Hey guys! I haven't uploaded for 4-5 weeks and I'm seeing comments trickling in wondering where I'm at, so I thought I'd give you a quick update. Bottom line: I've been in the LAB, and I'm PUMPED for the months ahead!! 😁
For the past few months, I've been working with a few awesome people on a complete re-brand of my channel. Since I started posting on YouTube as a hobby back in 2014, I've focused almost entirely on producing instructional videos, and very little on thumbnails/banners/editing, etc. That has worked out fine, but it has always felt a little amateurish, and I want to push myself and give you guys as high-quality content as possible in the years to come (I view YouTube in terms of years/decades). I've recently updated my profile photo here on YouTube (goodbye cartoon John!), and you might have noticed that some of my most-viewed videos have custom thumbnails. Pretty soon, popular series like "Climbing the Rating Ladder," "Using the Clock as as Weapon," and "Standard Chess" will get their own distinctive thumbs. I'll also be updating the logo, banners. I hope you'll like the changes - I included a little preview here!
The thing I've been working on pretty much every day since April is my upcoming 3...Qa5 Scandinavian course, which I plan to self-release around February. I've got 240 hours invested into this bad boy since April, and I think it will one of the most useful works I ever produce in chess. As you're probably aware, the Scandinavian Defense is near and dear to me, and I'm creating a resource that I believe will enable anyone to meet 1.e4 confidently, and - most importantly - ENJOY doing so! This course will feature a master PGN file of book quality/length (hence the 240+ hours, haha), a "practical repertoire" of the most common lines you can expect to face, videos, and very likely model games and other learning modules. I'll be ironing out the details, but the current plan is to release it on a third-party course platform (think Udemy/Teachable, though I'm not necessarily planning on either of those) where students of the course can easily access/download all the material, as well as engage with me and other students of the course as a community of Scandi players (#notacult, I swear). I've been devoting pretty much all my spare time to analyzing and thinking about this course from all angles, because I want it to be one of the best opening resources on the market. More on this in the next 2-3 months!
Did I mention I'm building a personal website, too? That is coming along nicely, and it will coincide with the course release. I'll be starting a regular chess improvement newsletter in conjunction with the site release, too (another thing I've been meaning to do for awhile).
Alright, this is getting long 😅 I'll be back to uploading here on YouTube soon, and you can also find me on Twitch several times per week playing viewers, bullet/blitz/rapid arenas, etc. The weather has been unseasonably warm here in Minnesota, and I've been getting outside for 1-2 hours per day. I leave you with a few pics I took while hiking recently. Hope everyone has been doing well, and continuing to climb their personal chess improvement ladder! Thanks a lot for your continued support over the years - appreciate you guys reading this - I'll see you all again soon.
John Bartholomew
Hey guys! I haven't uploaded for 4-5 weeks and I'm seeing comments trickling in wondering where I'm at, so I thought I'd give you a quick update. Bottom line: I've been in the LAB, and I'm PUMPED for the months ahead!! 😁
For the past few months, I've been working with a few awesome people on a complete re-brand of my channel. Since I started posting on YouTube as a hobby back in 2014, I've focused almost entirely on producing instructional videos, and very little on thumbnails/banners/editing, etc. That has worked out fine, but it has always felt a little amateurish, and I want to push myself and give you guys as high-quality content as possible in the years to come (I view YouTube in terms of years/decades). I've recently updated my profile photo here on YouTube (goodbye cartoon John!), and you might have noticed that some of my most-viewed videos have custom thumbnails. Pretty soon, popular series like "Climbing the Rating Ladder," "Using the Clock as as Weapon," and "Standard Chess" will get their own distinctive thumbs. I'll also be updating the logo, banners. I hope you'll like the changes - I included a little preview here!
The thing I've been working on pretty much every day since April is my upcoming 3...Qa5 Scandinavian course, which I plan to self-release around February. I've got 240 hours invested into this bad boy since April, and I think it will one of the most useful works I ever produce in chess. As you're probably aware, the Scandinavian Defense is near and dear to me, and I'm creating a resource that I believe will enable anyone to meet 1.e4 confidently, and - most importantly - ENJOY doing so! This course will feature a master PGN file of book quality/length (hence the 240+ hours, haha), a "practical repertoire" of the most common lines you can expect to face, videos, and very likely model games and other learning modules. I'll be ironing out the details, but the current plan is to release it on a third-party course platform (think Udemy/Teachable, though I'm not necessarily planning on either of those) where students of the course can easily access/download all the material, as well as engage with me and other students of the course as a community of Scandi players (#notacult, I swear). I've been devoting pretty much all my spare time to analyzing and thinking about this course from all angles, because I want it to be one of the best opening resources on the market. More on this in the next 2-3 months!
Did I mention I'm building a personal website, too? That is coming along nicely, and it will coincide with the course release. I'll be starting a regular chess improvement newsletter in conjunction with the site release, too (another thing I've been meaning to do for awhile).
Alright, this is getting long 😅 I'll be back to uploading here on YouTube soon, and you can also find me on Twitch several times per week playing viewers, bullet/blitz/rapid arenas, etc. The weather has been unseasonably warm here in Minnesota, and I've been getting outside for 1-2 hours per day. I leave you with a few pics I took while hiking recently. Hope everyone has been doing well, and continuing to climb their personal chess improvement ladder! Thanks a lot for your continued support over the years - appreciate you guys reading this - I'll see you all again soon.
1 year ago | [YT] | 920