A final update on the London Chess Classic. I was in London playing the 9-round FIDE Open:
Round 1 vs. Daniel Fischer (2024): [Draw[
Round 2 vs. Hugh Ditmas (2018): [Win]
Round 3 vs. Fernando Semprun Martinez (2192): [Win]
Round 4 vs. GM Hrant Melkumyan (2633): [Draw]
Round 5 vs. FM David Mirzoyan (2299): [Draw]
Round 6 vs. George O’toole (2262): [Win]
Round 7 vs. GM Sebastien Maze (2608): [Loss]
Round 8 vs. FM Michal Paterek (2311):
Round 9 vs. GM Jules Moussard (2571):
Tactic from Round 9 (difficult):
Final score: 5.5/7
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Your endgame play is your weakness, probably you don't play the endgame on IM strength.
I have a lot of these same issues too, time management, calculation, tactics, chess in general I guess lol
Hi John we saw you at London on Friday ,we were going to talk to you but we didn't want to disturb you before the game.My chessable username is schoolsonlinechess
Thanks for keeping us updated john. Great games, enjoy your holiday!
Hey John. I also suffer from calculating tactics in "messy" situations. I chalk that up to me being a hack and also that I have OCD! 😉 What do you do to improve calculation in "messy" board situations — anything specific?
4:20 – The idea of video bombing John… and that number… xD
You want messy positions? Play the ginger more often 🙂
How exactly do you get a grandmaster norm, and how many do you have now?
Cool tactic. I thought of b4, axb, a5! – but prematurely rejected it because of b5 counter attack . I need to work on assessing positions after calculating. At least my intuition was on the right place
Happy to see you played Jules M. He is Also Evry strong in blitz
Thanks John, it was great following you in the tournament!
What about Nxa5?
great to see you understand your shortfalls, you will be a gm I'm sure I no reason to doubt that . well done mate love your interpretation and comments
Nice job Toby
Funny, those two flaws (time management and calculation in complicated positions) are also part of my tournament chess playing! 😛
hey john! I've found that in my dancing career, teaching other people has been instructive for my own dancing because it forces me to think about things differently. have you considered maybe making a chess fundamentals video on time management? maybe it would be beneficial to both you and your viewers! 🙂
Liking the outside videos. Hopefully the weather didn't put you off London too much!
You divide your "problems" in: 1 time management, 2 calculation in complicated positions.
Question: since the second one seems more straightforward to address with specific tactical training, to what extent do you think problem 2 actually causes problem 1 in your game over the board? In my personal patzer's experience the correlation is pretty high, for example.
Thanks for your videos!
The way I see it tactics based on undermining Nc5 don't work because Nd7 covers b6.
Instead, how about g4-g5 and making a mess of Black's Kingside?
Something like
g4 Bg6
g5 hg
Nxg6 fg
Qxg5 attacking g6 and e5.
Congrats on a terrific tournament John. And thanks for bringing us along on your journey. I think the results show you can compete at the GM level. Hope you keep after the norms…
hey John, congrats on the event. Sounds like you played some nice games.
You discussed how you felt your handling of messy and sharp positions was sub-par by your standards. What is your plan to improve this aspect of your game? Lots of tactics? Or maybe furthering your strategic play? This is something I am not so strong at as well. Hope to hear from you!
awesome you put this on lichess
Thanks for everything John! Love following your videos and games! Keep it up, and happy holidays to you and yours!
Merry Christmas John! Had fun following your tournament. Back in the Minnesota sun! Can you skate on that lake later on in the winter?
Digging the outdoors video. Nice to see you back in the states John 🙂
Keep fighting for that norm john!
Is this tournament separated in different categories? As the Super GMs only play with each other.
Damn, with all that snow in the background and me not having been outside for far too long, I thought you were going to say, "Hey guys from Richmond Park!"
Knight takes A5
outstanding sir congratulations on your great success gm norm is not that easy in these days but you are great
I can repairs your computer very rssily
Please check your description. Your score is 5.5/9. It was a pretty decent tournament. You will soon make it to GM norm. And best of luck.
Too bad about the 2400 performance rating. Would've been cool with one over 2600. Better luck on that GM norm next time. I'll be cheering for you!
Nice going, John. I enjoyed your updates from London.
Congrats John, it was a decent result, Im sure if u play a bit more actively and chase the GM title you will get it very soon, wish u a merry christmas and happy new yr!
Such a professional attitude, John! Keep it up!
if you had won the last game would you have gotten a GM norm??
I think you need to find easier tourney for your achieving gm norms. don't go to the main tourney where the strongest players might gather. Just advice from a fans
well done John, we're all proud of you.
amazing background.
People from Europe always say that american people don't know much about geographie like where is Hungaria or Belgium – but i have to admit – i had to take my US-Map to look for Minnesota – now i know why it's so cold! You made good videos – thanks from Germany! (It's in northern Europe 🙂
Round 9, Yes, that was a very nice idea by white. Did you consider this idea? My first thought was to push pawn to attack the Bishop.. Then a quick thought to attack the Knight but I didn't think about pushing afterwards..
I really hope you find time to play in long tournaments, get the experience and practice for the next gm norm tourney.
Man, you would've been a great lawyer too.
Congrats on your results John! Any chance you will do a video analysis of some of them at some point?
Great video John!
If you lived in Europe you would have become a GM a long time ago, there are so many weak opens with norms available. In North America you are really restricted because the half dozen events you can get norms in are full of top juniors and its really dog eat dog!
Followed your tournament religiously and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Too bad you couldn't make that GM norm. No worries, some other time. Love the beard and the background. Best of Luck for the future, John.
keep at it, John! Hope to see you try your luck at 2-3 tournaments in a row at one point because it's hard to build momentum with sporadic norm events. Tough with a busy schedule 🙁
An idea.
Go through your games with Stockfish.
At a point where you start to lose the plot, play from there against Stockfish. Maybe several times, you should improve your understanding of the position.
Hey John your lips are looking a little chapped. Have you been drinking enough water lately?