John Bartholomew

Had to share this unique idea from Adams-Gordon, London Chess Classic Super Rapidplay 2025, played just a couple days ago.

Black to move and gain a large advantage!

1 week ago | [YT] | 81

John Bartholomew

Today I published a 3k+ word newsletter post called "What I Learned from Spending 1,000+ Hours Writing an Opening Course." It's a personal reflection on my journey writing my Scandinavian course, and I also give a step-by-step breakdown of how I'd go about studying a new opening.

If anyone here on YouTube missed the post but would like to read it, please get in touch with me at johnbartholomewchess.com/contact/ and I'll forward it to you. Also, if you like this sort of long-form written content, make sure to sign up for The Chess Mindset Newsletter (it's free).

Finally, my course is 50% off through Dec. 1 for Black Friday: chessiverse.com/courses/scandi Have a great weekend, everyone!

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 213

John Bartholomew

Hey guys. If you're looking for a way to honor Daniel Naroditsky's memory, please consider a donation to the Daniel Naroditsky Memorial Fund: givebutter.com/naroditsky

The Naroditsky Memorial & Fellowship Endowment has been established by the Naroditsky family and the wonderful people at the Charlotte Chess Center. The goal is to 1) hold an annual event for both amateurs and professionals, The Naroditsky Memorial Blitz & Rapid Championship, and 2) fund The Naroditsky Fellowship, which will support talented young chess players. Please see the above link for more details.

Any amount is appreciated. If money is tight or you are unable to donate, that's OK too. I'd be personally grateful if you took a couple minutes to read about the endowment or share this initiative with a fellow chess player. I have made a personal donation, and I will be mentioning the fund's efforts in my next video.

Thanks for reading. I know many of my viewers were HUGE fans of Danya, and it's still surreal to think that he's gone. Let's continue to honor Daniel's legacy of curiosity, camaraderie, and chess excellence 💗

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,229

John Bartholomew

Pleased to announce that after 1,000+ hours of work, my course is officially HERE! chessiverse.com/courses/scandi The course is 50% off through Nov. 14

The Comprehensive Scandinavian: A Complete Repertoire Based on 3...Qa5 by IM John Bartholomew

It features:
• 225,000+ words of instruction
• 25 Model Games (another 59,000+ words!)
• 10 "Repertoire Rumble" videos, where I play the course LIVE
• 75 Key Positions
• A 6.5+ hour Move Order Guide
• Course Game practice vs. the Chessiverse bots

The Scandinavian is an excellent practical weapon against 1.e4, and I've created this repertoire to provide both amateurs and titled players with a reliable repertoire where we can fight on our terms. This project was a true labor of love, and I would be honored if you checked it out (it's also the very first course we're releasing on Chessiverse!).

I'll be posting a longer YouTube video about the course soon. In the meantime, feel free to watch the free content on the landing page. I've posted a 45+ minute "Repertoire Rumble" game, which is similar to my "Climbing the Rating Ladder videos.

Thank you to everyone who has expressed interest in this course over the past 2+ years I've been working on it. I consider this project my "magnum opus," and I'm thrilled to finally share it! 😊

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 385

John Bartholomew

From a recent trip to the Charlotte Chess Center. Daniel was always down to play blitz: anywhere, anytime!

He especially LOVED over the board blitz. And if he liked you, he seemed almost sheepish when he won. Which let's be honest - he almost always did! 😀

📷 Peter Giannatos

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,042

John Bartholomew

Daniel Naroditsky was a shining star of a person. Authentic, whip smart - someone you meet and instantly think "Wow, this guy would be successful at whatever he sets his mind to." He published a chess book at the age of 14! But he was also a sensitive and deeply modest individual. Despite his brilliance, he never wanted to upstage someone - he always made space for others to showcase their talents. Of all his qualities, I think that's the one that impressed me the most.

We shared many laughs, ping-pong matches, and blitz games (where he always destroyed me, of course🙂) at tournaments and chess camps over the years (the photo here is from a 2019 camp we taught in Tucson, AZ). I'm extremely lucky to have called him my friend.

Prayers to all his friends and family. Today, I'm especially thinking of the Charlotte chess community, who supported and loved Daniel so dearly in his final years.

Danya's impact on the chess world was brief but enormous. We will remember him forever.

RIP Daniel Naroditsky (1995-2025)

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 1,511

John Bartholomew

HUGE shout-out to Mason of ‪@pmchess‬! He is a chess player from Ghana who recently made a fantastic video about my Lichess blog post. I'm incredibly impressed and flattered by Mason's insight and how he related the points in my post to his own chess improvement.

Please check out his video and show him some love. Best wishes to all the chess improvers out there!

p.s. Thanks to viewer "ZavsRevenge" for the heads-up about Mason's video.

2 months ago | [YT] | 23

John Bartholomew

Just published a 3,000+ word post on Lichess: What I Learned from Playing LoneWolf League Season #37

Lots of personal reflections and insight that may help your own improvement. Please give it a read and let me know if you have any questions! lichess.org/@/Fins/blog/what-i-learned-from-playin…

3 months ago | [YT] | 230

John Bartholomew

Just a heads up for fans of the LoneWolf League videos: My Round 8 game is on Sunday afternoon at 19:00 UTC, so the video will be out this Monday instead of Sunday. Lots of action that day, actually - each of the top 5 boards will be playing: www.lichess4545.com/lonewolf/season/37/pairings/

OH, and I got a new mic (Shure SM7dB), and it sounds MUCH better! 😊Thanks to viewer Kevin for the recommendation.

Enjoy your weekend, guys!

5 months ago | [YT] | 107

John Bartholomew

Fans of my Standard series (15-minute games) are going to love this: I'm in the current season of the LoneWolf league on lichess! This is an 11 week online league - one game per week - at a 30+30 time control, and I'll be recording all my games for this channel. www.lichess4545.com/lonewolf/

Rendering the footage from the first game/video now...it's 2.5 hours 😁 LET'S GO!!

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6 months ago | [YT] | 240