Climbing the Rating Ladder: Up to 1000
Why Hacker News recommends it
Strongly recommended as a way to improve at chess, since it explains the basics and common mistakes at each rating level.
What it is
Chess player John Bartholomew plays opponents rated below 1000 on Chess.com and comments on optimal strategy and typical mistakes at that level. It is part of his Climbing the Rating Ladder series.
Recommended by 4 HN commenters across 4 different months, 2015 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec chucksmash · 2019-05 · on “Aggressive Chess Openings (2012)”
I've not used chessable yet, but one of my favorite youtubers, John Bartholomew, is behind it and I'd recommend his videos wholeheartedly. He did a series of videos that is particularly worth checking out called "Climbing the Ratings Ladder" where he plays opponents at different rating tiers and analyzes their mistakes[1]. [1]: [this video]
Strong rec danem · 2020-02 · on “To get good, go after the metagame”
I found John Bartholowmew's[1] videos extremely helpful when I was playing a lot of chess. Definitely saw a huge improvement. [this video]
Strong rec boundlessdreamz · 2023-01 · on “Chess Is Booming and Our Servers Are Struggling”
I have improved my chess quite a bit by going through John Bartholomew's youtube content. * Start with climbing the rating ladder. He explains the basics and mistakes players at each level makes and how to avoid them [this video] * Watch his games (ideally with 10minutes or more time control) where he explains his thought process behind each move and what he is anticipating. This is priceless! * Analyze your own games after you play
Recommends trhaynes · 2015-12 · on “Learn to play chess online”
I liked John Bartholomew's "Climbing the Rating Ladder" videos, where he plays players of different levels and talks about strategy and common mistakes at each level: [this video]