The standard deviation on an ELO rating lower than 2300 might be between 60 to 85 depending on the historical strength of your opponents. An example could be like “the ELO rating estimated is 1858 with 95% confidence interval of 1667 and 2049. ” This means the “true” ELO rating will fall 95% of the time within the interval 1667 and 2049, with a mathematical estimated average of 1858.
It's the patience for me. The casual discussion of each move, the honesty, the curiosity, the willingness to be surprised... You give all of it time to breathe. Just downright soothing. Definitely my favorite series.
I absolutely love how Levy deliberate makes bad moves to teach tactical awareness during the game- brilliant teaching nous, it is totally pointless for an IM to demolish a 1200 elo and Levy understands that. Best video thus far from Gotham Chess.
As a 1100 I loved this breakdown. It helps that you played moves that we would've played instead destroying your opponents in the opening and punishing every mistake. This would decrease the learning experience. So THANK YOU!
Slimshaney here, playing that first game gave me a TON of things to think about. I learned some concepts about relative value and tempo(you don't gain tempo attacking the queen with a queen when trading is good)I wouldn't have learned in ages. I see the Qxb7 line all the time, but after you played it against me(even if it wasn't optimal) you finally pushed me to analyze that position out a few more moves, and I made a few friends along the way. Thanks for the game today levy, happy new year.
1500 is a long way off yet, but take it from me you can do it! Speaking as a now-1500 ex-1100. Biggest tip is to go through every game you play, especially the ones you lose, and try identify ONE thing you could've done better. If you blundered a piece, the maybe work on tactics. If you fell for an opening trap try to memorise the moves so you can avoid it. If you drew a winning endgame then maybe practise endgames for a bit.
The ability to get into the mind of the beginner/intermediate player is what makes these 'How to win at chess' one of your best series. So cool that you can show us the best move in a position and yet play something worse because that's what a player that level would do!
I feel like Rd1 was at least worth a quick mention at 13:18. Pawn recaptures and promotes is a pretty common idea with a pawn one step from promotion and it even protects the pawn by pinning one attacking rook to the king.
53:00 This was amazing. Like, literally amazing, absolutely beautiful combination. And the fact that this ice is so fragile that you take the bishop by mistake and you're completely lost makes it even more beautiful. Thanks for this one!
Dear Gothamchess, During the pandemic I discovered your channel, and I was instantly hooked. I watched all your opening videos, progressed to the (hilarious) Guess the Elo and Win at Chess series, before discovering your recap videos and binging them. I followed your progress in OTB competitions back when you played, and discovered other chess creators through you. You re-awoke my childhood love of chess, and I catapulted to about 1600, a level at which was quite happy, despite the constant threat of hanging a piece on move six... I have played hundreds of games of the Caro-Kan, hundreds of the Vienna and dozens of Danish gambits, as well as several thousand games of everything in between. You are an excellent teacher and a fine commentator, and quite literally every day I would watch your daily video before I went to bed. It would be the constant in my life, no matter what country or situation I was in, your videos could always be a comforting balm to me, and for that I am very grateful. Many of your videos, especially GTE, I have watched several times. I have watched you change from house to house and haircut to haircut with amusement at your reaction, and seen the way that your channel has changed, from providing opening videos and "Win at Chess" to moving more towards entertainment. That decision, while slightly disappointing for me, has proved eminently sensible, and you have become both the largest chess youtuber and one of chess's most recognisable faces. Congratulations are unasked for and wholly irrelevant, yet I offer them to you nonetheless. But my personality can tend towards the obsessive, and I have unfortunately come to the conclusion that online chess is consuming too much of my time (as in, I can find myself spending hours playing rapid chess). Any attempt to rein it in would lead to recapitulation, and as such, I am giving it up for the New Year. Sadly, this means I must give you up too; your videos are far too compulsive, and they drive me towards chess. This merely means that you are exceedingly good at what you do, and I hope that you remain so. But thus this is the final video that I shall watch for a very long time. I have had such fun with you, and I hope that all that watch you can gain the same joy and laughter from you that I have. I wish you every good fortune into the future both personally and professionally, and I hop, when I come back to chess and RUclips in the future, that I shall find you here waiting for me. It's been a blast, A C6 player forever.
I've started the journey last week and don't know how long I'll stay here but I hope to see you in the comments again in the future :) Good luck and I hope you succeed in whatever endeavors that fall into your life.
1:01:20 You can crack you neck by lifting up the chin, placing your left hand, palm up, pointing west (left) making sure that the chin fits softly in-between the two bones at the bottom of the palm. With your right hand, place it on the left side of your head, a bit above the ear, making sure your arm is over your head like headphones. Then simply use your hands to turn your head so your chin turns anti-clockwise. Then repeat but with the opposite hands. Make sure you DON'T do it to hard or you will break you neck. Otherwise completely safe.
10:50 I'm kind of proud that when the bishop captured my immediate thought was Knight C5 30:00 it took me a minute to understand why Qf4 is a problem. at first glance it just looked like a hanging queen, so that's probably why he didn't see it either.
Maybe he did see it, but not taking the queen also didn't make sense. The position was just losing big time. Notice how the evaluation said +10, even though Levy was only a pawn up.
Finally I can reach 1500! I've been trying for so long but every time I got close I gained 300 ELO again and got back to my normal rating. Thanks to this video I'm no longer stuck at 1800.
@@biblybims9868 Opinion is not truth , the joke is stolen, then you call people nerds and toxic. You win the Beta male energy prize of the day, Congrats.
Very watchable chess content. I watched every second and would have watched more. I am 1503 USCF and if my rating is what you were targeting, you were spot on.
the ending of game 3 was beautiful. I actually thought "what if you push the pawn instead of taking the queen" but couldn't see the whole thing through, the fact that it is the top move with the double into discovered check was nutty
I always really enjoy this style of video. It’s been said by other commenters, but the fact you try to play at the opponents level, and explain the difference in board vision and calculation at comparative levels, and the tactical ideas that stem from those differences - it’s super useful to me as a learner.
Yes, more blunders to come! More stares from Levy at the start of the video, more "speaks for itself " comments. But, the war still rages on in Ukraine. I have a gambling problem, and I also tank when I lose In 5 min blitz games. I'm starving, I eat Shin Ramyun noodles just to fill a hole in my stomach, I even put stale bread in it to make it filling. I'm more innocent than one of the 16 vestel virgins, I hate mumble rap. Let's see what the new year brings all of us!!🥳
I enjoy the caustic and cynical Levy with funny voices, but I also enjoy the super chill Levy who patiently and eloquently explains the logic behind his chess moves with a whole bunch of valuable insight. Please don't stop making these videos!
Levy this is my absolute favorite content, please don't stop making these long form instructional videos like this for free. I want to buy a course but I'm struggling lately and just from watching your RUclips this last couple years and casually playing 10 min games on my phone while watching TV my rating has gone from 600 to a bit over 1200. All from watching your content and playing like 5 games a day (that part is only the last like year). Now when I play chess on my phone I find myself pausing the show and being really focused on the game and unable to watch anything, so in a way you took away a casual hobby from me, now I can't watch TV anymore. But what I gained was an immense love and passion for the game of chess, and I'd rather be blundering my queen in a 10m rapid to watching some Netflix show anyday. Thank you Gothamchess. And have a wonderful 2023. Can't wait to see what it brings!
1:15:35 Qxd4 is actually a blunder because Rxf1+ and queen takes when Raxf1...but it's easy to miss like how Keymer blundered his rook against Magnus a few days ago in the same manner
@@watnou346The skill difference of the ratings is exponential, a 400 point difference means that you have a 9% chance of winning, at 800 points difference it is 0.9% at 1000 elo difference the probability of you winning is 0.3%, so you can say that a 1500 is 300 times as good as a 500
I started playing during the pandemic at around 850 level. After discovering your channel I managed to hit 1000 in 2020 1100 in 2021 and now 1200 in 2022. My goal for 2023 is 1300. Thanks for making this video Levy :)
@@shahxaibkhan442 secretly hoping for 1600 tbh but I’m still in university, do judo and play Super Smash Bros Melee so theres not that much time to grind chess haha
Personally as a chess and ASMR fan I must say this is my top rated GC video. It has a huge amount of knowledge and in the same it works as a ASMR if I'm sleepy .
1:01:40 would d4 be a bad move at that point? it seems to make sense. Both Knight protect it, it provides control on the center, limits movement of white's bishop, it lets you move Ke3 the turn after to pressure the Queen...
@@joegillespie8657 literally not once in 200 games, and d4 is the opening move for white mote often than not. Maybe there's a fad atm, or maybe there's something weird about times of day creating sub metas? Edit - I guess more like 100 games, as 200 was total games, not my games as black.
Honestly loved the video Levi! Even though Im very far off 1500 elo, I really enjoyed how you verbalized your thought process during these games. The ideas and questions you posed made so much sense yet I find it so hard to remember to pose them to myself in my games. I'd love to get more videos in this format once in a while to explore the deeper thought processes.
Being 1400-1500 is very weird. On a good day, I have an average performance rating of 2000. On a bad day, I would make some 1000's look like a chess pro.
At 14:10, I would’ve gone Rd1, attacking the room on e1, pinning it to the king. He can’t take the Pawn with the e1 rook because it’s pinned, could take with Re4xe2 and then Rxe2. Still can’t take on e2 because he is pinned, so maybe Rxd1. If white moves his king to defend the rook, the line is pretty much open for black to move freely in any direction, white doesn’t really have many other moves that benefit, and then a7 can work on promoting.
I realize the vast majority of your viewers are probably a couple of light years ahead of me and may prefer other formats, but this kind of video helps me far more than any recap can. Thank you so much!
Love this video. Awesome that you are not always playing the best move for educational purposes. Really appreciated. Moved up 200 points up to 1200 lately with at 70% win rate with black with the Caro Kann, crazy! Happy New Year, keep it up 🙌
I realize this series takes a lot of time to make and it can be frustrating trying to organize opponents for it. How to win at chess is my favorite series and I appreciate all the hard work!
I was 324 before watching your video now i am 612, after this video, it taken about 8 days to double my rating but nice, now i have to learn new opening
@6:23 isn’t Kb3 crushing because it defends the rook and then if Qa3 you can take the pawn on C4 and then either the queen can slide into B4 or the rook can move to B1 and the b2 pawn is hanging either way?
Hey GothamChess, you've gotten me into chess after years of not caring. I've even had a couple good wins (even tho I'm 300 lel) but still. Thanks for giving me a new hobby to learn
If you played Magnus and he didn't know your rating, he would be constantly looking for traps because he couldn't believe anyone would play that last move.....
Great video Levy. I don't usually write comments to videos but this time I felt compelled to because you give confidence to people like me who are not very high rated at chess but still enjoy playing . Even if we lose a lot! Good luck with the channel!
Hey Levi, I'm a 1000 rating and just after watching Game 1 i decided to try use what you said and play a rapid game for myself. It is possible best game i have ever played where i had a 94.3% accuracy and beat a 1100 elo, where i was given an estimated 1850 elo and my opening and middle game where both rated Great, '!', just wanna say i am a huge fan of the content and really enjoy the videos!
1:04:16 so I’m a complete novice(highest ELO at the time of this comment I’ve achieved is 656 lol) so maybe I’m not seeing things as clearly and strategically, but I just have a question about this specific position. You are calculating white can bring knight to D6, and debating which piece to take the pawn on E5 with right? Now maybe I’m a noob and don’t know anything about chess but one move I saw you had with your queen as black was queen to B8, and the only reason I felt like that might be a move is that if the game progresses similarly enough to how it does as you ended up playing it, your queen would find its way to g2, and B8 sets that up along with capturing e5. Of course the complicated nature of a high level game is that the opponent will be fairly accurate in responding to these moves, I just wanted to share what I was seeing and whether queen B8 in that position is a maneuver that might set up the white king on H1 preemptively? You’re the IM here so I’m probably wrong but I want to ask it anyway.
Qb8 (Queen to b8) is not a game-losing move by any stretch of the imagination, but to my eyes it looks a little slow. For one thing, we don't need to put more pressure on the e5 pawn because we can already capture it for free anyways, so in that regard it's unnecessary. Additionally, having the Queen on b8 puts it quite close to the side of the board where it's a little harder to get it back into the game later on. Sure we might be able to use the diagonal as you suggested, but if White anticipates this and controls that diagonal our Queen would be locked far away from the attack. Keep in mind, with our Queen on b8, we'll also have a harder time activating our rook on a8, so in general I feel like the Queen does more harm than good. I'd rather activate the Queen by bringing it in line with the King first, so it's much more threatening and able to create threats much quicker. Maybe a move like Bh4 (Bishop to h4) would be good, as if our opponent trades the bishops we can take back with our Queen, and suddenly our Queen is practically knocking on the door to the White King. In summary: Better to not spend the extra move accomplishing arguably very little, and just take the pawn as it's free.
@@Infinicat No prob. I'm only 1500 and there's still a lot I don't know as well, so these are only general impressions I get. When evaluating moves it helps to identify all the pros and cons you can think of when making your decision. For me the simple fact that Qb8 spends a move and doesn't get the Queen off the back rank is already enough that I probably wouldn't consider it unless it had a very direct threat - like attacking a piece (piece, not pawn) / threatening checkmate. Usually you want to get pieces off the backrank as soon as possible so your Rooks are connected and defend one another, which makes your Rooks stronger.
@@isaakvandaalen3899 Yeah you’re right I just hadn’t yet learned to consider those two ideas in tandem before(hence why I’m still a beginner lol). But I’m learning and it is encouraging that I am already thinking about higher level concepts this early on I just need to apply all of these ideas together!
@@Infinicat That's exactly it bro. Even now I still make blunders where I just lose track of simple concepts - forgetting a piece is hanging, forgetting that one piece is guarding two things at once, that sort of thing. If you can keep track of the simple things, that'll go a looong way to climbing the ranks. That's how I broke through 1300, just by working to reduce simple blunders. If you can get through a game with zero blunders, you won't even have to work to hit 1300 - it'll just happen.
Levy is good but i think naroditsky and john bartholomew were better for me.Johns climbing the rating ladder helped me go from 650 to 1000 in both rapid and blitz
totally, ive learn with him more than with anybody, im a nooby only have 2 months playing and i was like 400 now im almost 700 so im kinda happy. My girlfriend was like 500 and she is 900 now, she watches gotham much more than i do. He truly knows how to teach.
Game 2, 22:32 Qb5 forks the bishop and the knight, most probably, black pieces would let the knight die as u can move forward a pawn, but maybe I'm missing something, can we have a debate about this position? Edit: Typed Qd5 and intended to type Qb5
Right? I saw this too, missed opportunity to take... the only thing I can think of is you lose tempo having to retreat the Queen, or risk getting it trapped in front of your pawns
@@solo.gaming.1088 everyone is different, but I play only 3min games which is about 1700 rapid ( I'm now 1465 blitz) so I'm at 1700 in just over a year for rapid
I love how he’s on a timer against a real opponent and just casually explaining how to win not even worrying about time. While the opponent is trying to win, he already has.
My first move of 2023 was c6 after studying the caro course this holiday. naturally after move 3 opponent already had us out of course recommendations. Got the win though so we take those!!
I guess on 26:10 queen to g3 is a better move brings Q to the square of black K wich allowed b to capture knight on f6 eventually after something like h3 and it also has an eye on the long black diagonal and the field c7 wixh could be a possible black queen move but yes other things happened so move was just fine :) I may be wrong with all of this but this instantly came to my mind
@@Snipezelite02 anylize your games and see where you went wrong, don’t make the same mistakes in chess twice is the biggest thing, daily chess is a great tool to try and find the best move every time, also studding your openings and having a good arsenal to use is one of the most helpful things, the point I was stuck at for the longest time was about 1000-1100, it’s very competitive there frankly I had an easier time with 1200-1300, most of the time it’s just about not blundering your pieces and knowing checkmate patterns
Not a fan of your style normally (feels over-the top, but I get it's for YT engagement), but clicked this in my feed. I love you walking through the thought process and keeping in mind what players at lower levels are likely to see, and how to proceed with that level of vision. One of the bigger positives of this approach is you have multiple instructive moments each game rather than winning at the first sign of a winning tactic. Nice video.
1:03:54 "Hanging ducks" At dawnbreak, they waddled sorrowfully to the gallows, rueful of their criminal ways. Readily the nooses tightened about their slender necks as their demerits were read aloud by the pontiff. They gave no plea and accepted their fate. All but the one with the feather on his back. He broke the silence with a quack quack quack.
I’m only at 500, so sorry if this is a stupid question, but is it the case that white decides the opening and you play the defence for that opening? I have noticed the app flashes up the name of the opening when you do it for the first time, it would be handy if it flashed it up every time so I could learn what’s what.
little tip I found to reach new ELO levels, jump ahead. When I was an 800, I started playing 1500s, and after about 200 games, I've settled around 1200. I guess I gotta take on some 2000s now lol. I managed to beat a 1600 as an 800 way out of my league.But just different ELO levels have different feels to them, different challenges, it opens your eyes.
That's always the fastest way to improve for any game or most things really, go far out of your league. You'll get destroyed, but you'll learn quickly.
Hey @GothamChess 👋🏻 big fan from Mexico! I was watching your videos on why you retired from competitive chess, and let me tell you, I'm glad you did! You are an amazing content creator! It feels like this is your actual calling! Super entertaining and instructive! To a great creative year! 🍷🎉♟️ Saludos!
Dang, I remember when I started playing chess and this was one of the first video I watched. It took me a year and a half (been playing on and off due to school), but now I'm 1501 today :D Been watching your videos since December 2022 and my main openings are the Karo kann, kings Indian, and the london. Thanks for your teachings man 👍
I just reached 1700, pls don't make me go back.
I just reached 1600, but it's def possible I lose 100 rating points
After watching this, I am gonna lose my 1700 rating. The sacrifices we must make to watch Levy
I just reached 1500, pls don't make me get stuck
@@12bjorn34 is this a joke or does watching Levy genuinely make you worse
@@elitelevi2948 we are just making jokes. Levy is the one who brought me from like 13/1400 to the 1700 I am now
8/10 camera stare today. I like how you blended it nicely by transitioning into your opening without blinking.
Ya know, it was. Solid showing from the Rozz Man
Levy Rizzman
Thanks for making me blink manually for this whole video
ruclips.net/video/C0vAOvYiiTU/видео.html
ah the rating we all needed
Before this video I was 1593. Now I'm 1548. Thanks Levy!!
He's helping us all get to 1500 elo exactly...soon the only players Gothamchess could beat would be 'guess the elo' beginner opponents.
так ты слабак
Woooooow this COMPLETELY shows that the physiological powers of levy influencing the fact that you’re dog
You’re a few steps closer!
The standard deviation on an ELO rating lower than 2300 might be between 60 to 85 depending on the historical strength of your opponents. An example could be like “the ELO rating estimated is 1858 with 95% confidence interval of 1667 and 2049. ” This means the “true” ELO rating will fall 95% of the time within the interval 1667 and 2049, with a mathematical estimated average of 1858.
It's the patience for me. The casual discussion of each move, the honesty, the curiosity, the willingness to be surprised... You give all of it time to breathe. Just downright soothing. Definitely my favorite series.
I think he needs a course in being more confident though, way too humble.
Best teacher
@@SMacCuUladh Naah, i think he's pretty confident.
Humility is a bliss
@@-_.Nobody._-369 I was being sarcastic, lol. That guy does not have a confidence problem.
@SMacCuUladh he does when it comes to tournaments. He's confident against weaker players, as we all are
Started with 320 elo .. now at 977, glad I was introduced to chess last year. Thank you my friend debopam and you my man .. much love and blessings.
How far have you come?
Wait why is my ELO 1200 from the beginning? And I am right now a little down with 1100+
Wait why is my ELO 1200 from the beginning? And I am right now a little down with 1100+
@@GREEN-sj7pzBecause you probably selected advanced or intermediate while creating account
@@BadWithie oh
I absolutely love how Levy deliberate makes bad moves to teach tactical awareness during the game- brilliant teaching nous, it is totally pointless for an IM to demolish a 1200 elo and Levy understands that. Best video thus far from Gotham Chess.
As a 1100 I loved this breakdown. It helps that you played moves that we would've played instead destroying your opponents in the opening and punishing every mistake. This would decrease the learning experience. So THANK YOU!
Username?
As 1100, I agree. He tried to push it to normal and solid endgame, instead of doing something that requires an unnecessary learning on my level
Same! Levy is the reason that reignited my love of chess xD
Not trying to like say your wrong but I think he tried to show you what he’d do in each normal game situation
@@cakkaac3832 no he did specifically say a few times he was playing worse than his level to emulate a 1000 player
Slimshaney here, playing that first game gave me a TON of things to think about. I learned some concepts about relative value and tempo(you don't gain tempo attacking the queen with a queen when trading is good)I wouldn't have learned in ages. I see the Qxb7 line all the time, but after you played it against me(even if it wasn't optimal) you finally pushed me to analyze that position out a few more moves, and I made a few friends along the way.
Thanks for the game today levy, happy new year.
You are really awesome dude
Will you please stand up?
Shut up clout chaser
@Icey9344 bro did not comment that 💀
Is he the real slim shady?
I really appreciate how you didn't belittle your opponents moves or style and how you are very educational. Thanks for the lessons
He makes me enjoy the game. I usually just hate everyone when I play rapid lol
Gotham: Wanna be 1500?
Me who's 1600: no
No way bros 1600
im 600 but 2300 in puzzles ;-;
@@robuu5890 Nice bro! I'm 1700 rapid and 3000 puzzles
@@eboatwright_ sweet idk why but the 2300 puzzle threshold is just impossible for me to figure out.
@@robuu5890 you have to just be solid, don't solely rely on tactics, improve your position till the point you have a winning tactic
Won 12 out of my last 13 games and smoothly cruised to 1100 for the first time ever. Feeling like this is doable!
1500 is a long way off yet, but take it from me you can do it! Speaking as a now-1500 ex-1100.
Biggest tip is to go through every game you play, especially the ones you lose, and try identify ONE thing you could've done better. If you blundered a piece, the maybe work on tactics. If you fell for an opening trap try to memorise the moves so you can avoid it. If you drew a winning endgame then maybe practise endgames for a bit.
Lol
Hahahah want a tip to get 1500 : be ashamed you need One. xD
@@eduardovalle7268 Ugh, people like you are the worst thing about chess. It's a game, nerdlinger.
@@eduardovalle7268boo. Everyone was below 1500 at some point in their life. You have a bad attitude.
The ability to get into the mind of the beginner/intermediate player is what makes these 'How to win at chess' one of your best series. So cool that you can show us the best move in a position and yet play something worse because that's what a player that level would do!
i didn't know i could watch 1.5h of chess without getting bored
I didn't realise i have just watched 1.5h of chess till i saw this comment
@@iakovidis.d, same.
Thank you for telling me tit was 1.5 hour. Now I'm depressed
no
it isnt boring if you are already bored
This video helped me immensely!!!! Explanations were clear and informative and the pace was excellent!! Tyvm!!
I feel like Rd1 was at least worth a quick mention at 13:18. Pawn recaptures and promotes is a pretty common idea with a pawn one step from promotion and it even protects the pawn by pinning one attacking rook to the king.
I came down to see if I was the only one who saw this. Thanks.
I also noticed that :D and searched "d1" in the comment section. Cheers! :D
I thought about that but then the king would go to f2 and defend the rook I think. And it would stop the pawn from promoting
I played chess drunk last night and somehow got my blitz rating from 850 to 970 playing the London and caro Kahn. Very easy to play.
Stick with this strategy, it took me from 1600 to 1900
lol... I'm 1900 Blitz and I don't know the difference between the London and Caro Kahn...
Stick to one solid opening each for white and black and master them, will bring you to 2000 at least
Alcohol is one hell of a drug
@@yemioffem4015 1900 on lichess moment
53:00 This was amazing. Like, literally amazing, absolutely beautiful combination.
And the fact that this ice is so fragile that you take the bishop by mistake and you're completely lost makes it even more beautiful. Thanks for this one!
The fact he saw it in -3.8 seconds just terrifies me
Ofcourse yessss, THE PAWWWNNNNNNN!!
that is the power of a 2500+ :o
That was incredible, seriously..
Dear Gothamchess,
During the pandemic I discovered your channel, and I was instantly hooked. I watched all your opening videos, progressed to the (hilarious) Guess the Elo and Win at Chess series, before discovering your recap videos and binging them. I followed your progress in OTB competitions back when you played, and discovered other chess creators through you. You re-awoke my childhood love of chess, and I catapulted to about 1600, a level at which was quite happy, despite the constant threat of hanging a piece on move six...
I have played hundreds of games of the Caro-Kan, hundreds of the Vienna and dozens of Danish gambits, as well as several thousand games of everything in between. You are an excellent teacher and a fine commentator, and quite literally every day I would watch your daily video before I went to bed. It would be the constant in my life, no matter what country or situation I was in, your videos could always be a comforting balm to me, and for that I am very grateful. Many of your videos, especially GTE, I have watched several times. I have watched you change from house to house and haircut to haircut with amusement at your reaction, and seen the way that your channel has changed, from providing opening videos and "Win at Chess" to moving more towards entertainment. That decision, while slightly disappointing for me, has proved eminently sensible, and you have become both the largest chess youtuber and one of chess's most recognisable faces. Congratulations are unasked for and wholly irrelevant, yet I offer them to you nonetheless.
But my personality can tend towards the obsessive, and I have unfortunately come to the conclusion that online chess is consuming too much of my time (as in, I can find myself spending hours playing rapid chess). Any attempt to rein it in would lead to recapitulation, and as such, I am giving it up for the New Year. Sadly, this means I must give you up too; your videos are far too compulsive, and they drive me towards chess. This merely means that you are exceedingly good at what you do, and I hope that you remain so. But thus this is the final video that I shall watch for a very long time. I have had such fun with you, and I hope that all that watch you can gain the same joy and laughter from you that I have. I wish you every good fortune into the future both personally and professionally, and I hop, when I come back to chess and RUclips in the future, that I shall find you here waiting for me.
It's been a blast,
A C6 player forever.
I've started the journey last week and don't know how long I'll stay here but I hope to see you in the comments again in the future :)
Good luck and I hope you succeed in whatever endeavors that fall into your life.
@@Renuu Same goes here
Nah, you'll be back sooner than Levy can spell 2400.
mf writing goofy ahh letter on the web 💀💀💀
we aint readin allat but we up💯💯❤️
I just reached 1500, thanks for helping me with your videos when I first started Levy. Blessings
1:01:20 You can crack you neck by lifting up the chin, placing your left hand, palm up, pointing west (left) making sure that the chin fits softly in-between the two bones at the bottom of the palm. With your right hand, place it on the left side of your head, a bit above the ear, making sure your arm is over your head like headphones. Then simply use your hands to turn your head so your chin turns anti-clockwise. Then repeat but with the opposite hands. Make sure you DON'T do it to hard or you will break you neck. Otherwise completely safe.
10:50 I'm kind of proud that when the bishop captured my immediate thought was Knight C5
30:00 it took me a minute to understand why Qf4 is a problem. at first glance it just looked like a hanging queen, so that's probably why he didn't see it either.
Maybe he did see it, but not taking the queen also didn't make sense. The position was just losing big time. Notice how the evaluation said +10, even though Levy was only a pawn up.
I had a 1800+ rating, but after watching this video I dropped 300 elo to 1500. Thank you Levy for this insightful video!
lol
@@SchizophreniaHaver 😂😂😂😂
Finally I can reach 1500! I've been trying for so long but every time I got close I gained 300 ELO again and got back to my normal rating. Thanks to this video I'm no longer stuck at 1800.
Stolen but ok
@@Brotatoe_8 it's true, 2 people have never had the same thought before
@@AdamGaffney96 Come on lol the other one has 5k likes, you saw it. This is just the same joke but with more words so its less funny.
@@eperr8491 who gives a SHI?,man talking the truth,jeeez,chess nerds really are toxic
@@biblybims9868 Opinion is not truth , the joke is stolen, then you call people nerds and toxic. You win the Beta male energy prize of the day, Congrats.
Very watchable chess content. I watched every second and would have watched more. I am 1503 USCF and if my rating is what you were targeting, you were spot on.
13:25 Rd1 , you will make a queen
Then Rxd1, xd1=Q, Re1 to block, and finally Qxe1 is mate, right?
The opponent could also do Rxe2, but then you end up up a rook
Or move Kf2 and then that's just a terrible position for white
Nevermind, black just plays Rxe2 and the trades still happen anyways
the ending of game 3 was beautiful. I actually thought "what if you push the pawn instead of taking the queen" but couldn't see the whole thing through, the fact that it is the top move with the double into discovered check was nutty
I literally put this at one of my goals for 2023, thanks Levi!
It's levy you bellend
Same
Same i am 300 rating points to gain
I'm a 700 and this year I'm gonna try to get to 1000 maybe 1200.
Same , yesterday i hit 1000
31:35 this distinguished gentlemen decided to drink out of a vase. Most peculiar.
Drinking out of a vase is so weird
Best chess lesson I’ve ever had. It did not feel like 80 minute video. Awesome keep doing your thing. I am now subscribed with notifications on
I always really enjoy this style of video. It’s been said by other commenters, but the fact you try to play at the opponents level, and explain the difference in board vision and calculation at comparative levels, and the tactical ideas that stem from those differences - it’s super useful to me as a learner.
The new year speaks for itself
Yes, more blunders to come! More stares from Levy at the start of the video, more "speaks for itself " comments. But, the war still rages on in Ukraine. I have a gambling problem, and I also tank when I lose In 5 min blitz games. I'm starving, I eat Shin Ramyun noodles just to fill a hole in my stomach, I even put stale bread in it to make it filling. I'm more innocent than one of the 16 vestel virgins, I hate mumble rap. Let's see what the new year brings all of us!!🥳
Im a regular hood dude doing food reviews on my RUclips channel :)
@@Wayne_Merr You blundered in chess, and now you blundered your life… Watch more GothamChess
@@Wayne_Merr cringe
The unoriginality of these comments speaks for itself in terms of showing iq levels
I enjoy the caustic and cynical Levy with funny voices, but I also enjoy the super chill Levy who patiently and eloquently explains the logic behind his chess moves with a whole bunch of valuable insight. Please don't stop making these videos!
49:12 is such a nice move that I would I’ve never thought of. Turned weak that pawn into a killer attacking move
Ive gotten to 1300 by just watching gotham content. Definitely worth it
Levy this is my absolute favorite content, please don't stop making these long form instructional videos like this for free. I want to buy a course but I'm struggling lately and just from watching your RUclips this last couple years and casually playing 10 min games on my phone while watching TV my rating has gone from 600 to a bit over 1200. All from watching your content and playing like 5 games a day (that part is only the last like year). Now when I play chess on my phone I find myself pausing the show and being really focused on the game and unable to watch anything, so in a way you took away a casual hobby from me, now I can't watch TV anymore. But what I gained was an immense love and passion for the game of chess, and I'd rather be blundering my queen in a 10m rapid to watching some Netflix show anyday. Thank you Gothamchess. And have a wonderful 2023. Can't wait to see what it brings!
1:15:35 Qxd4 is actually a blunder because Rxf1+ and queen takes when Raxf1...but it's easy to miss like how Keymer blundered his rook against Magnus a few days ago in the same manner
I love most of your content, but this kind of video is my absolute favorite. Thanks for all you do, and keep up the great work!
54:30 is just why I love chess. Dangle the carrot and then win in 3 moves. Beautiful play.
At 13:18 why not push the rook all the way up, force them to capture it and promote to a queen and it's game over... Right?
I just got to 1400. This is the perfect video
Me2
from 2000?
Same!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Well 1380 😢
But can you stay there?
Me who just got 1500:
He he he, everybody wants to be like me
You are 3 times as good as me, im 500, how does that make you feel?
Bro how long you have been playing
@@watnou346The skill difference of the ratings is exponential, a 400 point difference means that you have a 9% chance of winning, at 800 points difference it is 0.9% at 1000 elo difference the probability of you winning is 0.3%, so you can say that a 1500 is 300 times as good as a 500
I started playing during the pandemic at around 850 level.
After discovering your channel I managed to hit 1000 in 2020 1100 in 2021 and now 1200 in 2022.
My goal for 2023 is 1300.
Thanks for making this video Levy :)
Set a better goal, 1800 in 2023.
@@shahxaibkhan442 drawn
@@shahxaibkhan442 secretly hoping for 1600 tbh but I’m still in university, do judo and play Super Smash Bros Melee so theres not that much time to grind chess haha
@@theycallmebach you can get to 1800, tip: ask yourself what does a move do when the oponent plays it. People make so many mistakes you'd be surprised
i hit 1200 and 1300 in the same day
Personally as a chess and ASMR fan I must say this is my top rated GC video. It has a huge amount of knowledge and in the same it works as a ASMR if I'm sleepy .
1:01:40 would d4 be a bad move at that point?
it seems to make sense. Both Knight protect it, it provides control on the center, limits movement of white's bishop, it lets you move Ke3 the turn after to pressure the Queen...
No d4 player has ever played the London against me at or below 1100. Every single game has been Queen's gambit.
What? Swear I got the London non-stop under 1000!
@@joegillespie8657 literally not once in 200 games, and d4 is the opening move for white mote often than not. Maybe there's a fad atm, or maybe there's something weird about times of day creating sub metas?
Edit - I guess more like 100 games, as 200 was total games, not my games as black.
lucky bruh the 1200s spam the london like its the only opening there
800 here and I feel like 4/5 d4 games are the London for me
same
31:30 Gotham why are you drink out a vase💀
Honestly loved the video Levi! Even though Im very far off 1500 elo, I really enjoyed how you verbalized your thought process during these games. The ideas and questions you posed made so much sense yet I find it so hard to remember to pose them to myself in my games. I'd love to get more videos in this format once in a while to explore the deeper thought processes.
Being 1400-1500 is very weird. On a good day, I have an average performance rating of 2000. On a bad day, I would make some 1000's look like a chess pro.
@@mathskafunda4383 that is the stage I'm at now lol
6:47 - devastating for my position, HORRIBLE 😂😂😂😂
At 14:10, I would’ve gone Rd1, attacking the room on e1, pinning it to the king. He can’t take the Pawn with the e1 rook because it’s pinned, could take with Re4xe2 and then Rxe2. Still can’t take on e2 because he is pinned, so maybe Rxd1. If white moves his king to defend the rook, the line is pretty much open for black to move freely in any direction, white doesn’t really have many other moves that benefit, and then a7 can work on promoting.
I realize the vast majority of your viewers are probably a couple of light years ahead of me and may prefer other formats, but this kind of video helps me far more than any recap can. Thank you so much!
The vast majority? Do you know how averages work? He gets 100k views, the majority of those people are likely sub 1200
Love this video. Awesome that you are not always playing the best move for educational purposes. Really appreciated. Moved up 200 points up to 1200 lately with at 70% win rate with black with the Caro Kann, crazy! Happy New Year, keep it up 🙌
I realize this series takes a lot of time to make and it can be frustrating trying to organize opponents for it. How to win at chess is my favorite series and I appreciate all the hard work!
I was 324 before watching your video now i am 612, after this video, it taken about 8 days to double my rating but nice, now i have to learn new opening
@6:23 isn’t Kb3 crushing because it defends the rook and then if Qa3 you can take the pawn on C4 and then either the queen can slide into B4 or the rook can move to B1 and the b2 pawn is hanging either way?
Levy, this is gold for many of us. No question this is helping a whole lot of people.
Got to 1280 a couple of months ago and have plateaued a bit. Videos like these help push every ELO I can get! Thanks Levy!
Hey GothamChess, you've gotten me into chess after years of not caring. I've even had a couple good wins (even tho I'm 300 lel) but still. Thanks for giving me a new hobby to learn
If you played Magnus and he didn't know your rating, he would be constantly looking for traps because he couldn't believe anyone would play that last move.....
@@tominmo8865 what are you talking about? I said nothing about Magnus.
@@konnerwilley4844 it's a joke about your rating
@@tominmo8865 If he played Magnus that rating would be clear after about 3 moves
Just because you are 300 ELO now, doesn't mean much. Just play some games and learn from your mistakes
7.15 „i can also castle long” the bishop on f4 is like:😑
The King would not be moving through check, so he could’ve castled.
That's basically is a huge lesson that has boosted my understanding of the game. Hope I can grow from 750 to at least a 1000 effectively, so SPASIBO!
Great video Levy. I don't usually write comments to videos but this time I felt compelled to because you give confidence to people like me who are not very high rated at chess but still enjoy playing . Even if we lose a lot! Good luck with the channel!
Me as a 1900 player, of course I will say yes and also it works! I lose 400 elos in just an hour.
Death stare before Levi realizes that the camera started is a classic. No one can replicate this perfectly as Levi can.
That mate trap in game 3 was beautiful 🎉
Hey Levi, I'm a 1000 rating and just after watching Game 1 i decided to try use what you said and play a rapid game for myself. It is possible best game i have ever played where i had a 94.3% accuracy and beat a 1100 elo, where i was given an estimated 1850 elo and my opening and middle game where both rated Great, '!', just wanna say i am a huge fan of the content and really enjoy the videos!
1:04:16 so I’m a complete novice(highest ELO at the time of this comment I’ve achieved is 656 lol) so maybe I’m not seeing things as clearly and strategically, but I just have a question about this specific position.
You are calculating white can bring knight to D6, and debating which piece to take the pawn on E5 with right?
Now maybe I’m a noob and don’t know anything about chess but one move I saw you had with your queen as black was queen to B8, and the only reason I felt like that might be a move is that if the game progresses similarly enough to how it does as you ended up playing it, your queen would find its way to g2, and B8 sets that up along with capturing e5.
Of course the complicated nature of a high level game is that the opponent will be fairly accurate in responding to these moves, I just wanted to share what I was seeing and whether queen B8 in that position is a maneuver that might set up the white king on H1 preemptively?
You’re the IM here so I’m probably wrong but I want to ask it anyway.
Qb8 (Queen to b8) is not a game-losing move by any stretch of the imagination, but to my eyes it looks a little slow.
For one thing, we don't need to put more pressure on the e5 pawn because we can already capture it for free anyways, so in that regard it's unnecessary.
Additionally, having the Queen on b8 puts it quite close to the side of the board where it's a little harder to get it back into the game later on. Sure we might be able to use the diagonal as you suggested, but if White anticipates this and controls that diagonal our Queen would be locked far away from the attack.
Keep in mind, with our Queen on b8, we'll also have a harder time activating our rook on a8, so in general I feel like the Queen does more harm than good.
I'd rather activate the Queen by bringing it in line with the King first, so it's much more threatening and able to create threats much quicker. Maybe a move like Bh4 (Bishop to h4) would be good, as if our opponent trades the bishops we can take back with our Queen, and suddenly our Queen is practically knocking on the door to the White King.
In summary: Better to not spend the extra move accomplishing arguably very little, and just take the pawn as it's free.
@@isaakvandaalen3899 Ah I see that makes sense. Thank you for breaking that down, I appreciate it as a learner lol.
@@Infinicat No prob. I'm only 1500 and there's still a lot I don't know as well, so these are only general impressions I get.
When evaluating moves it helps to identify all the pros and cons you can think of when making your decision.
For me the simple fact that Qb8 spends a move and doesn't get the Queen off the back rank is already enough that I probably wouldn't consider it unless it had a very direct threat - like attacking a piece (piece, not pawn) / threatening checkmate. Usually you want to get pieces off the backrank as soon as possible so your Rooks are connected and defend one another, which makes your Rooks stronger.
@@isaakvandaalen3899 Yeah you’re right I just hadn’t yet learned to consider those two ideas in tandem before(hence why I’m still a beginner lol). But I’m learning and it is encouraging that I am already thinking about higher level concepts this early on I just need to apply all of these ideas together!
@@Infinicat That's exactly it bro. Even now I still make blunders where I just lose track of simple concepts - forgetting a piece is hanging, forgetting that one piece is guarding two things at once, that sort of thing.
If you can keep track of the simple things, that'll go a looong way to climbing the ranks. That's how I broke through 1300, just by working to reduce simple blunders.
If you can get through a game with zero blunders, you won't even have to work to hit 1300 - it'll just happen.
I reached 1600 last month thanks to your openings and tips . I play e4 as white . I play caro and dutch .Thank you Gotham .
Look Levy you may not be the best player out there, but you are definetly the best teacher
I was thinking the same thing.
Levy is good but i think naroditsky and john bartholomew were better for me.Johns climbing the rating ladder helped me go from 650 to 1000 in both rapid and blitz
@@stardust4001 I like Danya, but Levy simply has better presentation skills, I actually never watched Bartholomew , I will have to watch him and judge
totally, ive learn with him more than with anybody, im a nooby only have 2 months playing and i was like 400 now im almost 700 so im kinda happy. My girlfriend was like 500 and she is 900 now, she watches gotham much more than i do. He truly knows how to teach.
His style of teaching is definitely effective. I love when he shows the better move yet plays the lesser and shows down those lines.
gotham is like undergrad:an absolute shitshow while still learning a lot
Game 2, 22:32 Qb5 forks the bishop and the knight, most probably, black pieces would let the knight die as u can move forward a pawn, but maybe I'm missing something, can we have a debate about this position?
Edit: Typed Qd5 and intended to type Qb5
Right? I saw this too, missed opportunity to take... the only thing I can think of is you lose tempo having to retreat the Queen, or risk getting it trapped in front of your pawns
These videos are the best ! It's a shame they don't get as many views as others
800k is pretty good lol
it did this time
yeah because these are the educational videos, not the entertainment videos.
1.6M views in a month is not alot?
@@satanm8c40 When I commented it had less views than other videos
Got from 700 to 1300 in just over a year thanks to you and others, thanks Levy 😁🙌
What time level
@@Pressingontoperfection I only play 3 minutes (+0) games, and I hit 1425 recently 😁 highest elo I ever had
1 year ? . Damn . I'm whining about not able to reach from 1000 1500 in 6 month
@@solo.gaming.1088 everyone is different, but I play only 3min games which is about 1700 rapid ( I'm now 1465 blitz) so I'm at 1700 in just over a year for rapid
@@benjaminanderson6856 whats your username?
I love the return of Levy staring into our souls at the start of the video
would at 51:40 Qe6 be a better move? thought it would be nice because it kinda forces a trade down faster and threatens a huge attack with Qg8
@36:50 Rook sacrifice F7, black bishop takes, Knight F7checkmate
i like these....the thought process on both sides of the board
Yeah, this one was sulrisingly nice one, idk the reason, as he usually explains stuff, maybe it just cuz player today whole day
you could really feel the sweat pouring off your opponents head in the last 3 minutes of game 2 haha
Woohoo, my favorite series! Thanks for taking the time to make this!
More of this! Really amazing content for us midrange trash players who are trying to improve
11:18
That is pure Gotham laughter.
It killed me. lmao
I love how he’s on a timer against a real opponent and just casually explaining how to win not even worrying about time. While the opponent is trying to win, he already has.
My first move of 2023 was c6 after studying the caro course this holiday. naturally after move 3 opponent already had us out of course recommendations. Got the win though so we take those!!
thanks so much levy for always posting this amazing content
I guess on 26:10 queen to g3 is a better move brings Q to the square of black K wich allowed b to capture knight on f6 eventually after something like h3 and it also has an eye on the long black diagonal and the field c7 wixh could be a possible black queen move but yes other things happened so move was just fine :) I may be wrong with all of this but this instantly came to my mind
"Disprespected their horsy" 😂
This was a great video! Learned a lot as a 800! Thanks Levy! 💚
Same here
Been watching Gotham for almost 2 and a half years now, he’s helped me from about 400 elo up to around 1700 in rapid chess
How did you get up? I just started but I keep losing and losing I'm not noticing exactly where I go wrong each game?
@@Snipezelite02 anylize your games and see where you went wrong, don’t make the same mistakes in chess twice is the biggest thing, daily chess is a great tool to try and find the best move every time, also studding your openings and having a good arsenal to use is one of the most helpful things, the point I was stuck at for the longest time was about 1000-1100, it’s very competitive there frankly I had an easier time with 1200-1300, most of the time it’s just about not blundering your pieces and knowing checkmate patterns
Not a fan of your style normally (feels over-the top, but I get it's for YT engagement), but clicked this in my feed. I love you walking through the thought process and keeping in mind what players at lower levels are likely to see, and how to proceed with that level of vision. One of the bigger positives of this approach is you have multiple instructive moments each game rather than winning at the first sign of a winning tactic. Nice video.
49:22 imagine sitting at a table with levi and just started saying this like if you weren't even there
1:03:54 "Hanging ducks"
At dawnbreak, they waddled sorrowfully to the gallows, rueful of their criminal ways. Readily the nooses tightened about their slender necks as their demerits were read aloud by the pontiff. They gave no plea and accepted their fate. All but the one with the feather on his back. He broke the silence with a quack quack quack.
This was such a calm and educating video. Absolutely loved it! Keep it up Levy!
I’m only at 500, so sorry if this is a stupid question, but is it the case that white decides the opening and you play the defence for that opening?
I have noticed the app flashes up the name of the opening when you do it for the first time, it would be handy if it flashed it up every time so I could learn what’s what.
13:25 very modest of you Levy, sticking to the current elo mindset and not going to back rank 😂
If I’m not mistaken, Qxg2 at 32:19 does not win the queen with Rg1. Black had Qxf3 on the hanging knight.
I thought so as well, but since the queen is pinned to the king, you cannot move it
little tip I found to reach new ELO levels, jump ahead. When I was an 800, I started playing 1500s, and after about 200 games, I've settled around 1200. I guess I gotta take on some 2000s now lol. I managed to beat a 1600 as an 800 way out of my league.But just different ELO levels have different feels to them, different challenges, it opens your eyes.
That's always the fastest way to improve for any game or most things really, go far out of your league. You'll get destroyed, but you'll learn quickly.
Hey @GothamChess 👋🏻 big fan from Mexico! I was watching your videos on why you retired from competitive chess, and let me tell you, I'm glad you did! You are an amazing content creator! It feels like this is your actual calling! Super entertaining and instructive! To a great creative year! 🍷🎉♟️ Saludos!
5:05 what about c4?
just hit 600 😁😁 nearly there!!
Dang, I remember when I started playing chess and this was one of the first video I watched. It took me a year and a half (been playing on and off due to school), but now I'm 1501 today :D Been watching your videos since December 2022 and my main openings are the Karo kann, kings Indian, and the london. Thanks for your teachings man 👍
52:22 A possible idea could be Nxd5, Rxf6+, Nxf6...🤔, maybe...