting for this one!

[@sk5847]

Hey Nelson I really appreciate all your content. I need to watch your rating climb videos at the end of everyday to be able to fall asleep :)) keep up the good work! Sincerely, a Biology major from the Philippines

[@Ceidonianphysicist]

I’m 1300 rapid and 1100 blitz and I think the difference between quality you are seeing is that we have good days and bad days I have days where I’m winning and not blundering and finding nice tactics and then I have days where (especially if it’s an opening I don’t know well) I’ll blunder early and just follow up with more mistakes.

[@sourasishdutta4126]

You just snatched words from my mouth.

[@LanceNYC]

I love watching these ratings climbs. Your discipline in move evaluation is amazing to me. Keep 'em coming Nels!

[@barrywuthrich8530]

When you mention the variance at different skill ratings, you remind me of the under 1300 rapid arena tournament on Lichess. Many of your opponents will have under 200 games which leads me to believe that they are secondary accounts of 1500-1700 elo players. I often lose many rating points in the under 1300 tournament and then win them back in the 1500 or 1700 tournament where the elo seems a lot more accurate.

[@christophercoleman8823]

Hello: One thing I think would be a good idea for a vid is if you go with your first minds move instead of spending so much time calculating; just so we get a variety of ideas incase we make a mistake or want to go for a line you didn't go through because you thought more on it and chose differently

[@henkka5597]

you are the best nelson! sending love from finland!

[@stevemotocrayz2892]

" Yeah... I don't actually like the look of that. . ." ...is the result of years of experience , and pure ♟️ chess-intuition. 🙏 Thanks, Nelson - seriously - for sharing these insightful moments and shortening our journey to better playing abilities 🎉

[@kmonyt]

I'm assuming your cadence of play is a bit slower than normal because you're explaining things, but the patience you're showing when going through things is amazing. I'm stuck at 1500 on lichens. I simply don't have the patience, which is likely holding me back.

[@umeshsahare2865]

Your videos helping me to improve my rating a lot. I am always trying to think like you. I loved your rating climbing series. Sir please can you make some videos on Ruy Lopez and Sicilian defence openings. One more question do I need to learn more openings to improve in chess? Or Just focusing on 2-3 openings will be useful?

[@dashaunjefferies1168]

at 1:00:20 why not just move the rook over instead of castling? Isn't it better to keep the king centralized via long castle or not castling at all since the queens and a piece have been traded?

[@ProCoolBlue]

Been watching your channel for a while now, I really enjoy it a lot! I’m definitely still a beginner of chess, I go through random spurts of playing a lot trying to get good and then stop playing for like a year and forget everything and then start up again… anyway I just wanted to say I’m in mid 700 elo.. and I feel like I’m playing some of my best chess even tho I was somehow rated 1100 before or something.. but literally every one I’m versing in 700 ELO is playing 80+ accuracy games it’s insane.. I just beat one of them with .01 seconds remaining but my god I feel like I’m vsing a computer every game.. and they make almost no blunders.. maybe 1 sometimes. It’s insane…

[@ProCoolBlue]

Omg a heart instantly you’re the best man!

[@fishing5127]

I love your videos! I wish you would do another series on a ratings climb under a different handle! So informative!

[@Random_user274]

Nelson, how do you only have 544k subscribers? You deserve 10 million

[@JoshuaAyandokun-te3yo]

Yes he does

[@lucas0m0james]

Game 2 features a similar setup I have against the London. Only difference is I prefer my Knight on d7 instead of c6. Reasons are: 1. You still threaten to win a piece with e5. 2. Bb5 as in the game can be met with c6 3. As mentioned in the logical chess book, the c5 push is key in queen's pawn openings to free up your queenside, Nd7 supports it whereas Nc6 blocks it

[@theMosen]

24:14 Sacking the bishop was the way to go. Exposes the king just like in Nelson's line, but also wins a pawn. Bxf7 Kxf7, Ne5+ Ke8, Qxg4

[@danlee9049]

I love these! Very instructive games! Thank you my man

[@thutoseboko4076]

I've been watching your videos bro and I've gotta say wow, I've really improved on my game. I was rated 1130 before your videos and now I'm rated 1273 I've read the chess book you recommended and analysed the games there and a few puzzles and I think I've become that good 😅 I now understand every move I make unlike I was before when I used to make useless moves that didn't improve my position or threaten my opponent.

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Awesome! Keep going!

[@張謙-n3l]

I don't understand why the 800-rated opponents I face, seem to be stronger than the 1100-rated players in this video

[@kyleolson9636]

Nelson makes it seem easier because he is constantly pointing out attacks and tactics you might not have noticed. If he was sitting next to you while you played and talking through your position, you would dominate every 800 opponent even if you were ultimately choosing every move.

[@frankhummel9529]

I felt that same way. Sometimes it feels like a wall where your 800 rated opponents are playing so perfectly. I took a break from playing and focused more on learning the game from videos like this and Danya, played against the computers and focused on purely not making mistakes against them. Then when I came back to playing I shot up to 1437.

[@PauIdenino]

I think it's just easier to see things when you're watching a video rather than playing yourself

[@barclayv8282]

Nelson makes the 1100 rated players seem weaker, for one.

[@MWTGoldenGun]

This. I watch all these videos and try to make the same moves and my 600 rated opponent does something that completely destroys the plan. I still can't play Caro Kahn against a real person.

[@userac-xpg]

44:07 the correct winning method, and simplest, is Ka7 after which b6,b7,b8Q cannot be stopped nor is there any danger of stalemate.

[@KingFool505]

As a low elo player, I play more accurately consistently after watching one of your videos, I believe it is a general train of thought thing?

[@QDWhite]

Cracked 1000 for the first time today! Thanks for all the tips!

[@ChessVibesOfficial]

Fantastic!

[@QDWhite]

@@ChessVibesOfficial just cracked 1100 today. Your rating climb video on Monday must have inspired me.

[@venkimuthusamy8548]

I love the videos, I have been winning a lot at my skill level as white but as black setting defensively until i see a mistake from my opponent and play for a draw. I signed up for your course excited to learn from it.

[@jackzagunis]

Very good content Nelson

[@Overkill9991]

Petition for Nelson to play Kings Gambit

[@riorinaldi4378]

Kings Gambit is not solid

[@Overkill9991]

@@riorinaldi4378 yeah but it’s a really fun opening.

[@DiamondWolfX]

I've had a theory for a while that elo's strength changes depending on time of day, in particular later at night in the US tends to see the same elo playing better than earlier in the day

[@williamsquires3070]

(@42:20) I think black blew it; Kg7 gets his king closer, while his rook on f8 keeps the white king at bay. So, 1 … Kg7, 2 e6 Re8 and there’s no way for white’s king to come to the defense of his pawn. Or 1 … Kg7, 2 Kf2 Rf8+ forcing white’s king off to the side (3 Kg3) or get in the way of his rook (3 Ke2 or Ke3). Then 3 … Kf7 and black can blockade the pawn with his king; a much better piece than the rook, which should be active and occupy an open file.

[@Its.AbhinavMishra]

In the game 6 58:20 if you gone bishop to a7 there is no pin but still they can't take because if they take there is move bishop to f2 check the king takes you win the rook and if pawn takes the knight on c6 then you take knight on b1 and if the pawn takes the pawn on 7th rank attacking rook then you can take the bishop with the check and if king moves you takes his rook if the pawn takes your rook then you can recapture it with the queen 😊.

[@TimJapan]

Several streamers have mentioned how good 1500 hundred players can play. It's roulette these days

[@danielward7008]

They can play well but not consistently well.

[@blunderghostchess]

I'm in this elo rage and I feel very inconsistent! Awesome video!

[@davidrobertson1980]

My thinking is getting an improvement watching Nelson

[@JoshuaAyandokun-te3yo]

Thank you very much for this series

[@mitchelljones9696]

I’m new to chess so forgive me if this is a dumb question. How does blundering a rook flag a player with little time on the clock? Surely that’s just a gimme move you can play in 2 seconds

[@FlapjackMcGee]

I think that when you flag someone, you are playing quickly so that they have to use their own time to think, and can't use the time from your turn to calculate and think. So since Nelson had less time, his opponent was playing quickly and hoping Nelson would run out of time. But Nelson said his opponent should have used the time to make good moves instead of trying to rush (because blundering the rook could have been avoided by taking more time to think).

[@mitchelljones9696]

@@FlapjackMcGee gotcha, that makes sense ty

[@abberantgeck0]

Hi Nelson! Can you do a series where you intentionally lose a piece and show us how to recover?

[@alexandraison6429]

Can you do a deep dive video on how to avoid stalemate? Like how do you keep track of how many spots the kind has? Also did you have to keep checking him like that to avoid stalemate?

[@Chechov-t9f]

I never miss a video of yours I am obsessed with this channel, unfortunately I can't watch your lives cause you always go live when I am sleeping but I watch them once you publish them 🎉❤ I am trying to convince my mom to let me join breaking 1500

[@hanvroman]

You also can get that caro kann position in the Blackmar diemer d4-d5 e4-c6 kc3...

[@JamesQMurphy]

I also play wildly inconsistently. I’ve noticed that if I’m tired, my rating effectively drops by 400 points. Stress also affects my game.

[@simon-pierrelussier2775]

39:15 Wouldn't c4 be better? The Black Q is pinned (in case they want to en passant) and you attack the Q directly. It doesn't achieve all that much, hence why I'm asking...

[@29_sakshamsrivastava11]

2 passed pawns side by side is VERY strong. Black doesn’t have to capture enpassant

[@theMosen]

26:27 Black doesn't have to take the bishop, but then ..Ke7, Bg5+ f6, exf6+ Nxf6, Bxf6+ Kxf7, Qxd8 winning the queen anyway after trading a pawn and a piece

[@rattlesnake255]

Awesome instruction on completing that endgame. 42:44 - EVERYONE WATCH!!

[@theMosen]

11:40 Nelson missed that he could trade off the light squared bishops as soon as white takes with the knight, e.g. ..Be6, Nxe5 Bxb3, Nxb3 Nxe5 and black is up a piece

[@arikoudemans2166]

1:37 "Sacrifice the bishop, and then the queen is going to jump right in." If black had played which move instead of Kc6? How exactly does the tactic work? d6 is protected three times. Also 1:45 "we could take and be happy with an extra pawn". Isn't it an exchange of pawns when taking on d6? Same two attackers 3 defenders situation.

[@Anonymousgorilla607]

1. If black had played dxe5 because the queens would see each other and bxf7 would distract the Queens only defender and then qxd8 Is a free queen 2. Nelson was already up a pawn at the point after taking on e5 for free so if he takes on d6 and black takes back he maintains that pawn advantage Hope this helps.

[@lolodarkness]

Love ur videos abd this serie Nelson

[@philmenzies2477]

@17:20 white could have recovered with B x f7, Q x f7, Q x f7, R d1. Escapes the fork and recaptures a lost pawn.

[@DarkShadowMF]

16:49 how good would it have been to try and lure the queen to capture the knight on e4, to then do a discovered attack on the queen by sacrificing the bishop to check the king and then capturing the queen. two pieces for a queen, good?

[@theMosen]

9:23 Nelson missed that moving the knight would add the bishop as a defender

[@mariamaziz6249]

Hi Nelson, can you play a couple variations of Pirc Defense? Would love to see Pirc Defense against different attacks. Thanks

[@christophhorth2813]

I would love to see the Jobava London. In this episode you repeated that pushing the pawns in front of the rooks is generally bad in case you have not developed all pieces. however, for e.g. the Jobava London many theory lines include this. Is this something that is different for queens pawn openings as they are slower?

[@RyanLeBlanc-w3v]

His Breaking 1500 course is great I started it at 1100 and in 3 to 4 months I’m at 1400. After never being close to that before.

[@JoshuaAyandokun-te3yo]

The " OH MY! " he said at the beginning🤣🤣 BTW im not mocking him

[@mcwolfbeast]

23:29 Interesting Caro-kann countergambit! I really wonder what would happen though if black immediately attacks the bishop with 4 ... b5?

[@andrewbennett5911]

Thanks once again ,Nelson I'll try to rememder the king's gambit " trap " !!

[@fahd2372]

Where did you buy that chess board in your camera background? It looks awesome

[@theMosen]

44:04 After ..Kc8, Nelson had Ka7 Kc7, b6+ and the b-pawn is unstoppable

[@-alexpoe8394]

Any chance you've been able to look into the editor position? Love to hear back from you!

[@vPegasus]

Insane that people are still going for the 4 move checkmate at 1197 Elo p.s. Love that exceptional fork reference 😂

[@pancsaer2]

Your videos have helped me with Chess rating. I am almost 1400 now, thanks.

[@zetacrucis681]

How does a bunch of trades and a blunder equate to trying to flag the opponent? wouldn't you try to hang onto your pieces if flagging was your goal? trading down just simplifies and makes the game end sooner.

[@shadow234LOL]

I'm watching the video at the start rn. I'll edit this comment later if the title is saying is the truth 🥶🥶 (I worded this original comment very poorly, I apologize for that. I meant to say "I'll edit this comment if what the title is telling to me to do will give decent results", but anyway:) Edit: First 2 games were surely interesting. Using the KID (King's indian defense) setup against the London system was very Instructive! I'm definitely gonna try it out in my next few games. The 3rd-4th game was interesting as well, featuring the caro-kann! An opening that I do so play myself, and also features the "von-hennig gambit" which I also play against the Caro ;) Overall we got some nice wins even against the weird gambit on game 4! Edit 2: alright, so game 5-6 was very interesting as well. King's Gambit is another opening that I would like to study soon as well (repertoire against and while playing it), and overall got such a nice quick checkmate as well! Game 6 was overall just a bit funny for me, but also helped me understand how to still play against the scholar's mate attack/attempt after white plays good moves to at least last until the mid-endgame 🤔 So overall: I actually just reached 1200 for the first time after watching this, so... I think it did help a lot, sorta :p since I do think the knowledge that you can acquire from this video alone can help long-term! Edit 3: oh, and the 1 vs 2 pawn win conversion was very helpful as well! ;)

[@greg1198]

either you are a LIAR!!! or you're like 5 mins off finishing the video

[@shadow234LOL]

@@greg1198 no. I just had to quickly hop off the video because I had to do homework at school 😂 stopped at game 4, i Really liked Game 2, 3, and 4 since it featured on how to play Against London using the kings indian setup and features the Von Hennig Gambit against the caro! I promise to edit the comment later.

[@greg1198]

​@@shadow234LOL it said the comment was from 1 hour ago so thought it'd be funny to slide in in case you really were just wrapping up the video lol, and good on you getting schoolwork done! You're also clearly a lot more brushed up than I am on openings cus I don't know half of that. I'm still in the process of watching it, and I'll look forward to the epic totally tubular edit. Have a good day buddy

[@astros7242]

Still no edit?

[@greg1198]

You unit! You delivered! And congrats on the 1200, I'm still stuck in 900 haha

[@GigsTaggart]

One thing about the consistency... Note that the ones doing terrible are losing with 9:30 on the clock.

[@realestedm1636]

Halloween gambit is very timely and seasonally thanks for the attempt chief

[@milokelly9066]

19:20 you played Qf6, if you played Qg5 then bishop can win 2 pawns h3 g2 because of the pin

[@nathandean5869]

was hoping to see the haloween gambit i love playing that plus it’s october

[@KDA218]

My play so inconsistent, sometimes moves you miss in 2300 games are jumping out at me, another time I’m so focused on one thing I just blunder mate in 1 to an 1100. I try to do all the checks every turn but tunnel vision and the damn clock are still catching me out too often 😅🙈

[@hinoob12321]

tysm for the endgame lesson

[@r33th]

When you see the caro kann, you need to play the Alien Gambit!!!!!!!! PLEASE NELSON

[@alansmithee6273]

54:25 He's a four-move checkmate player, Nelson. He has no intention of trapping your bishop, and probably doesn't even realize that's something you can do in chess. 1:04:39 LMAO

[@rajanshelke9497]

How you get to play straight players where as I face lot of tough players at this level

[@desertBirdDogs]

My favorite line from Nelson is "...well that's just checkmate" 😅

[@Vansh009]

Can u play some kings gambit start playing recently want to learn some more tactics about that

[@ok-hd4so]

LOL how is the first opponent 1100?

[@pathways4996]

Every time I try and play the King’s Indian, the computer tells me I played the Pirc Def. What am I doing wrong?

[@CUPRUMSPARADISE]

Mr. Lopez please play Sicilian defence( Acc. Dragon) some time

[@keithbraithwaite5836]

what does RIC mean on the scoreboard

[@worldsbestwatcher3735]

😂 @55:28 Thanks for another great instructive video.

[@JamesAndrewDwyer]

Whenever Nelson uploads I know it’s a good day! 😊

[@gentrysalmon6214]

At this level, I would like to see how your opponents play against the Sicilian (preferably the accelerated dragon)

[@TheGreatMarma]

No Vienna?😢

[@ShubhamSingh-tv2sx]

Make a video on Sicilian defence or positional chess

[@r33th]

His logical chess series has been covering positional d4 games the past several episodes. Also I would stay away from the Sicilian if you are under 1500 because it is very deep and complex and requires you to understand dozens of lines to play effectively.

[@shadeburst]

I hope you're taking prednisone for that cough. Although it is associated with diabetes, the maintenance dosage is 5 to 10 mg a week or less.

[@harrygross77]

Is it the difference among 900s or none of them have faced a 2300?

[@FarxaanMaxamed-n6f]

What is the rice in the stats mean nelson? watching from somalia.

[@FlapjackMcGee]

See the Chess Vibes video from a year ago (Aug 2023) called "we need to talk about this" about an email sent by the "friend" of a suspected cheater, why Nelson had suspicious of cheating, and how he doesn't want his viewers to harass suspected cheaters

[@AnandaGBrady]

Question: do the opponents know their game is being made public?

[@realestedm1636]

Posting at 7AM EST. what a lolli pop of a video

[@numberthree27]

von henning gambit vs caro kann

[@ninja4O5]

Last guy was playing really good

[@muzammilkhalid3890]

Can you play caro can deffence in you next video?