Why You Are Bad At Chess 

"Stop looking for reasons why you're right and start looking for reasons why you're wrong" is excellent advice in anything.

when levy stares at me for a split second at the start of every video, i feel different. Almost like a small outcast of joy reflects upon my soul and defies the question of my very existence. I would like to personally thank levy for these milliseconds that make me feel like im in a different reality, and hope to experience such a vigorously entertaining piece of life, on many, many more occasions. Thank you.

Levi: Games are in a range from 400-2200 Me as a 300: My power is beyond your understanding

I actually appreciate how stern Levy is explaining everything

Just what I needed after losing 5 consecutive matches. Thanks Gotham!

Yesterday I lost 15 games and I'm not lying, and I felt like I never wanted to play again, now after watching this, I feel like I wanna lost another 15 more games but understand why I lost them. Thanks Levy, I'm becoming a masochist of chess.

Thanks for this. I just started playing again (beginner who has read a few books and dabbled in the past). Your videos are very imformative but moreover your love for the game comes out in how you deliver this content and I appreciate it. Makes me want to watch more.

By far the most instructional chess video not only by Levi , but perhaps in all of You Tube. Sensational Sir!

1. Never look at your opponents Elo, it’ll affect you psychologically either positively or negatively 2. Always review your games and try understand why the engine does what it does 3. Remember it’s just a game 4. Have fun

Discovering the board flip button was a game changer. It really helps to look at the board from your opponent’s prospective.

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *🏁 Understanding Chess Improvement* - Understanding the reasons behind stagnant chess improvement. 01:08 *📚 Importance of Openings Mastery* - Lack of understanding and mastery of chess openings hinders progress. - Mastery involves knowing fundamental principles, avoiding common traps, and understanding opponent's plans. - Teaching others about your chosen openings can enhance your own understanding. 04:47 *👥 Consideration of Opponent's Moves* - Chess is not solely about individual moves; considering opponent's intentions is crucial. - Avoiding simple blunders and understanding opponent's threats can lead to better gameplay. 06:29 *🔍 Analysis of Subscriber Games* - Reviewing games across different skill levels highlights common mistakes. - One-move blunders and failure to anticipate opponent's moves are prevalent issues. - Lack of opening knowledge and strategic thinking leads to unfavorable positions. 12:43 *🔄 Adapting Opening Strategies* - Proper understanding and execution of opening strategies are essential for success. - Reacting to opponent's moves and avoiding one-move blunders are critical. 15:05 *🧠 Strategic Decision-Making* - Recognizing tactical opportunities and assessing potential trade-offs are vital. - Succumbing to unnecessary trades can shift the game's momentum unfavorably. 17:26 *⚔️ Mid-Game Tactical Awareness* - Mid-game blunders often stem from overlooking opponent's threats. - Critical thinking and anticipation of opponent's moves are key to success. 18:34 *💡 Learning from Mistakes at Higher Levels* - Even experienced players make tactical errors due to oversight. - Recognizing opponent's strategies and adapting accordingly are crucial skills. 19:45 *🏹 Analyzing specific chess moves and their consequences* - Analyzing a game where a player missed the opportunity to improve their position by trading queens unnecessarily. - Highlighting the importance of considering the consequences of each move rather than opting for immediate captures. - Emphasizing the significance of strategic thinking over tactical one-move decisions. 20:59 *🛡️ Punishing common opening mistakes* - Discussing the importance of punishing common opening mistakes, particularly for players encountering them frequently. - Illustrating a scenario where failing to capture an opponent's piece leads to a loss of castling rights. - Emphasizing the need to think beyond immediate captures and consider long-term positional advantages. 23:53 *🌟 Learning from higher-rated games* - Analyzing a game between two 2200-rated players to highlight that even at high levels, mistakes occur. - Demonstrating the transition from the middle game to the endgame and the importance of strategic decision-making. - Reinforcing the idea that understanding opponent's intentions, avoiding one-move thinking, and mastering openings are crucial for chess improvement. Made with HARPA AI

the really fun part about this is that the theory and self-reflective strategies also apply really well to fencing. Meyer's longsword especially. loved the vid. great stuff

Love the critique, felt it over here. Thanks 1. Learn your openings 2. Think for yourself and the opponent in terms of checkmate first over any other thing

Honestly the best tip in this video is "Prove yourself wrong." It's advice that applies both to the game of chess, as well as literally every single decision you might make and opinion you might have in the wider world. Do everything in your power to prove to yourself that what you are about to do is the wrong this, and if you can't, then you're probably making the right decision

excellent episode...bookmarked & will be watching over & over, thanks levy

22:03 “it’s not checkers just move the king” 😂, got me there.

I've had a HUGE jump in my win rate in the last week. But half the games I am winning on my accuracy is mad low, sometimes lower than my opponent. It's a culmination of a lot of your videos and practice, but one specifically about defending against queen attacks at low elo levels. It made me realize, wait I'm low elo. I don't need to play perfect, I just need to play against how opponents at my level are playing.

I was getting really frustrated lately with my chess. I lost a lot of my blitz rating and was constantly on tilt. This reminded me of what I need to think about while playing and today I won 6 games in a row. Thanks Levy!

I have been watching your videos for a while, and the dedication! You are doing a great job! Subscribed

The whaaaat at 12:58 😂😂😂

Gotham is on fire this year, I am happy he is helping all those new chess players

"Prove yourself wrong, why a move doesn't work" is one of the best advice I've heard(not just for chess)

Very harsh lesson but well well well needed. Reason #2 is my biggest problem and you made me realize it.

“Why you arent improving” “You need to know more”

This is so interesting, I was a music teacher, I was classically trained but always played rock n blues with lots of improvisation, but without the basic training chops you cant really improvise or move by ear with other players... this tutorial feels like that .I play chess for pleasure and have never learned the fundamentals but to get better I am finally learning, thanks for all your imput, much appreciated.

Great lesson, Levy. I went up from around 1200 to 1600 a year ago and have been stuck for nearly 10 months now but this video does motivate. For other intermediates - rather than re-watching as Levy suggests I like to watch at 0.75 speed. This video I actually watched at 0.5 speed. This gives me the opportunity to follow Levy and process what he's saying. I think it can be a bit fast because he's conscious of people's short attention span and dosen't want to be too pedagogical, that's his style. But you guys gotta try 0.75 and 0.5. Just watch the 2000 and 2200 games at 0.5. It's amazing. Hope this helps some of yall

Been following him since 20'. I try to watch every video he posts, and yet I'm still left as a 600 blitz rated player, 800-900 rapid. Love chess, will always continue to follow his success. Just some people were meant to be good at this game, I am just not one of them. But Thank you Levy for everything you do for the game, don't lose your motivation to play. You help more than you know, and people just get through the work week!

I just got back into chess after many years away and I try to think about long term positions, but sometimes it's really hard to balance dealing with immediate threats and attacking ideas with long term play and understanding long term vulnerabilities.

Levy I really appreciate your efforts that you have devoted over past 2 years making series like gte and improving at chess series along with other fun and educational content. Really proud to be a Gotham Sub.

My biggest mistake is the point about not thinking for my opponent (ie: Not looking at what threats my opponent has.) I get really focused on my attack and rarely explore what options my opponent has. I'm trying to correct it.

Brilliant video holy shit. One of my first proper chess videos. Been losing a lot lately so thanks for the advice Levy 😅. Subscribed 👍

Very motivational video! Although I don't play chess, I can totally relate your 3 major reasons you mentioned from the beginning to other multiplayer games (FPS games, tabletop games, etc.). I don't wanna go on a long rant, but I'll use your 2nd major reason as an example: "Chess is a game where you need to acknowledge what your opponent wants as well!" TF2, my forte game, is a game where I need to acknowledge what the enemy team wants as well. I ALSO need to acknowledge what my team wants as well too. Double team thinking!

Before I clicked on the video I thought about, just from my gut, what are my 3 biggest weaknesses. These were: 1. being bad at defending, 2. not being able to convert an opening lead into a decisive advantage, 3. being impatient (trying to force an advantage, when defending or slight improvements would have been better). But your points are also good and in some way also the root cause of my problems. Anyways, I really like that you increased the amount of instructional videos at the start of this year, this was really a perfect start

Levy, you cannot understand how much I needed this video. I recently got back into chess after not playing for about 10 years, and this is exactly me. Playing with a tunnel vision mindset thinking my opponent will do this and then I can do this yada yada. I'm now going to study the openings and their counters, and will hopefully improve overall as a player. Thank you so much!!

I absolutely love your passion! I do all of these dumb little things, one move bursts, falling for the queen fork in the beginning, thinking for myself, gah I feel so dumb, I got to get my openings down, know what my opponent is going to want when performing my openings bless me with knowledge and wisdom good sir

Levy I would like to thank you for making this amazing comedic educational video I'm a 500 and struggling to improve because of these issues thank you for pointing them out. Also I played a game after this video and had 3 great moves and plenty of best moves I won by checkmate in 15 moves thank to you.

Gotham's unmatched perspicacity coupled with sheer indefatigability makes him a feared opponent in any realm of human endeavor

I loved this lesson. The concept of teaching it to someone is so true and important! I would love more of this kind of lesson. I have two requests - 1) how to evaluate those difficult middlegame choices in which there are three or four moves but no obvious or distinct improvements and 2) what do people know/do at each level of chess. You describe this sometimes in the middle of your lessons but what about a video that lays out what each level needs to know to be at or move to a rating. Your other vids are great but more on the learn by doing/watching. Sometimes a list of things is good as well.

Got to around 2100 in a few months playing everyday and I actually learned a lot from this channel I’ve always played chess as a kid though so I had a head start I know I joke around but for real thank you levy for keeping chess alive and having a constant dedication to streaming I hope more kids in the future will play now Because of this

Levy : The rating is between 400 to 2000 so don't think you are out of this rating ladder . Me a 215 : *Ominous Laugh*

Thanks, I really like this kind of analysis videos where you pick the game changing moments from a lot of games and not analyze deeply but give us a takeaway lesson, as a beginner it really helps.

It's really nice to see these kinds of videos. Sometimes when you play, the computer says that you've made a bunch of mistakes. But it's difficult to always know why they are mistakes and what the plan behind the move is. So it really helps when you explain exactly why a move is bad and the intent with certain moves

I thought the best move was to get the knight until I sat down to think it through and I realized I should take my pawn to g6. Not bad for a beginner, I feel proud of myself.

mom: how was the chess school today? kid: Gotham was yelling at us :(

For anyone wondering if the move g6 also wins the bishop at 26:03 it does not. After g6 from black and Bxg6 from white you will actually lost a pawn because after fxg6 you lose the knight on e6 after Rxe6 attacking your queen

Let’s just take a moment and see what a hard work is Gotham doing for us. THANK YOU 🙏

No 4 and most important: DO NOT BLUNDER

21:55 "Why do you refuse to gain power?"

The only experience playing chess I have is against family when I was far younger, and I hadn't really considered getting into it until your videos started popping up in my recommended lately. I don't need another thing on my plate right now, but if I ever find myself in need of another hobby this might be what I try and pick up. Thank you, Levy :)

Great content. Motivates me to learn a new opening or three for the new year. Thanks Levi!

something about the line of pawns that always appear in the 2000's game is really satisfying

1:14 Mittens: * meow *

Levy the growth of your channel is phenomenal considering it is chess based channel. This the result of your hardwork. Love from India. Grow more.

Thank you so much for bringing out every problem in my playing style, a huge thanks to you for being so damn honest and technical.

21:44 I would've never played pawn takes knight, because it looks exactly like the opening trap which sometimes happens in the opening I play, but I'm the one doing it.

Levy thank you for such a informative video . I've been playing chess for over 55 years and your insight of the game has helped me improve since becoming a subscriber. keep up the good work SeaNewt

The first minute of this video was the personal attack I needed today. 😊👍 Needed to hear the rest of it too. Thank you for the motivation Gotham!

It's been a while since I have watched through a video, but I have watched this twice now. You are mo much more animated and interesting when you are teaching, you have a gift for it. Awesome content

Thank you for this wake up call. Just trying a bit harder about next moves from both perspectives and I jumped from 900 to 1000 in 3+0. It's like a free win hacks. Now on to study openings into more details.

Just thought that I struggle in middle game plans. And Levy has released his new course!

Levels looks so defeated in the thumbnail. Like he desperately wants us to get better but feels he’s failed and over but is still trying😂. We love your valiant efforts Levy they’re truly appreciated.

5:23 levi: a lot of you would take the night hanging me: "not seing the night hanging" bf6 is the best hahahah

The example game levy showed was an exact replica of a game i had against a computer

I didn’t even see the free knight but still prevented the checkmate 😂

Gotham I really love your content and can believe you can achieve 5 million by the end of this year! I’ve grown alot from a 400 to a 1500 in a year watching your videos!

These coaching vids are the best keep making them! Guess Elo and chess drama is ok but I feel most of us love when you teach us stuff vs report news and stuff.

i watch this dude every day dude bc yeah next friday im fighting someone in chess so i want get better so ill win thanks for awsome vids!

That opening queen attack is, I think an excellent beginner’s way to test how far ahead you can calculate. First time I was hit with that, I panicked and blundered with attacking the queen with my pawn on b2.

Hi there Levy, I'm a full time university bachelor of science student in Australia at the National University (I believe in the U.S. you call it collage). I just want to say thank you for being an amazing chess coach - you have helped me reach 1300 in only 2 years; I was only 300 two years ago when I found you're channel.

Good sir - Thank you for the time you spend creating content that undoubtedly entertains, but you tell it like it is. Unapologetically engaging, yet somehow genuinely compassionate monologues. You model a way of treating people that increases the happiness of others.

Imagine magnus watching this video💀💀

1. What the oppenents wants 2. The open position and closed the file

Best part of this video is that in the first minute itself, Levi accurately describes reasons why all of us are shit at chess , regardless of our ratings. One shoe fits all vibes, super nice

Hey Levy ! First off, I just wanted to say thank you. It’s been so long since I’ve seriously played chess, and my last tournament was probably like 7 years ago (I’m non-rated by the way), but your videos are what got me back into the game recently. So yeah thank you. And I have a few genuine questions : How do I learn my openings ? Playing ? Studying ? Watching videos ? And about not thinking enough and playing too quick, is there a specific way to improve other than playing ? And on the same topic, I usually play 10min rapid, and I often either blunder because I played too quickly, or play flawlessly as far as moves go, but lose on time. Would you recommend I play 20/30min rapid instead, or stay on 10min and just play a lot to improve ? Again thank you, and sorry for all the questions

12:59 "WHAT"

I want to thank you, Levy, so much for your videos showing how to counter the Scholar's Mate attack. Down here at the bottom of the ladder, I get hit with that opening so often. And now I shrug it off. Now I often get a Queen or at least a Bishop out of the opening fight. And beyond that, often get a win because the player doesn't know what to do if the Queen attack fails.

The way i stopped myself from doing this and got a 3 win spree (not thinking about what the future/1 move attacks) is to just explain to myself what it does OUT LOUD which then forces me to see that in game 1's case checking the king and bringing the bishop out on that square actually strengthens the enemy position and other stuff like that in short, THANK YOU GOTHAM

On this topic, could you go over general opening principles in Chess 960? Like recognizing your opening state and quickly being able to decide what to do from it, e.g. when you have rooks and bishops start next to each other in the middle, or a queen that begins in a corner.

i struggle with just finding the co-ords on the board lol, like q5 etc

Levy:"It´s for 400-2200 elo and dont think you are out of the range." My elo: 324 💀

hi gotham thanks for helping in my journey on chess keep up the great content keep goin

After listening to this man i got 5 effortless games in a row. This guy knows his stuff

Hikaru: why Levy is bad at chess Levy:why? Me: who is feeling bad now😂

Hes right i need too start lucking at what there play is instead of thinking i know best

As a beginner (two months now) I find myself going to a lot of sources for info instead of sticking to one source of lessons. They’re either too expensive or incomplete once I get deeper. That’s why I’M BAD :) I’m open to suggestions and this channel helps, trying to learn my openings atm…some sort of roadmap to progression would be nice, but anyway

23:34 just realized white is rimmer from red dwarf (original) and it reminded me of him playing chequers against the scutter robots 🤣🤣🤣🤣 if you know you know

i had a game where i delivered a check and moved my knight to the wrong square. i realised my error and delivered more checks to get to the position of check mate by smothering.. but. i delivered too many checks and got a draw before i could pull it off.. sometimes the rules in chess are dumb as f... completely winning position.. yet i get a draw..

Recently jumped from 900 to 1300 and still climbing! I know I’m still pretty low but hey- progress is progress! Thanks to you levy and other channels as well for the help 😊

But how do I know what the opening is and how to find a counter to the different moves, openings etc?

I'm 1300 and a guy played a scholars' mate against me. I was really shocked to see this at that rating.

I literally just started to play chess about 4 days ago so i am very much new to the thinking involved in the game. But I can't thank you enough for the way that you explain the problems with low rated players. It opened my eyes perfectly, and instantly. I truly do wish more people would explain different things the same way that you explained chess in this video. Ideas would come across way more easily and quickly!

Levy - Do more of this kind of stuff. We love seeing GM game analyses, but most of us suck, even though we don't admit it. We need to see a breakdown of the patzer mistakes we all make so we can learn to stop making them ourselves. Keep it coming.

Levy: the games range from 400 to 2200, nobody is excluded me: cries in 350

queen take knight was my first thought but my idea for best move was bishop f6, did not notice the mate but figured attack the queen

Levy, I'm just sooo glad that your channel grow at such tempo, that's a sign that someone's doing a great job...or may I just say...numbers speak for themselfs.. So just keep it up man, we're here bc of you..and for you :)

Question: after losing to an opening, how do you identify the name for the opening without having to look through a list of all openings until you find the one you lost to.

As somebody who (when I played chess a number of years ago) spent several minutes per move generally, it makes losing very painful. Play fast and you can just get it over with.

11:52 Levy: "literally any rook move is mate." Black: *plays a rook move Levy: "idiot."

Can we just appreciate that Levy has put out content every day with no days off for our entertainment

Magnus Carlsen seeing the title: 😐