John Bartholomew

Hey guys, I wanted to express my appreciation for all your positive comments on my CTRL and Standard videos! It's incredible to see how much you appreciate and learn from this long-form instructional content!

I'd like to work in some of your opening preferences into these series. If you have a specific opening you'd like to see me play (within reason - no Bongclouds or Englund Gambits please, haha - gotta keep it instructional) for *either* color, please drop it here in the comments. I'll start playing the top-voted responses šŸ‘ Thanks again for your support, all!

2 years ago | [YT] | 852



@Suho1004

I know I can speak only for myself, but I think we all appreciate you coming back to YouTube and putting up so much quality instructional. It is very inspiring.

2 years ago | 100  

@sammywohl5194

The Alapin fan club is growing by the day John! Would love to see an instructional video from you playing it!

2 years ago | 45

@brianwalsh9267

I would love Caro-Kann (for e4) and Semi-Slav (for d4) videos as I’m trying to learn the structures/middle game plans for both. And the Budapest Gambit for something off-beat but useful at lower Elos. You just did a Caro video and it was fantastic!

2 years ago | 158

@Supersayan999

It’s a more modern one but the Alekhine is a unique opening that I love playing/watching!

2 years ago | 35  

@SpartanLawyer

Queen’s Gambit for both white and black would be great! 1.e4 e5 for black would be super helpful as well.

2 years ago | 59

@coreydanni4485

My memory might be deceiving me, but I don’t recall you playing the Scandinavian too often on the longer format vids. I’d like to learn more about the nuances of this opening and why you chose this opening as your favorite.

2 years ago | 35

@Lagdarr

I’ve always been a huge fan of your Chessable 1. d4 series as white (I’ve used it as my white repertoire since basically day 1 of getting serious about studying chess) so more games in that style are always appreciated. Selfishly I’d also appreciate caro kann content, I feel like it has a lot of the same ideas as the much beloved Scandinavian but also comes with a lot of interesting variations!

2 years ago | 10

@andrewsheldon8587

It would be awesome to see some Catalan games with White. The positions can get really complex. Learning more about e4 e5 would be awesome too, since most beginners start with that. It seems like most club players stay away from e5 because of complications.

2 years ago | 87

@TacticalRab 

Phenomenal content recently, thank you. I'd love to see you play a line in the Petrov defense. I like to play some tricky lines in it but if my opponent knows what they're doing then I'm not sure what the main themes / ideas should be. Keep up the great work!

2 years ago | 13

@zachclouse2400

Love the longer content! Fellow Minnesotan here, love watching both twitch and YouTube. Thanks John!

2 years ago | 2

@bantaibaman5662

I think most beginners/intermediate players who start out their learning process of chess through the internet start out with the Italian, specifically the Giuoco Piano, so if you could incorporate those in (from both sides) that would be wonderful!

2 years ago | 49

@NS0920

If you are enjoying making long-form content, please consider continuing the ā€œThe Archivesā€ series that you made many years back! It is really instructive and I am sure many people will enjoy it, especially when you use a physical board. It will be really refreshing

2 years ago | 2

@nnk496

The Kingā€˜s Indian Defense never fails to bring special emotions to the game šŸ”„ Would be an interesting challenge for you too, as it doesn’t suit your typical playing style. Thanks for your efforts. Keep it up

2 years ago (edited) | 2

@JoshuaKoh

Would love to see a second Vienna game on your channel John! It’s my main opening as an 1100, and I’ve watched your one Standard Vienna video 3 or 4 times haha. Thanks for asking for suggestions and for making videos!

2 years ago | 5

@chrislaguna8390

Thanks for the great videos! I would love to see and learn about the Queens Indian Defense, it has always looked aesthetically pleasing to me but i don’t have a good idea of the key plans

2 years ago | 12

@ArobMass

Always loved the longer forms. I think it's why I gravitated towards your channel in the first place. Your videos are more expansive, so it's easier to see your high level of perspicacity for the game. These 12 minute videos other youtubers dish out are not so interesting (and honestly blitz games have never done much for me). So thank you. I appreciate it.

2 years ago | 1

@xcorestevex

You coming back to your roots is such a fresh breath of air. I wind down my day with YouTube subscriptions and that means variety. Twitch is great for what it's worth but I would rather catch a standard game every couple days here

2 years ago | 1

@brendonhall602

I personally love the Marshall gambit in the ruy lopez, and just the grunfeld in general. I would be ecstatic to see either in your videos.

2 years ago | 1

@cameronavilez2575

I know in your recent vid you said you don’t play much KID but I’d love to see more of it as well as some KIA on the white side! But I’ll honestly just watch whatever you put out, your calm analysis of situations is inspiring and fun to watch in comparison to my frantic freakouts when I don’t understand what my board state is or how I got there haha

2 years ago | 5

@williamsmith9510

I personally would love to see you try your hand at an Alekhine's defense, love the videos and keep up the awesome work!

2 years ago | 2