Hey John, Schism90 here! Let me start off by saying that I've been a fan of your channel for a long time. You've greatly helped to improve my positional, strategic and endgame play over the years. In fact your videos have helped me so much that I've recommended your "Climbing the Rating Ladder" and "Chess Fundamentals" videos to improving players many times and I'm happy to see you posting regularly again! Now on to the game! On move 8 I went for the routine recapture on c4 but quickly remembered that I should have played d4 instead. This is the move recommended in Kamil Plichta's Lifetime Repertoires KIA course (shoutout to Chessable by the way!) This timely central strike would have been the way to try and punish the fact that Black has not developed the Kingside and is still several moves away from castling. It's worth investigating for anyone interested in playing this line from either side. Even though I forgot to strike with d4, I was still happy with the position I got out of the opening. On move 15 I played Na4, introducing the potential positional threat of c4-c5 to get a grip on the Queenside. This plan is given in Kamil's chessable course. You kept the c5 square under lock and key though and didn't allow me to advance my c-pawn so easily. Things started to go wrong for me when I tried to force things with b2-b4. A big part of the reason I rushed with this move is that I realized if I played a nonchalant move then that would allow the a5-a4 Queenside clamp that you mentioned. As a long-time King's Indian player this was definitely something I wanted to avoid. I like your suggestion of h4 and potentially Bh3, but if I had a do-over I would have first played b2-b3 (discouraging a5-a4). When you played Na6 to attack b4 twice I quickly and carelessly played b5, forgetting that I was pinned on the c-file! Luckily I still had compensation with the Bishop pair and active Rook but that's definitely not what I had intended. You're also right in that I should have tried to keep the Queens on the board. After some inaccurate moves on my part your c-pawn proved to be too much to handle. I wanted to play Rb8 around move 30 but realized you could just ignore the threat on your Knight and push your pawn. I didn't see anything better than bringing my Bishop back and trying my luck being a piece down. I wasn't very hopeful but I thought maybe I had a chance given the time situation. You kept your composure as always though and in the end you were too strong. It was great to finally play you after watching you for so long! Thanks for the game, I enjoyed it!
This is a great response to the video! You're so right about composure - it's one of John's best lessons in my opinion, keeping calm and thinking rationally in every position. He's such a clinical player and rarely plays moves that put him at disadvantage. Even for a 2200 it must represent a serious challenge to find some small scrap of advantage. I thought you played great, and your thoughts on the game are also instructive. Also... jealous that you got to play John and show up on youtube haha. GG
No one does these games like you do, John! You show us how to play, taking us through your "in the moment" thinking, then show us how to break it down afterward, and learn from every game!! Thanks for making these great videos!!
gg! I love how simple and straight-forward you keep your strategy. Even as a club-level player I can understand and learn from your play. Thanks for another great one, John!
This is the best chess channel on youtube period , i went from 500-600 to 1080 in a short period of time after i started watching your videos and lessons ! amazing stuff John especially the concept of undefended pieces !!
Your original "Climbing the Rating Ladder" videos (pre web cam) were the first chess videos I ever watched. I am so glad to see this series live on. Thank you for the amazing content John!!
Hey John, you are my chess inspiration :)) I improved my rating by 300 points and started going to OTB chess meetups because of you. Thank you so much :))
John I really like the longer time control games (i.e. 10 and 15 minute time controls). Your commentary is excellent, and I have learned a lot by watching the videos. Thank you for producing these videos.
Hey John, this game is super insightful in terms of what separates players at a certain level -- that ability to stay objective and clear-headed in the position throughout the game. It's amazing how so many games come down to one or two small errors!
Finally got done watching this entire series. I've learned a lot, the analysis portions are particularly good. I suspect that the people who skip it also throw out cake after they've licked the icing off
Have you ever considered doing a "Joy of Chess" series? You got the shirt for it. Imagining like "We're going to put a 2nd pawn in the center. This pawn needs a friend, and o there he goes" "This bishop has a lot of vision along this diagonal. If you look closely you can see he's got a nice pair of binoculars. He's an explorer"
I also really enjoy playing with that kingside pawn structure as Black. Especially at my much lower lever, I think players are often too eager to trade off a centralized knight for the doubled pawns, (i.e., if the white knight is on e5 and captures a bishop that's been pushed back to g6), not realizing that Black can usually still very safely castle with that structure.
Hey John, did you concider uploading your twitch VODs to youtube? The streams aren't the best on my time zone but i love watching you play blitz. Great video!!
![Eminem - Fuel (feat. JID) [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/t5H_CewqpKA/mqdefault.jpg)
Hey John, Schism90 here!
Let me start off by saying that I've been a fan of your channel for a long time. You've greatly helped to improve my positional, strategic and endgame play over the years. In fact your videos have helped me so much that I've recommended your "Climbing the Rating Ladder" and "Chess Fundamentals" videos to improving players many times and I'm happy to see you posting regularly again!
Now on to the game!
On move 8 I went for the routine recapture on c4 but quickly remembered that I should have played d4 instead. This is the move recommended in Kamil Plichta's Lifetime Repertoires KIA course (shoutout to Chessable by the way!) This timely central strike would have been the way to try and punish the fact that Black has not developed the Kingside and is still several moves away from castling. It's worth investigating for anyone interested in playing this line from either side. Even though I forgot to strike with d4, I was still happy with the position I got out of the opening.
On move 15 I played Na4, introducing the potential positional threat of c4-c5 to get a grip on the Queenside. This plan is given in Kamil's chessable course. You kept the c5 square under lock and key though and didn't allow me to advance my c-pawn so easily.
Things started to go wrong for me when I tried to force things with b2-b4. A big part of the reason I rushed with this move is that I realized if I played a nonchalant move then that would allow the a5-a4 Queenside clamp that you mentioned. As a long-time King's Indian player this was definitely something I wanted to avoid. I like your suggestion of h4 and potentially Bh3, but if I had a do-over I would have first played b2-b3 (discouraging a5-a4).
When you played Na6 to attack b4 twice I quickly and carelessly played b5, forgetting that I was pinned on the c-file! Luckily I still had compensation with the Bishop pair and active Rook but that's definitely not what I had intended. You're also right in that I should have tried to keep the Queens on the board.
After some inaccurate moves on my part your c-pawn proved to be too much to handle. I wanted to play Rb8 around move 30 but realized you could just ignore the threat on your Knight and push your pawn. I didn't see anything better than bringing my Bishop back and trying my luck being a piece down. I wasn't very hopeful but I thought maybe I had a chance given the time situation. You kept your composure as always though and in the end you were too strong.
It was great to finally play you after watching you for so long! Thanks for the game, I enjoyed it!
This is a great response to the video! You're so right about composure - it's one of John's best lessons in my opinion, keeping calm and thinking rationally in every position. He's such a clinical player and rarely plays moves that put him at disadvantage. Even for a 2200 it must represent a serious challenge to find some small scrap of advantage. I thought you played great, and your thoughts on the game are also instructive. Also... jealous that you got to play John and show up on youtube haha. GG
Wow, thanks for the analysis from your side; it adds a whole extra layer of depth to the game.
I love that you also gave thorough analysis on your side!
well played!
This is why i love ches.
at this rate, we'll be climbing the rating ladders against 3000 elo super GM's. Watch your back, hikaru
No one does these games like you do, John! You show us how to play, taking us through your "in the moment" thinking, then show us how to break it down afterward, and learn from every game!! Thanks for making these great videos!!
Thank you!!
Daniel «Danya» has a video like this
gg! I love how simple and straight-forward you keep your strategy. Even as a club-level player I can understand and learn from your play. Thanks for another great one, John!
This is the best chess channel on youtube period , i went from 500-600 to 1080 in a short period of time after i started watching your videos and lessons ! amazing stuff John especially the concept of undefended pieces !!
Same here, I went from zero chess knowledge to over 1300 chesscom rapid and still rising :)
Your original "Climbing the Rating Ladder" videos (pre web cam) were the first chess videos I ever watched. I am so glad to see this series live on. Thank you for the amazing content John!!
Wait, that series was called "chess fundamentals" lol
Hey John, you are my chess inspiration :)) I improved my rating by 300 points and started going to OTB chess meetups because of you. Thank you so much :))
John I really like the longer time control games (i.e. 10 and 15 minute time controls). Your commentary is excellent, and I have learned a lot by watching the videos. Thank you for producing these videos.
Great stuff as always John. Heads up 0.03 isn't three tenths of a pawn, it would be three hundredths, so even more essentially nothing!
Hey John, this game is super insightful in terms of what separates players at a certain level -- that ability to stay objective and clear-headed in the position throughout the game. It's amazing how so many games come down to one or two small errors!
Finally got done watching this entire series. I've learned a lot, the analysis portions are particularly good. I suspect that the people who skip it also throw out cake after they've licked the icing off
Mmmm icing 🧁
Once your opponent is over 2000, the margin of victory becomes razor thin. Chess is hard.
that's why it's better to be rated 1999, where the margin of victory is much wider
Such a pleasant game John and Schism90 thanks for posting.
These are so great. I’m watching, making my own moves in my head. John inevitably also sees these and goes on to describe why those are mistakes! 😂
Fresh coffee and a fresh upload? I feel so blessed.
You're killing me letting your time get that low!
Just casually smashing 2100s up with his top button undone. Maniac. JB is _out of control_ with his death-metal chessing.
I practiced my breathing during the time crunch and managed not to yell at the screen. I am so proud of myself.
Love these instructive games! Need to be as calm as you at the board
John, you're awesome! Great way to end the game.
Gotta love the opponent trying to flag you in a completely losing game. Much skill 🤨
Have you ever considered doing a "Joy of Chess" series? You got the shirt for it.
Imagining like "We're going to put a 2nd pawn in the center. This pawn needs a friend, and o there he goes"
"This bishop has a lot of vision along this diagonal. If you look closely you can see he's got a nice pair of binoculars. He's an explorer"
I also really enjoy playing with that kingside pawn structure as Black. Especially at my much lower lever, I think players are often too eager to trade off a centralized knight for the doubled pawns, (i.e., if the white knight is on e5 and captures a bishop that's been pushed back to g6), not realizing that Black can usually still very safely castle with that structure.
Delay really needs more love.
Hey ive played schism90 🙂👍🏼
Yeah just double checked. Played him 8 times and lost all 8. Was in open challenges
Hey John, did you concider uploading your twitch VODs to youtube?
The streams aren't the best on my time zone but i love watching you play blitz.
Great video!!
I tried the KIA a couple of times. Fun opening.
Hey John, I think it would be more beneficial to do CTRL videos against lower rated opponents, so that we can learn from their mistakes.
Close game!
I like that shirt, John!
Shoutout to Nalgene water bottles!
John is still the best natty chess player
(Abbreviated) Analysis gang!
2140 lost pos in few moves
first
First