John Bartholomew

The first of three parts in a 3-hour extended, live "Clock as a Weapon" session I streamed on my Twitch channel (twitch.tv/johnbartholomew) on May 30, 2019. In this video, I play eight blitz games (3+0) on Chess.com. My goals in this series are to 1) stay even or ahead of my opponents on the clock, and 2) trust my decision-making. Follow along as I try to avoid perfectionist … [Read more...] about Extended LIVE Session (Part 1) | Using the Clock as a Weapon #16

King of the Hill is a variant that plays like regular chess, with the additional rule that you can also win by getting your king to d4, d5, e4 or e5 at any point in the game! This is a fun clip from the Chess.com King of the Hill Arena Kings event on May 27, 2019, which I streamed it live on my Twitch channel (twitch.tv/johnbartholomew). Full video on Twitch: … [Read more...] about Calling My Shot vs. a Grandmaster in KOTH

Previewing a new addition to our popular Short & Sweet series - this one by GM Alex Colovic on the "Cadillac of chess opening," the Nadjorf Sicilian! Check out this free, 20-line, 50-minute video sync course on Chessable: https://www.chessable.com/short-sweet-the-najdorf-sicilian/course/23541/?ref=jbrl The Najdorf Sicilian: Simplified by GM Alex Colovic: … [Read more...] about Short & Sweet: The Najdorf Sicilian

If you're looking to practice your queenless middlegames and endgames, the Pirc line 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 e5 (or, as in this game, 1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5), inviting a quick queen swap, is a convenient vehicle (Serbian GM Aleksa Strikovic is an expert in this line). Here, a misevaluation on move 10 forces me to change plans from comfortably attacking White's weak central … [Read more...] about Making a Mid-game Adjustment | Standard Chess #283 (Pirc Defense)

In 'Imagination in Chess,' Paata Gaprindasvhili describes reciprocal thinking as follows: "After noticing an idea and briefly familiarizing ourselves with it, we proceed to its detailed examination. What do we do if we find that it doesn't work? Do we discard it and try another one, and then the next one and so on? Then do we come back to the first one, and study it more … [Read more...] about The Power of Reciprocal Thinking in Chess | Part II