EP 461- IM John Bartholomew on Chess Improvement Lessons, The Scandinavian Defense & His New Business Venture

IM John Barthomew is a former scholastic national champion turned popular and longtime chess Youtuber and serial entrepreneur. His clear and friendly teaching style has garnered him over 200,000 subs and many devotees of the Scandinavian defense, the opening for which he is best known. In our conversation we discuss: Five chess improvement conclusions that John drew from playing in (and documenting) The LiChess LoneWolf League The challenges and rewards of helping to build Chessiverse. Chessiverse offers over 600 “human-like” bots to play against, and is also the site where you can find John’s new, Comprehensive Scandinavian course. Lastly, John told a few memorable stories about his good friend GM Daniel Naroditsky that reflect Daniel’s unusual talents. It is always enjoyable talking chess with John, and there are many nuggets to be gleaned from this conversation. 0:00- Thanks to our sponsor, Chessable.com! If you sign up for Chessable Pro in order to unlock discounts and additional features, be sure to use the following link: https://www.chessable.com/pro/?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=benjohnson&utm_campaign=pro And you can check out their new offerings here: https://www.chessable.com/courses/all/new/ 00:00 Intro and Guest Introduction 03:00 IM John Bartholomew joins. We start with John’s chess improvement lessons learned from the LiChess Lone Wolf League https://lichess.org/@/Fins/blog/what-i-learned-from-playing-lonewolf-league-season-37/19yaMKfW Here is John’s Lone Wolf game recap playlist- https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl9uuRYQ-6MCYu9m5ji2tJgIoU7JMHkD9&si=Lg1RvP2PhmX2M68Q 06:00- Self-Talk and Thought Process in Chess 09:00- The Importance of Time Management John’s Using the Clock as a Weapon Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl9uuRYQ-6MD7go55KaMPOGKSHxXhWED_&si=e34rgZ05auwzOauQ 12:00 The Importance of Opening Variety 14:30 The Value of Longer Time Controls 17:30 Introduction to John’s new venture- Chessiverse 21:30 Patreon mailbag questions: How does Chessiverse compare to other online products? What ratings is it best suited for? 23:30 Comparing Chessiverse to Other Platforms 25:45 Chessiverse's Business Model and Future Plans 29:00 John’s Scandinavian course 33:00 The Evolution of Scandinavian Theory Mentioned: Ponomariov-Papaioannou 2003 https://lichess.org/q55Y75PQ#15 39:00 Navigating Course Design Challenges 45:00- The Vision for Chessiverse and Bot Experience 48:30 John’s memories of GM Daniel Naroditsky Mentioned: John’s tribute- https://youtu.be/kclevjiPK5I?si=7CO6ydPqkyFNKBjy Fundraiser for Danya- https://givebutter.com/naroditsky 52:00- Thanks to John for rejoining! Here are links to keep up with him: Newsletter: https://johnbartholomewchess.com/the-chess-mindset-newsletter-im-john-bartholomew/ Course- https://chessiverse.com/courses/scandi?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=scandi_search_tier1_purchase&utm_term=chess%20courses&utm_content=185814884617_782203235972_c&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=23214933240&utm_term=chess%20courses&utm_content=782203235972&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23214933240&gbraid=0AAAAABc5PsgmfRvqVuvKClF-9oZLSp0mn&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoZDJBhC0ARIsAERP-F_lAVpIoPksVCsZ5LG7GydpV4Wi8KIL4HMSbf_V_ZGei2837lHT57gaAu9fEALw_wcB Twitter/X: https://x.com/fins0905?lang=en 55:00- If you would like to help support Perpetual Chess via Patreon, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/c/perpetualchess Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices